28 November 2023 , 07:51
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Freddie Ljungberg admits failing to win the Champions League with Arsenal is the "biggest regret of his life".
The Gunners fell short in their only final appearance back in 2006. Their European run covered up for poor league form, but Arsenal's squad still included many of the stars who'd helped lead them to an Invincible season two years earlier.
Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Ljungberg and Sol Campbell were among those to start as Barcelona came from behind at half-time to seal a 2-1 win at the Stade de France in Paris. Juliano Belletti scored the winner 10 minutes from time and the Swede admits his frustration that their crop of players didn't manage to lift Europe's biggest prize.
Jamie Carragher commented in the Sky Sports studio that Arsenal were the best team never to win the Champions League and Ljungberg replied: "It’s kind of you to say in one way, but I agree, it’s the biggest regret in my life, I really hate I haven’t won the Champions League and I’m still angry about it to this day.
"When you get older, you meet old players you played against at Real Madrid or Barcelona or whatever and often they say, 'I can’t believe the team you had and didn’t win the Champions League.'
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"I can’t explain why because we had a great team. The only thing that happened when we went to the Champions League final and we changed the system and played 4-3-3, protected the centre a bit more. But then we got a sending off for Jens [Lehmann] after 20 minutes.
"That’s the only change we did in the final, but I can tell you that it still eats at me today. I feel very disappointed but it’s our responsibility as players, we were not good enough, we didn’t do well enough. But when you looked at it, you felt we should win this."
Freddie Ljungberg and Arsenal were eventually undone by BarcelonaArsenal have failed to reach those heights since, reaching the semi-finals, but never the showpiece event. It was also Wenger's only shot at claiming European glory and it still tortures him long after the end of his managerial career. He has said previously: "The 2006 final is my biggest regret. I've thought to myself 100 times what could I have done differently? The regret is that we couldn't get the 2nd. Thierry, who has been magic for the club, had the opportunity.
"After the game Gio van Bronckhorst told me, 'If you scored the 2nd we would've given up.' That is of course the regret of my life. We were 13 minutes away from the biggest trophy. Maybe I will have to die with that – but it will still hurt."