Ranking the 5 easiest runs to a Champions League final as Arsenal 2026 join list…
Arsenal have made the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years and while impressive, their run has been a little fortunate.
While the winner of Bayern v PSG will feel like Russell Crowe at the end of Gladiator, Arsenal will be feeling ready for one more fight having had a relatively kind knockout run.
Here are the five easiest runs to the Champions League final and where Arsenal fit in.
5. Porto (2003-04)
It was the season that made Jose Mourinho’s name as a manager, but it did have more than its fair share of fortune and slightly eroded their underdog status.
Porto came second behind Madrid in the group stage and were immediately faced with their toughest knockout test in the form of Manchester United.
They made it through that thanks to a last-minute equaliser at Old Trafford which prompted that Mourinho celebration and as a reward, they had a ridiculously easy run to the final.
They faced Lyon and Deportivo La Coruna before defeating Monaco 3-0 in the final. Meanwhile, the big boys were busy knocking each other out.
4. Bayern Munich (2019-20)
Bayern’s most recent Champions League win benefited from a very easy run to the final.
The group stage saw them put seven past an underwhelming Tottenham and six past Red Star Belgrade, seeing them through that phase of the tournament with a +19 goal difference.
In the knockouts, they came up against a lacklustre Chelsea and defeated them 7-1 over the two legs before the COVID pandemic threatened to disrupt their run.
UEFA instead organised a mini-tournament in Lisbon where each round would just be a single leg. Bayern started that by battering Barcelona 8-2 before defeating Lyon 3-0.
Their first true test came in the final when they faced PSG but they outperformed the French champions to secure the trophy.
3. Real Madrid (2015-16)
An added bonus of Real Madrid’s run to the trophy in 2016 was that it boiled the piss of Gerard Pique.
In the following season, Pique was asked what kind of run he would like for Barcelona and said:
“Easy group. Second round v third-best Italian team, quarters against eighth-best German team, semis against fourth-best English team. Second leg always at home,” referencing the fortunes of their biggest rivals the year before.
Madrid had a group of PSG, Shakhtar Donetsk and Malmo which they won undefeated. As a reward, they got Roma, the “third-best Italian team” as Pique pointed out.
Next was Wolfsburg who were eighth in the Bundesliga and then they faced Manchester City in the English club’s first ever European Cup semi-final, an occasion they never really turned up for.
Meanwhile, Atletico had to beat the champions of the Netherlands (PSV), Spain (Barcelona) and Germany (Bayern Munich) on their way to losing to Madrid in the final.
2. Arsenal (2025-26)
Any accusation that their path was easy will have Arsenal fans pointing to the league phase as justification but even with that caveat, Mikel Arteta has been rather fortunate.
The top two of the league phase were treated equally with both given second leg ties at home all the way to the semi-finals and the pair – Arsenal and Bayern Munich – were drawn to see which side of the bracket they would fall on.
Bayern were put in the side that had PSG, Juventus, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Liverpool while Arsenal got Newcastle, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Inter and a laughable Tottenham.
Arsenal’s path was made even easier with some surprise knockouts including Bodo/Glimt’s defeat of Inter and Atletico’s defeat of Barcelona.
The result is Arsenal have faced Bayer Leverkusen (fourth in the Bundesliga), Sporting (third in the Liga Portugal) and Atletico (fourth in La Liga). The Gunners have yet to face a reigning champion in the knockout stages. Not that their fans care.
1. Manchester United (2010-11)
Arsenal are not the only English team to benefit from a favourable draw as Manchester United’s run in 2010-11 was also extremely kind.
Their group comprised of Valencia, Rangers and Bursaspor and after making it through that undefeated, they faced only one genuine test in the knockouts.
After defeating Marseille, United played title rivals Chelsea but the London side were underwhelming and lost 3-1 over the two legs.
For that, United were given a semi-final against Schalke and even a young Manuel Neuer could not prevent them shipping six goals over the two legs. As the ultimate sign of ease, Ferguson even rested players in the second leg.
All of this is forgotten though as United were emphatically dismantled by Barcelona in one of the best final performances of all time.
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