As if tonight’s Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich wasn’t exciting enough, it’s also a historic night for the club as we prepare for our 200th game in the competition.

Since our debut against Lens in September 1998, we have been involved in some of the most incredible moments in tournament history, and Mikel Arteta will be hoping that this is the year we go one step further than our 2006 team and finally win the silverware for the first time.We won 101 of our first 199 matches, drew 43, and lost the remaining 55. Our largest win was a 7-0 victory over Slavia Prague in October 2007, whereas our three 5-1 losses to Bayern are our most severe setbacks.

This is our 19th season in the competition, and in addition to reaching the championship in 2005/06, we advanced to the semi-finals in 2008/09 and are now in the quarter-finals for the fifth time. Tonight will be our 13th meeting with the Bavarian side, which is more than any other club we’ve faced in the competition’s history, with two more of this season’s quarterfinalists being among the top six most frequent opponents. In total, we have faced 60 different opponents in our Champions League history. The two legs against the Munich outfit over the next few weeks will also see Germany leapfrog Spain in terms of which nations we’ve faced the most, though that could change again if we continue to progress this season, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid still vying for the trophy.
Throughout our Champions League history, we have competed against teams from 21 different countries. In terms of individual records, Thierry Henry has played in the majority of our 200 matches, including 78 Champions League appearances.In terms of scoring, we have scored 328 goals in our first 199 matches while surrendering 213. And it’s no surprise that our all-time leading goal scorer is once again at the top of the list. Henry scored 35 goals in 78 appearances, including a spectacular strike against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu to enable us go to the final in Paris.For completeness, we also competed in 10 European Cup matches prior to the formation of the Champions League in 1992, reaching the quarter-finals in 1971/72 and the second round in 1991/92. That places us 14th in all-time matches played in Europe’s premier club competition, trailing just Liverpool (248) and Manchester United (299) in terms of English representation.