Arsenal and the Biggest Clubs Never to Win the Champions League
On Wednesday night, Arsenal qualified for the second round of the Champions League for a 15th consecutive season, but if history is any guide, they will not be lifting the European Cup in Berlin next June.
The Gunners have never been champions of Europe despite being a permanent fixture in the competition in the modern era, and they are arguably the biggest side yet to win it.
Who are the other big clubs in Europe that have never won the Champions League?
I have composed a list of five teams by taking into account their size, average attendance, domestic success and appearances in the Champions League.
Arsenal
1 of 5
It has long been a source of discomfort and embarrassment for Arsenal that they have yet to be able to call themselves European champions despite being the biggest club in London.
They have appeared in the Champions League for 17 consecutive seasons under Arsene Wenger, but they have only gone as far as the semi-finals twice in that time.
It is both a record of achievement and failure.
The nearest Arsenal came to winning the competition was in 2006, when they reached their only final but lost to Barcelona in Paris.
Atletico Madrid
2 of 5
Though Atletico Madrid have been champions of Spain on 10 occasions, they have yet to win the Champions League.
They have had to watch as their domestic rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona have won the competition a combined 14 times.
Atletico have twice reached the final and come agonisingly close to winning it. In 1974, they were winning 1-0 before Bayern Munich scored in the final minute of extra time before losing 4-0 in the replay.
Forty years later, they came just as close in the final in Lisbon. They were leading Real Madrid 1-0 until an injury-time Sergio Ramos equaliser took the game into extra time, and they eventually lost 4-1.
Roma
3 of 5Roma remain the biggest club in Italy never to have won the Champions League.
While Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan have been European champions a combined 12 times, Roma are still waiting.
Roma are Italy's fourth-most successful club and last season boasted the third-biggest average attendance in the country, bigger than AC Milan and Juventus, but they have not yet translated that into success in Europe's premier club competition.
The nearest Roma have come to being champions of Europe was in 1984, when they lost in the final to Liverpool inside their own stadium after a penalty shootout.
Schalke 04
4 of 5
Though Schalke haven’t been German champions since 1958, they command a place on this list for being the club with the biggest average attendance in Europe who have not won the Champions League.
Last season, Schalke boasted an average home crowd of 61,570. All the teams with bigger averages, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, have been European champions.
The German side have qualified for the Champions League eight times (once under its former European Cup guise in 1958).
The nearest they came to winning it was when they reached the semi-finals in 2011. They lost that tie to Manchester United, 6-1 on aggregate.
Lyon
5 of 5
Between 2002 and 2008 Lyon completely dominated French football, winning the title for seven consecutive seasons.
However, they never managed to replicate their domestic success in Europe.
They played in the Champions League for 12 consecutive seasons between 2000 and 2011, reaching the semi-finals in 2010 and three consecutive quarter-finals between 2004 and 2006.
