Each week, we'll reminisce about our incredible Invincible season 20 years on by looking back at what was going on at the club on and off the pitch, as well as remembering key news stories and the pop culture buzz at the time.
Two weeks ago, Charlton Athletic were seen off to record our seventh-straight league win, meaning we headed to Blackburn Rovers with a nine-point advantage at the top of the table.
Setting the scene
Following the win against the Addicks, attentions returned to the cup competitions and having held a slender 3-2 lead against Celta Vigo, a Thierry Henry brace secured passage to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
A semi-final berth in the FA Cup was also clinched courtesy of a 5-1 thrashing of Portsmouth at Fratton Park, meaning talk of a potential treble was beginning to bubble amongst our fanbase as we visited Ewood Park looking to maintain our healthy Premier League lead.
Wenger’s words
Arsene Wenger discussed how he would cope if we were to continue to progress on all three fronts: “There could possibly be 17 games left for us this season if everything goes well and I don't think that the players who have already played a lot of games this season will be able to play in every one of them.
Let's first of all hope that we have 17 games. In this job you go from game to game and you draw new conclusions at the end of each one. I believe at the moment though that we are not suffering at all from fatigue. The first sign of that is when players pick up muscular injuries and that hasn't happened. We have rotated well.
Until the end of the season I will rotate the line-up a bit, one or two players each game as I have been doing. Overall I don't think we have suffered from deep fatigue because if you look at all of our players, they have all had a break at some stage in the season, at the moment that allows me to play who I want.”
From the dressing room
It had been announced by the club that Martin Keown was to be awarded a testimonial at the end of the season in recognition of 10 years of unbroken service, and Patrick Vieira was keen to pay tribute.
“What a servant to this club he's been,” he wrote in his programme notes. “He plays in the image of this club, and Martin will be talked about here for many years to come. He is a terrific character, a terrific player, and he never gives up.
“He has been a great inspiration for me personally since I arrived at the club. Every day in training he still wants to show that he is Martin Keown, the best defender at the club, and he will certainly go down as one of the best.”
On the pitch
GAME 28: BLACKBURN ROVERS 0-2 ARSENAL
March 13, 2004
Goals courtesy of Henry and Robert Pires left Wenger's side nine points clear with 10 games left as we gained revenge for our defeat at the hands of Blackburn the season before.
The last time we had visited Ewood Park we were beaten 2-0, and was the start of a spell that saw us lose their grip on a Premiership trophy that had seemed to be ours for the taking.
This was the same sort of game - tough and tight - and yet this time we won by the same scoreline.
As soon as the match kicked off Blackburn set about snapping at our heels, but the only time they truly threatened was when Craig Short saw a header nodded off the line by Ashley Cole.
On the 26th minute Henry thought he had scored the game's first goal when he knocked the ball away from Brad Friedel and into the goal while the Rovers keeper was getting ready to kick clear. Referee Alan Wiley was unimpressed however and disallowed the goal.
Ten minutes into the second half, Cole controlled a difficult high ball just inside the Rovers half and fed Henry as he galloped through. The striker was bundled over by Short just outside the area as he tried to find Jose Antonio Reyes to his right.
Henry took the free-kick himself and bent it over the wall and between Friedel's outstretched hand and the near post - a superb way to reach 30 goals for the season in all competitions.
Three minutes from time we secured the three points when Gilberto bobbled a shot against the post and it bounced out for Pires to hook home his 10th league goal of the season.
Line-up: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Cole, Edu, Gilberto, Vieira, Pires (Cygan 89), Henry, Reyes (Clichy 77). Subs not used: Stack, Bentley, Kanu.
Where we stood
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Arsenal | 28 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 55 | 18 | 70 |
| Chelsea | 28 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 50 | 21 | 61 |
| Man Utd | 28 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 52 | 29 | 58 |
| Charlton | 28 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 39 | 34 | 43 |
| Newcastle | 28 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 38 | 29 | 42 |
What the press said
"Arsenal wore yellow, Rovers chased sunbeams." - The Guardian
"For Arsenal, this was not so much a football match as an exorcism. 12 months ago today, Arsène Wenger and his players swaggered into Ewood Park as champions-elect and headed back to London a few hours later in a of shock." - The Times
"The Gunners still have some famous targets to shoot down in their quest for the title." - Daily Star
Elsewhere this week
Arsene Wenger was named Premier League Manager of the Month, while Dennis Bergkamp and Edu were the joint recipients of the Player award.
Meanwhile Thierry Henry collected another individual trophy - this time after becoming the first player to hit 20 goals in the campaign.
Having been pitted against one of our title rivals in Manchester United during the FA Cup semi-final, we were drawn against the other when Chelsea were confirmed as our opponents in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Image of the week
Freddie Ljungberg took part in a photoshoot for the club magazine, and discussed his newfound fame as his modelling career took off. “People recognise me a lot more now than they did when I first arrived, there's no question about that. But apart from that I feel I'm pretty much the same person.
“You change as you get older, but I try to behave the same way as when I arrived and I still see my friends as the most important thing in life. I hope I'm still the same.
“There are a lot of different tastes and angles of fashion in London, I really like it. There is a big variety here. I was interested in fashion before I moved here, I have been my whole life, but London is certainly good for that.”
UK number ones
Official Top 40: Toxic - Britney Spears
Album chart: Call off the Search - Katie Melua (fifth week at no. 1)
Box office: Mona Lisa Smile
In the news this week
Terrorists explode simultaneous bombs on Madrid's rail network, killing 193 people and wounding more than 2,000 - the largest toll in any bombing in Europe.
The Spirit rover takes the first picture ever of Earth from the surface of another planet which happens to be Mars.
Pope John Paul II becomes the third-longest reigning pope in history, the other two being Saint Peter and Pope Pius IX.
Find out what happened next as we attempted to write our name into the record books
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