Preview: Legia Warsaw v. Arsenal, Friendly

Wait a minute...

Yes, that's Legia's logo...

Well... Saturday might be confusing.

Pic via Flickr.

Polish Army Stadium, Warsaw

Saturday, August 7

15:00 BST, 10:00 a.m. EDT

Who Is Legia Warsaw?

• Founded in 1916 by soldiers from the Polish Legions of World War I; nicknamed the "Military" or "Legionnaires"
• Their first match, in 1917 against city rivals Polonia Warsaw, was a 1-1 draw.
• Their first league match was in 1927, a 6-1 away win at LKS Lodz.
• Legia was relegated to the second division in 1936, where they remained until after World War II.
• The 1970's, considered the golden era of Polish football, started with a bang for Legia, reaching the semi-finals of the 1969/70 European Cup, where they lost 2-0 to Feyenoord.
• The following year, they lost in the quarter-finals to Atletico Madrid.
• The club struggled to win league titles in the '80s, but remained in European competition thanks to four Polish Cup titles.
• In 1991, they were defeated in the semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup by Manchester United.
• Legia advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League again in 1996 (advancing out of group play over Blackburn Rovers and Norway's Rosenborg) before losing to Panathinaikos 3-0 on aggregate.
• From 2005 to 2007, Legia had the player voted to be the best goalkeeper in the Polish top flight, a keeper they then sold to an English Premier League team for an undisclosed fee. Can you guess who?
• In 2007, fan rioting during a pitch invasion at an away match in the now defunct Intertoto Cup resulted in a five year ban from European competition, later reduced to five years probation.
• They finished 4th in Poland's top flight last season, which technically put them one point shy of Europa League qualification.
• In their history, Legia have won 9 Polish league titles and a record 13 Polish Cups.

Arsenal News and Notes

• The Gunners will still be without Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie for this, the final pre-season friendly, as they are not yet match fit after their post-World Cup Final vacations.
• Alex Song also remains out with an undisclosed injury. Abou Diaby is a doubtful to return to the line-up, while Denilson might finally be fit.
• Other than that, the squad is exactly as it was for last weekend's Emirates Cup.