Champions League | Jens Lehmann's Paris Trauma

Ah, Jens Lehmann ... Sometimes he drives home drunk from Oktoberfest, sometimes he saws through roof beams in his neighbor's garage. These days, his interest in taking over TSV 1860 Munich with a group of investors is rumored, and it's not entirely clear which of the two sides is more to be pitied. Amid all the scandals and minor scandals, it's somewhat forgotten that the man was once a truly formidable football player.

In England, he is still celebrated as one of the Invincibles. Jens Lehmann guarded the goal of the Arsenal FC team that won the Premier League undefeated 21 years ago and remained unbeaten for 49 consecutive seasons. He has also left his mark on the pan-European football scene. In May 2006, after the Champions League final in Paris against FC Barcelona , ​​he uttered the momentous phrase: "I will take this game with me to the grave."

On Wednesday, Arsenal Football Club will be visiting the French capital again. Their aim is to reach the Champions League final, which will be difficult enough after the 1-0 home defeat in the first leg against Paris Saint-Germain. But what is this burden compared to the trauma of 2006? Arsenal's Invincibles had already passed their peak, finishing fourth in the Premier League, 14 points behind the newly rich Chelsea. In Europe, however, they managed to achieve an unexpectedly high result. This was largely thanks to Jens Lehmann, who kept a clean sheet in all knockout games against Real Madrid, Juventus Turin, and Villarreal, going into the final with a goalless run of over 12 hours. He then remained unbeaten against Barcelona, ​​although this was in no small part due to the fact that he was only on the pitch for 20 minutes.

The drama in Paris began when Barça's master of ceremonies Ronaldinho played one of his magnificent, seamless passes into the path of Samuel Eto'o. Lehmann threw himself at the ball but only hit Eto'o's foot just outside the penalty area. Barça's Ludovic Giuly nudged the sprawling ball into the empty net, but by then Terje Hauge had already blown his whistle. The Norwegian referee awarded a free kick to the Catalans and sent Lehmann off. Ten Londoners took the lead shortly before the end of the first half through a header from Sol Campbell. But in the closing stages, substitute Henrik Larsson twice set up Eto'o and Juliano Belletti to score the decisive goals in a 2-1 win for Barcelona.

Jens Lehmann watched silently from the stands and traveled on to the German national team's training camp in Geneva the next morning. It turned out to be a happy end to the season for him after all. With a German summer fairytale and a note in his stocking during the dramatic penalty shootout against Argentina – but that's another story.