Ranieri defeat still riles Wenger

ARSENE WENGER admits he is still scarred by his loss to Claudio Ranieri in the Champions League quarter-final 11 years ago.

A late Wayne Bridge goal sent Chelsea through to the last four with a 2-1 win – and dumped out an Arsenal side that their boss believes was the best in Europe at the time.

The Frenchman will be reminded of the defeat when he faces Ranieri again at Leicester today.

And Wenger said: “It is a regret. But the regret is more that we played Manchester United three days before at Villa Park and were kicked off the park that day. “We were not at our best because we lost the game in the last 20 minutes. We were 1-0 up. Wayne Bridge got the goal. “You never forget the big defeats. It is a scar somewhere that remains for ever.”

Wenger hasn’t added the Champions League to his cv but holds no grudge towards Ranieri.

The Arsenal manager says the Italian deserves credit for setting Chelsea on the path towards a trophy-filled decade that was kick-started by the arrival of Jose Mourinho that same summer of 2004.

Wenger said: “He deserves a lot of respect. Look at the Chelsea team when he left, they all survived after. They were on the way up when he left. He built the foundations. He did a great job.

“He bought Frank Lampard, they had John Terry, Marcel Desailly, William Gallas. They had already a strong team.”

Wenger confirmed Jack Wilshere had a successful ankle operation this week and the midfielder should be back in action by Christmas.