2019 Emirates Cup

The 2019 Emirates Cup was a pre-season football friendly tournament hosted by Arsenal at its home ground, the Emirates Stadium. It was the tenth Emirates Cup, an invitational competition inaugurated in 2007. Held on 28 July 2019, the participants were Arsenal (men's and women's), Bayern Munich (women's only) and Lyon (men's only). In this edition, a new one-day format was introduced, with Arsenal Women competing for the first time.

2019 Emirates Cup
Tournament details
Host countryEngland
CityLondon
Dates28 July
Teams4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
ChampionsLyon (men's)
Bayern Munich (women's)
(1st titles)
Runners-upArsenal men's and women's teams
Tournament statistics
Matches played2
Goals scored4 (2 per match)
Top scorer(s)Moussa Dembélé (2 goals)

Due to construction at the Emirates Stadium, the 2018 competition was cancelled; it was the first edition of the tournament since Arsenal won in July 2017. In the Women's match at 12:30 BST, Bayern Munich's Melanie Leupolz scored the only goal which saw Bayern Munich defeat Joe Montemurro's Arsenal 1–0. In the men's match at 15:15 BST, Lyon defeated Arsenal 2–1; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the opening goal to give Arsenal an early lead first half, before Lyon's Moussa Dembélé scored two goals past Bernd Leno to win the match.

Background

The Emirates Cup was inaugurated in July 2007 after Arsenal finalised plans to stage a pre-season competition at its home ground, the Emirates Stadium.[1] The competition is named after Arsenal's main sponsor Emirates; the airline's association with the football club began in 2004.[2][3] Arsenal won the first tournament, which was attended by over 110,000 people across the two days.[4] There was no tournament in 2018 due to close-season stadium construction; instead the Arsenal men's team opted to play pre-season matches in the International Champions Cup.[5] The 2019 edition was televised live in the United Kingdom on Premier Sports 1 and ESPN3 in the United States; it was also available online in the United Kingdom on Premier Player HD and Watch ESPN in the United States.[6]

Women's match
External video
video icon Arsenal Women vs. Bayern Munich Women match highlights
Bayern Munich's Melanie Leupolz scored the only goal of the match

In May 2019, Arsenal announced that Arsenal Women would face Bayern Munich Women in the first female edition of the Emirates Cup; the match was aimed to promote women's football in England following the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, which saw Arsenal and Bayern Munich players feature in the tournament.[7] In their previous season, Arsenal won the Women's Super League and were runner-up in the WSL Cup under Australian coach Joe Montemurro.[7][8] In Bayern Munich's previous season, the team placed second behind VfL Wolfsburg in the Frauen-Bundesliga season and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Champions League.[9][10]

Within the first five minutes, Arsenal's Katie McCabe made a long-range effort from 40-yards to catch the keeper "off her line", however her attempt dipped clear of the bar.[11] It was the visitors who broke the deadlock in the 24th minute when Bayern Munich captain Melanie Leupolz took advantage of Arsenal's poor defending; the German scored a diving header at the far-post of a sweeping free kick from the left wing.[11][12] Arsenal's Louise Quinn almost equalised after coming close to scoring twice only minutes later; with the remaining time in the first-half, Bayern Munich maintained control of the match with the home side struggling to create any opportunities.[11] In the second half, Bayern Munich started strong with two early efforts which were blocked by Arsenal's Jen Beattie and debutant goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger.[12] Arsenal grew into the second half with two chances from McCabe, with her second attempt being blocked by Austrian defender Carina Wenninger.[12] At the end of the game, Arsenal's Danielle Carter twisted her knee and – after a lengthy stoppage – she received air and gas on the pitch; she was later stretchered off to receive treatment.[7]

In a post-match interview, McCabe applauded her opponents for their win, attributing Bayern Munich's triumph to Champions League experience and domestic league success; she also said her team could take positives from the defeat.[13] Bayern Munich were presented the Emirates Cup trophy after the match.[14]

Details
Arsenal England0–1Germany Bayern Munich
Report
  • Leupolz 24'
Attendance: 28,500

Men's match
External video
video icon Arsenal vs. Lyon match highlights
video icon Unai Emery post-match press conference
video icon Sylvinho post-match press conference
Moussa Dembélé scored two goals for Lyon

During the previous season, Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League under their new manager Unai Emery; the Spaniard had only just replaced Arsenal's long-term manager Arsène Wenger.[15] Emery led Arsenal to the 2019 UEFA Europa League final where his side were defeated by Chelsea in Baku, Azerbaijan.[16] Ahead of the Emirates Cup, Arsenal had signed midfielder Dani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid,[17] and winger Gabriel Martinelli from Ituano;[18] the club also released Stephan Lichtsteiner, Petr Čech, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck and sold reserve goalkeeper David Ospina.[19][20] Lyon had previously finished third in Ligue 1 and had replaced their previous manager Bruno Génésio with former Arsenal player Sylvinho.[21] Ahead of the match, Lyon had signed many players including Joachim Andersen and Thiago Mendes;[22][23] the club also lost several players including Tanguy Ndombele, who joined Tottenham Hotspur for €62 million, the transfer was Lyon's most expensive player sale.[24]

The men's match started at 15:15 BST, less than three hours after the women's match had started. Arsenal had started the match well, applying early pressure to the visitor's defence; former Lyon player Alexandre Lacazette was withdrawn early in the first half due to a foot injury,[25] he was replaced by Reiss Nelson.[26] Lacazette's absence did not stop Arsenal's good start, Henrikh Mkhitaryan made a right-wing cross for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was six yards away from the goal-line where he scored from the Armenian's delivery.[26] During the second half, both sides made wholesale changes, Emery opted to change Arsenal's formation from 4–2–3–1 to 4–4–2, bringing on Eddie Nketiah for Matteo Guendouzi to partner Aubameyang in attack.[26] Despite having chances to extend their lead, Arsenal were punished by Lyon's Moussa Dembélé who headed in an equaliser past Arsenal's Bernd Leno in the 66th minute; Arsenal soon brought on new signings Martinelli and Ceballos for their unofficial club debuts.[26] Martinelli made an instant impact by scoring from close range, however referee Jonathan Moss ruled the goal out due to handball in the build up.[26] Dembélé later scored the winner on a counter-attack where Arsenal failed to execute an offside trap.[26] In his post match interview, Emery suggested Arsenal "lost a little bit of comfortability" on the pitch in the second half, he also praised Lyon's performance and spirit.[27]

This was Arsenal's third last match of their pre-season preparation, they later played Angers and lost to Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy before their season started.[28][29] During the season, Emery was sacked and replaced by former club captain Mikel Arteta,[30] the Spaniard later helped Arsenal finish eighth in the Premier League and win the FA Cup during a season which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.[31][32] Lyon later lost to both Liverpool and AFC Bournemouth before their Ligue 1 season started.[33][34] In October, Sylvinho was sacked due to poor form and was replaced by Rudi Garcia a week later;[35] Garcia's league season was cut short after the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) cancelled the Ligue 1 season in April 2020.[36] However, Lyon reached the final of the Coupe de la Ligue before losing on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain,[37] and they also reached the UEFA Champions League semi-final after defeating Manchester City and Juventus in the knockout rounds of the tournament.[38]

Details
Arsenal England1–2France Lyon
 Report
Attendance: 50,000

References
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Further reading
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