Before this seasons meeting in the UEFA Champions League Arsenal have played Fenerbahce just twice, in the first round of the 1979/80 European Cup Winners Cup.
Before the first leg of the tie at Highbury Don Howe, the Arsenal manager, who had coached in Turkey, wrote them off as credible opposition but the reality was different.
Arsenal had to work hard for a 2-0 first leg lead through goals by Alan Sunderland and Willie Young, and needed nerves of steel to play out a goalless draw in the forbidding atmosphere of the Turks' own stadium in Istanbul.
Arsenal progressed all the way to Final of the competition defeating Magdeburg, FK Gothenburg and memorably Juventus before succumbing to Valencia via penalties in the final in Brussels.
| Played | Arsenal wins | Draws | Fenerbahce wins | Goals For | Goals Against |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Date | Competition | Opposition | H/A/N | W/D/L | F | A |
| 03-10-1979 | European Cup Winners Cup (1R) | Fenerbahce | A | D | 0 | 0 |
| 19-09-1979 | European Cup Winners Cup (1R) | Fenerbahce | H | W | 2 | 0 |
Fenerbahce 0-0 Arsenal
European Cup Winners Cup, Round 1 (2nd Leg) - October 3, 1979
Attendance 40,000
Arsenal Jennings, Rice, Nelson, Talbot, O'Leary, Young, Brady, Sunderland, Stapleton, Hollins, Rix.
Arsenal 2-0 Fenerbahce
European Cup Winners Cup, Round 1 (1st Leg) - September 19, 1979
Goals Sunderland, Young (Arsenal)
Attendance 34,973
Arsenal Jennings, Rice, Nelson, Talbot, O'Leary, Young, Brady, Sunderland, Stapleton, Hollins, Rix.
Fenerbahce Adem, Coskun, Sevki, Cem, Erol, Onder, Ali Kemal, Cemil, Rasit, Mehmet, Yasar. Subs Selcuk, Tuna, Onur, Zafer.
