The wisecracks came early.
One look at the Arsenal line-up and one comment was: 'Unai Emery could do with that team now!'
In their pomp of course he would. Who wouldn't want the sheer class of Robert Pires, the deft touch of Davor Suker, the agility of Jens Lehmann, the power of Ray 'The Romford Pele' Parlour and the combative nature of Nigel Winterburn?
Jens Lehmann fired in the winning penalty as Arsenal legends beat Real Madrid legends
The goalkeeper held his fist up in the air in celebration after converting his penalty
The passing years have not been kind to one of two. Gym visits are clearly not on the agenda.
But fair play to them. They put their reputations on the line for the most noble of causes – the Arsenal Foundation and the £500,000 from Saturday's 43,500 crowd will go to the club's Save the Children programme. All worthwhile.
And while the limbs may have been crying for respite after an hour, personal pride is a huge motivation.
Robert Pires looks determined as he tries to knock the ball past Real Madrid's Fernando Sanz
Nigel Winterburn applies pressure on Alvaro Arbeloa as he tires to win back possession
These players were born and bred to win. And it showed. No-one wanted to lose – not a tackle, not a chance to show they still possess immense technique.
And if this was just an exhibition of All our Yesterdays, then someone forgot to tell Winterburn and Claude Makelele.
Winterburn has the Wimbledon Crazy Gang DNA and it showed with his tackling, finger-pointing and enthusiasm to win.
Makelele? Well one skirmish in the first half with Pires led to a verbal contretemps between the pair. Chelsea fans would have recognised that Makelele. Pires certainly did.
For obvious reasons, the tempo of the game was at times somewhat pedestrian.
But for the younger fans at the Emirates, there was evidence of what their fathers had told them of previous Arsenal teams. And that they were telling the truth.
Lehmann was outstanding. The goalkeeper does not appear to have one pound of excess baggage and is as athletic as ever.
Pires retains that gift of an immaculate touch and an eye for the incisive pass. Tomas Rosicky can still glide over the turf he once graced.
Tomas Rosicky brings the ball under control and assesses his options as he looks to attack
Raul tries to bend the ball into the corner with his left foot but it just goes wide of the post
More than one participant on either side looked as though they could still compete at a decent level.
Jeremie Aliadiere for one. Lehmann also. And Matthew Upson looked comfortable enough in central defence.
Of course the edge was missing where it mattered – in the penalty area. For the likes of Raul, Fernando Morientes and Pires, the ambition was there but the legs weren't listening.
Parlour made his name as a rampaging wide midfield player. A holding role is now more appropriate.
Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour jokingly appeals to referee Mike Dean after conceding a foul
Claude Makelele gets his head up and looks for options as he receives the ball in midfield
It was not an affair short of goalmouth action – just the final touch to break the resistance of Lehmann and Real's Cesar Sanchez and his second half replacement Pedro Contretras.
Nothing tippy-tappy about the match. That just doesn't happen with proven winners.
It even got to manager David O'Leary in the dying minutes. The prospect of losing doesn't come easy to him either.
Appropriately perhaps, the match went to penalties.
Lehmann saved one penalty and then scored the decisive one as Arsenal won 5-3.
A German the star of a penalty shoot-out. Who would have thought it.
Gilberto Silva rolls back the years and shows a burst of acceleration to escape Arbeloa
https://hienalouca.com/2018/09/08/arsenal-legends-0-0-real-madrid-legends-arsenal-win-5-3-on-pens/
Main photo article The wisecracks came early.
One look at the Arsenal line-up and one comment was: ‘Unai Emery could do with that team now!’
In their pomp of course he would. Who wouldn’t want the sheer class of Robert Pires, the deft touch of Davor Suker, the agility of Jens Lehmann, the power...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Sport HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/09/08/16/4FE316AF00000578-6146081-image-m-53_1536419681263.jpg
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