Lee Dixon reflects on our Champions League bow

Lee Dixon represented us 619 times – fourth in the all-time list – and that includes plenty of European pedigree. He helped us to reach three European finals, plus the Super Cup, during his near-15-year tenure in north London, lifting the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994.

He also participated in our first Champions League campaign in 1998/99, which was one that we went into with high hopes having claimed a Double the season before, but would soon learn some harsh lessons...

Firstly, Lee, how did the squad feel going into the 1998/99 Champions League?
Being out of Europe was never a good thing for players and supporters. There was a huge interest in the European Cup and the Champions League as it is now. Every player will tell you that playing in Europe is just a completely different game. The supporters can see that as well and they probably enjoyed a little bit of a break from the everyday hustle of the Premier League. It’s always been something to look forward to.

Back in those days, there were non-British players in the Premier League, but not as many as there are now. Pitting yourself against European opposition does give a different dynamic to your game, a different back catalogue of information you’re always drawing on as a player. Having the experience of playing in Europe holds you in great stead because it’s just a different mindset. Getting back into Europe again was certainly something to look forward to.

How were the excitement levels? Did you follow the draw at all?
Yeah, I remember waiting to see which teams we’d get in the draw. To be honest, our predominant focus was trying to work out if Dennis Bergkamp could play in any of the away games. The boss used to have a map on his wall, complete with a compass-drawn circle around London and spread across Europe, calculating the furthest distance he could travel based on how tired he was going to be.

There were certain teams you could draw outside of that circle that would be disadvantageous for Dennis to travel to. It would tie in with how he’d be feeling after getting back from the trip too, especially if you had a match on a Wednesday night and it took him until the Friday to get back before having another game at the weekend. My priority was to hopefully have a draw that would allow Dennis to play in all of the games.

How was playing home matches at Wembley?
Honestly, it was terrible. Wembley had such an iconic look and feel about it, especially on FA Cup final day. When I played there for England, there was always a different atmosphere to what you’d get in a cup final. You’d have the whole ground cheering England on - that was very special. But then all of a sudden, we were playing there in the group stage of the Champions League.

There was a totally different atmosphere and I can’t put my finger on why, because we were still being supported by Arsenal fans. The atmosphere at Highbury was always special on European nights. Then we went to Wembley and as a player, it gave me this different feeling. It’s always nice to come home, sit on your own sofa and sleep in your own bed. I knew the home team dressing room at Wembley intimately from playing for England and in cup finals, but it still felt different. There’s no doubt in my mind that this gave an advantage to the teams we played against there.

It was a very tight group, with only one team going through automatically. It was ultimately decided by us conceding costly late goals in two of our first three matches – away at Lens and at home to Dynamo Kyiv. That must have been frustrating?
For a team and a defence like ours, that based itself on not conceding goals and being tight from minute one until minute 90, it was kind of inexplicable. At the time, it was probably quite easy to blame it on playing at Wembley but, in hindsight, we should have been better than that. But I also know how superstitious players are. I didn’t really enjoy playing at Wembley in those games and I don’t think the fans enjoyed going. The two probably bounced off each other to a certain extent.

Then you need to add the opposition – they will have loved playing at Wembley and they would also have thought: “Well, Arsenal aren’t playing at home here.” The feel of the place wasn’t that intimidating, fans-close-to-the-pitch Highbury experience you’d get under the lights in Champions League games.

Dynamo Kyiv won the group and would go very close to reaching the final. What made them such a good team?
I’ve actually just come back off a golf trip with Andriy Shevchenko and we were talking about those games between us and Dynamo Kyiv. He’s a good friend of mine now – I wish he’d been a good friend then because then he might not have skinned me as many times as he did! He was particularly difficult to play against, as was Sergei Rebrov.

They had a really strong team and going to Kyiv was always hugely difficult for all sorts of reasons. It was intimidating, the environment was one we weren’t used to, the pitches we trained on were different. The environment at the ground was difficult. They used that to their advantage – they were really strong defensively, very creative in midfield and up top they were as fast as you like. 

There were very few players quicker than Shevchenko when he was on song. He was a young man making his way back then, before he went and became a star at AC Milan. When we speak about those matches now, he always tells me we were tough to play against. I’d love it if he’d told me then because it always seemed quite easy for him!

It felt a bit like going against the unknown. You can watch as many videos of the opposition as you want, but there’s nothing quite like going up against someone you’ve never faced before. You don’t know the nuances. It’s different in the Premier League. You see players in action every week, so you learn about their game. You almost automatically have an idea of what they’re going to do, which gives you a chance of stopping them. 

But going up against someone like Rebrov, who I didn’t really know, it’s different. He was really quick, he had superb control and he linked up with Shevchenko. I wasn’t really sure what he was going to do next – when you’re doing that on the pitch, they’ve already got a yard on you. That’s why playing in the Champions League can be difficult, especially when you’re going up against teams you’ve never faced and where you’re not familiar with the nuances of each player. 

It must have been a real disappointment to go out in the group stage, especially as Manchester United went through as one of the best runners-up and ended up winning the whole competition?
That bit was difficult because the season went from being one with so much promise and ended up delivering nothing in the end. We had enough quality to believe we could win it – so to go out in the group stage had an effect on confidence. You’d go into the next Premier League game or training session and the disappointment would take some getting over.

Turning our attention to this season, what have you made of our group stage so far? 
The targets are always to get through, to get through in top position and then to get through having a confidence that you’re playing a style of football that helps you to get through while keeping clean sheets. You need the team to understand European football. You can be in Europe for a long time and still struggle to work it out. 

Learning and growing as a team that competes in European football is completely different to doing it in the Premier League. There’s a learning curve and there’s very little margin for error.
You need to learn quickly and I feel like the team have done that so far. I’m sure Mikel will have identified areas of the game that the team need to improve on moving forward, as all coaches do.

I remember playing against AC Milan in the Super Cup in 1994. We were reasonably experienced in Europe but they absolutely battered us at their place. They beat us 2-0 but it could have been 10. Zvonimir Boban was playing – I’d never seen a player as good as him. He was so good and it really opened my eyes from thinking: “I’ve cracked this European thing.” We were a good side but then we came across AC Milan and it was like men against boys. 

That match made it obvious that we had so much to learn about being a European superpower. That’s what Mikel will be trying to drum into his players – to become a force in Europe, where teams want to avoid Arsenal in the Champions League.