On this day (19th February) 2008 Arsenal met AC Milan in the European Champions' League Quarter-Final. Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia prior to the game was allowed to "go home" after lunch to meet up with his wife,Ana, who was concerned that their new home in Leavesden, Herts was haunted by a ghost monk carrying a candle by their bedroom. Chains were rattling apparently.
The "luxury" home was built on the site of a former psychiatric hospital last used in 1990, so I guess anything is possible. Almunia, who started at Osasuna, eventually retired after a "heart issue" (or more commonly known as a apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) and his last club was Watford FC. He played over 100 games for Arsenal.
The next day, the Quarter-final match was played without Almunia and the Gunners drew 0-0 at the Emirates. Later, in the second "leg", with Almunia, Arsenal became the first English club to beat AC Milan, a comfortable 2-0, at their fortress, the San Siro.
To get to this stage, in the knock out match and then the group, Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 7-0 at home and drew 0-0 away in a qualifer.
They then met Steau Bucharest in Group H winning 2-1 at home and 1-0 away; then
Sevilla 3-0 at home and 1-3 away in this group (Agg 4-3) and finally
Sparta Prague 2-0 a and 3-0 h.
Meeting Liverpool in the Semi-final, was a step too far and the Gunners lost 3-5 on aggregate.
During the 2007-8 season Arsenal lost a league game to Middlesbrough along with Man U and Chelsea in the PL, all away. They came 3rd in the Division.
Spurs beat them in the League Cup Semi-final and Man U beat them 0-4 in the FA Cup 5th Rd.
QUIZ.
Name three clubs that have won the Champions League (as it is now) who come from two (ghost) countries that no longer exist.
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