Arsenal Football Club is an English professional football club based in Islington, London. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Arsenal is, without a doubt, one of the most emblematic clubs in England, having won 45 trophies throughout its history. After the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, UEFA indefinitely banned all English teams from competing in Europe; the ban was lifted in the 1990-91 season and Arsenal entered the 1991-92 season, giving Arsenal the opportunity to play in the European Cup.
The club's first European football match was played against Copenhagen XI on September 25, 1963, and since then it has participated in European club competitions on several occasions, most of them organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Arsenal participated for the first time in European football during the 1963-64 season, through the Interurban Fairs Cup. Arsenal returned to European club football in the 1978-79 season, after finishing fifth in the previous league season. Founded in 1930, the Coupe des Nations featured clubs from ten of the major European football leagues and was considered a success.
Wenger had great experience in UEFA club competitions; in Monaco he reached the final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1992, lost 2-0 to Werder Bremen and led the club to the semifinals of the European Cup in 1993-94. Although his football style has been admired in many countries, his performances outside of England can only be described as a major deception for the club and the fans. As Arsenal finished fourth in the league, the following season the club had to play a third qualifying round, against Dinamo Zagreb, in order to participate in the group stage of the Champions League. French forward Thierry Henry holds the club's record for the most games with 89, and is the club's top scorer in European competitions with 42 goals. However, several players have left us and won the most prestigious club competition in Europe with other clubs.
In December 1954, the French sports magazine L'Equipe published an article by journalist and former professional soccer player Gabriel Hanot, which proposed the introduction of a European club competition. Arsenal faced RFC Liège in the second round; the Belgian club won 4-2 on aggregate to advance to the quarterfinals. After defeating Glentoran from Northern Ireland, Sporting de Lisboa from Portugal and Rouen from France, Arsenal faced Romanian club Dinamo Bacău in the quarterfinals. Club competitions between teams from different European countries date back to 1897, when the Challenge Cup was created for clubs from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which did not face each other under normal circumstances.
