Inter Milanvs.Arsenal

The two continental titans have each accrued seven points from their opening three matches of the current edition, although Mikel Arteta's men are two places below their Italian counterparts in the 36-team table, residing in ninth spot courtesy of an inferior goal difference.

The Gunners also travel to Milan on the back of a humbling 1-0 Premier League loss to Newcastle United, but Inter only just scraped past Venezia by the same scoreline, and San Siro was the scene of one of Arsenal's most iconic European nights two decades ago.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 2

Inter Milan wins: 1

Draws: 0

Arsenal wins: 1

Arsenal and Inter have competed alongside each other at the top table of European football for many years, but the two sides have only been pitted against each other twice before, with both meetings coming in the 2003-04 group stage.

Highbury was the venue for the teams' inaugural meeting in September 2003, as a Gunners side boasting Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires hosted an Inter outfit with Fabio Cannavaro, Javier Zanetti and Marco Materazzi in their starting XI.

Almost all of Arsene Wenger's starters that day would go on to play a key role in the Invincibles season, but they were humbled by their Nerazzurri counterparts on that occasion, losing 3-0 as Julio Cruz, Andy van der Meyde and Obafemi Martins found the target.

The latter would memorably haunt Arsenal again for Birmingham City in the 2010-11 EFL Cup final, but he was powerless to prevent a vengeful Gunners side running riot at San Siro a couple of months later, where Christian Vieri initially cancelled out Henry's opener.

However, the scintillating Frenchman would go on to bag a brace after Freddie Ljungberg had restored Arsenal's lead, before Pires and Edu also struck late on in a breathtaking 5-1 victory, at the time their biggest win in the Champions League.

The Gunners' ruthless demolition of the Nerazzurri that season enabled them to progress to the knockout phase, where they were eliminated by Chelsea in the quarter-finals, while Inter transferred to the UEFA Cup and lost at the same stage to Marseille.

Eighteen years on from that six-goal San Siro spectacular, Inter and Arsenal were due to reunite in a 2021 friendly in the Florida Cup, only for the Italian giants to pull out of the summer competition.

Previous meetings

Nov 25, 2003: Inter 1-5 Arsenal (Champions League Group Stage)

Sep 17, 2003: Arsenal 0-3 Inter (Champions League Group Stage)

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