Juventus (2-0) 28th March 2006

So Patrick returned and in one of those "changing of the guard" moments that often happen in football a young 18 year old Spaniard took control of midfield and Highbury saw a vision of what may await us in the near future. This match truly epitomised the values of Arsene Wenger - Youth, Athleticism, Technique and Pace. Not many Arsenal fans can have seen anything quite like this performance from our team or any other, for that matter. We also don't normally awake to the resounding noise of praise from all quarters but it was a great team display that certainly puts us in the driving seat - we even heard Arsene seem concerned we didn't get a third that we deserved. Not bad for a back four that we stumbled upon, a bunch of kids and a 4-5-1 system that we sort of tried and now seems the perfect approach for us in Europe.

Charlton (3-0) - 18th March 2006

It was approximately 0 degs F today and that was without the wind chill factor! Thankfully for Thierry and co I was skiing in Stowe, Vermont and the weather was little milder in the UK. I never like missing home games and normally manage to arrange trips so that I only miss one game, maximum, but this year it went horribly wrong. Not only did I miss 2 matches but I even managed to miss the last game at hihbury that fell on my birthday - weak link I know but this last season will be full of "last evers....". Apparently this was a stroll in the park - as has often been the case in recent seasons with Charlton (and thankfully after that horrible 2-4 a few years back). I'm looking forward to Tuesday now - not a bad return after my holiday.

Liverpool (2-1) - 12th March 2006

Yep here was my vantage point for this game - though I actually only saw the last few minutes of the first half (thanks to the coverage of the Rugby) and had to go to the gate as the second half started. I did manage to see the score - thanks to Blackberry technology so the flight was more enjoyable knowing we had managed an important win. I didn't, however, know that we owed a huge debt to the vision and passing ability of Stevie Gerrard to win the game!

Real Madrid (0-0) - 8th March 2006

Of course, having won the away leg most people would have you believe that the second leg at home should be easy. This, of course, doesn't take into account the fact that a) we're the Arsenal and never do it the easy way, b) We're playing Real Madrid, Los Galacticos, Zidane, Beckham, Ronaldo et al and c) it's football. Thankfully we survived one of the best 0-0 draws you could hope to see (or shred your nerves watching in my case) with a bit of luck (Raul hitting the post), some excellent keeping (Jens from Raul again) and, maybe, we could have sneaked a win (Pires nearly scoring from the halfway line!). So "one team in Europe" has become the sound - despite the petty xenophobic sniping from Pardew and Taylor regarding the so-called englishness of our team. I'm sorry boys but we don't care about passports or England winning the WC when we watch Arsenal play - we do care about our club being successful and playing the most beautiful football in the country. Here's to the next round - you just know we're going to get Vieira back here at some time!