Okay, so I got this idea last Tuesday while chatting with my mate Dave at the pub. He kept arguing that Arsenal’s recent games against French clubs didn’t mean squat, which got me thinking about their history with Monaco specifically. Figured why not dig into it properly?
Where I Started
First off, I grabbed my busted laptop – the one with sticky keys – and opened three browser tabs:
- One for general football stats sites (you know, those ones that look straight outta 2005)
- One for Arsenal’s official historical archives
- One just for scribbling notes in Notepad
Found out real quick that Arsenal and Monaco barely ever played each other. Like, only seven official matches since 1993! Felt kinda relieved ’cause less data meant less headache.
The Hunt for Ugly Details
Started hunting down each match like a squirrel finding nuts:
- 1993-94 UEFA Cup match: Clicked through 15 pages of Google results before spotting Monaco’s goalie got sent off. Wild stuff.
- 2014 Champions League disaster: Rewatched the 3-1 home loss on an old pirated stream – Giroud’s open net miss still hurts.
- Player crossovers: Thierry Henry switching sides felt like cheating on both teams. Wrote down his awkward quotes about it.
Biggest pain? Monaco’s website had French archives. Google Translate mangled “corner kick” into “street angle shot.” Had to recheck everything twice.
Putting It Together
Dumped all facts into a spreadsheet with four columns:
- Date (always forgot the year if I didn’t)
- Stadium (Wenger managing both clubs made Emirates feel weird)
- Score (highlighted Arsenal’s losses in angry red)
- Dumb trivia (like bench-clearing arguments in 2015)
Triple-checked stats against three sources. One site claimed Arsenal won 5-0 in 2002 – total lie. Felt smug catching that.
What Blew My Mind
Two things slapped me in the face:
- Arsenal never won at Monaco’s home ground. Not once in 30 years.
- Those seven games had four red cards total. Way scrappier than I remembered.
Published the timeline last night with zero fancy graphics – just raw dates and numbers. Got five comments calling me a stat nerd already. Mission accomplished.
