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Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 3
Inter Milan wins: 2
Draws: 0
Arsenal wins: 1
Arsenal and Inter Milan have competed alongside each other at the top table of European football for many years, but the two sides have only been pitted against each other three before, with two meetings coming in the 2003-04 group stage and the other in the 2024-25 league phase.
The Gunners and the Nerazzurri both boasted unbeaten records in the 2024-25 league phase before their showdown in November, but the Italian side prolonged theirs at the expense of Mikel Arteta's side, winning 1-0 thanks to a contentious Hakan Calhanoglu spot kick.
Highbury was the venue for the teams' inaugural meeting in September 2003, as a Gunners side boasting Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires hosted an Inter outfit with Fabio Cannavaro, Javier Zanetti and Marco Materazzi in their starting XI.
Almost all of Arsene Wenger's starters that day would go on to play a key role in the Invincibles season, but they were humbled by their Nerazzurri counterparts on that occasion, losing 3-0 as Julio Cruz, Andy van der Meyde and Obafemi Martins found the target.
The latter would memorably haunt Arsenal again for Birmingham City in the 2010-11 EFL Cup final, but he was powerless to prevent a vengeful Gunners side running riot at San Siro a couple of months later, where Christian Vieri initially cancelled out Henry's opener.
However, the scintillating Frenchman would go on to bag a brace after Freddie Ljungberg had restored Arsenal's lead, before Pires and Edu also struck late on in a breathtaking 5-1 victory, at the time their biggest win in the Champions League.
The Gunners' ruthless demolition of the Nerazzurri that season enabled them to progress to the knockout phase, where they were eliminated by Chelsea in the quarter-finals, while Inter transferred to the UEFA Cup and lost at the same stage to Marseille.
Eighteen years on from that six-goal San Siro spectacular, Inter and Arsenal were due to reunite in a 2021 friendly in the Florida Cup, only for the Italian giants to pull out of the summer competition.
Previous meetings
Nov 06, 2024: Inter 1-0 Arsenal (Champions League League Phase)
Nov 25, 2003: Inter 1-5 Arsenal (Champions League Group Stage)
Sep 17, 2003: Arsenal 0-3 Inter (Champions League Group Stage)
Ben Knapton
