November 28th 2023.
Freddie Ljungberg, Arsenal legend and part of the 2003-04 unbeaten side, is still seething that his team never managed to win the Champions League. He revealed that it "still eats at him to this day."
The team was wowing English crowds, but couldn't replicate their level of success on the European stage. They did, however, reach the 2006 Champions League final, but were beaten by Barcelona. Ljungberg played in that final, and is still angry that he never got his hands on Europe's biggest trophy.
Sky Sports' pundit Jamie Carragher suggested to Ljungberg that his team may be the best to not have won the Champions League, to which Ljungberg replied that it is "the biggest regret in my life" and that he "really hates" that he has not won it. He went on to say that he often meets players from Real Madrid and Barcelona who say "I can't believe the team you had and didn't win the Champions League."
Ljungberg went on to explain that the only change they made for the final was to switch to a 4-3-3 system to protect the centre, but that was undone by Jens Lehmann's red card after 20 minutes. He concluded that it is still a source of disappointment to him, saying it was "our responsibility as players, we were not good enough, we didn't do well enough."
Wenger has also admitted that the loss was a big regret, feeling aggrieved by the red card for his goalkeeper. He told FourFourTwo that "it remains a regret - a big regret, especially when we were so close" and that "my biggest regret is that we had to play with 10 men." He concluded that it was "hard to swallow and it still is today - but it's part of life".
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