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Jens Lehmann blamed a Nike soccer ball for the Arsenal Champions League loss to Chelsea during the Gunners’ historic Invincibles campaign.
Arsene Wenger’s team was dominant during the 2003/4 season, not losing a single game as they finished 11 clear points at the top of the Premier League table.
But his dreams of more silverware that season ended with his biggest domestic rivals: Manchester United eliminated them from the FA Cup and Chelsea ended their dream of the Champions League in a quarterfinal draw in English.
The latter was perhaps the biggest missed opportunity, with Arsenal well prepared after a 1-1 draw in the first leg at Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners looked good after José Antonio Reyes gave them the lead on Highbury’s comeback, but the turning point came when Lehmann spilled Claude Makelele’s far-reaching effort right after the restart.
(Image: AFP / Getty Images)
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Frank Lampard shot home the rebound to equalize, and Wayne Bridge scored late to earn Chelsea a place in the semifinal against Monaco.
“I did not understand and sometimes it still happens to the big teams that the Premier League puts you on a schedule where you have to act at the end of the season,” Lehmann told beIN Sports.
“In 10 days, what happened at that time (we had to play) against the best teams.”
“No team, good as it is, can perform every two or three days at such a high level. It was our disadvantage against Chelsea.”
“I remember I made a mistake against Chelsea because we played with a new Nike ball and it went off that way and I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t catch it.”
“It was a draw then with Frank Lampard and then, at the last minute, suddenly, because we were so tired that we couldn’t defend a tie and we lost that game.”
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