Lehmann saves Arsenal's day

Record-breaking run
The veteran German goalkeeper dived to his left to block Juan Román Riquelme's effort as the match went into added time to help extend his personal record-breaking unbeaten run in the UEFA Champions League to 745 minutes - that is 12 hours and 25 minutes of football at the very highest level. "A couple of days ago I was thinking about Riquelme possibly taking a penalty and I said to myself if he's going to take it then probably I'll go to my left," he said. "Because of his body shape he seems to go to the left and I was lucky. Thierry said something to me but I didn't follow [his advice].

Long rest
"I think [Riquelme] took quite a long breather before he took the penalty, maybe it was too long," he added. "When they got the penalty it looked as though they were dead already because in the last 20 minutes they couldn't keep up with their game. But the penalty was a gift." A vocal crowd at El Madrigal might have intimidated a lesser goalkeeper but Lehmann kept his cool at the important moment. "The pressure of the crowd?" he said. "I don't even think about it, I'm not 21 any more. There are some advantages when you are a little bit more mature."

Justice served
Ultimately, the German international believes some kind of justice was served by his save. He said: "I'm 36 now and I don't have a lot of time to play UEFA Champions League finals, but Riquelme is 27 - he could play another three or four finals so for me I think I deserved to go through." A UEFA Cup winner with FC Schalke 04 in 1996/97, when he perfomed heroics in the penalty shoot-out, an appearance at this season's UEFA Champions League final could potentially be the highlight of the goalkeeper's career, but the man who was recently named as Germany's first-choice goalkeeper ahead of FC Bayern München's Oliver Kahn remains calm.

'Not a great moment'
"This is one of the nicer moments [of my career, but] not a great moment because you're always looking forward to the final, and when you play the final you want to win it," he said. "When I came to Arsenal I was told to win something and I hope we're going to win this final now and then I will be happy." The former AC Milan and BV Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper's stay at Arsenal did not look destined to be a happy one after he was dropped from the first-team by manager Arsène Wenger, but on reflection, both agree a spell of reflection did the No1 the power of good.

'Good decision'
"I made a good decision dropping him last season," said Wenger after last night's game, while Lehmann, who was last beaten in the UEFA Champions League by Bayern's Hasan Salihamidžić on 23 February 2005, added: "I think when I came back after my break I started to play very well and I'm just going on with it." With a possible final against Milan, the club he made just five appearances for in 1998/99, this season seems to be very much on Lehmann's terms.