page_title: Manuel Almunia
section_title: Arsenal
hierarchical_section_title: Manuel Almunia / Club career / Arsenal
caption_attribution_description: English: Spanish football (soccer) player en:Manuel Almunia
context_page_description: Manuel Almunia Rivero is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
  He competed mainly in the Spanish lower leagues in his early years, only appearing in 26 La Liga games over the course of two seasons with Recreativo and Albacete, after starting out at Osasuna.
  Most of his professional career was spent with Arsenal, for whom he signed in 2004, going on to play 175 matches and winning the 2005 FA Cup. He also had a short loan spell at West Ham United.
  In 2012, after his contract expired, Almunia joined Watford and played there for two years, following which he retired on medical advice.
context_section_description: Almunia joined Arsenal on 14 July 2004 for an undisclosed sum, to provide backup to Jens Lehmann. He made his debut for his new team on 27 October in a 2–1 win at Manchester City for the season's League Cup, and his maiden Premier League appearance came on 4 December against Birmingham City; the highlight of his first year came in the fifth round of the FA Cup, a replay at Sheffield United: with the game finishing 0–0 after extra time and heading to penalties, he saved Alan Quinn and Jon Harley's attempts to book his team a place in the quarter-finals, and was an unused substitute in the final win over Manchester United.
  In the 2005–06 campaign, Almunia continued as second-choice to Lehmann, but found himself thrust into the spotlight when he replaced Robert Pires in the 20th minute of the final of the UEFA Champions League against Barcelona, as the German was sent off. He performed well for the most part, conceding both goals in the 2–1 loss late in the game.
  2006–07 brought Almunia 14 appearances in all competitions. This included the League Cup final, lost to Chelsea. He and Lehmann were by all accounts rivals off the pitch as well. In an interview with German television in October 2007, speaking about manager Arsène Wenger's decision to drop him in favour of the Spaniard, Lehmann said: “It’s possible that some day I’ll feel like talking about the whole issue. But at the moment I’m just swallowing it all as part of the humiliation. But I think – and this is aimed at my dear manager – one shouldn’t humiliate players for too long. I won’t just fade away quietly. Almunia has not yet showed he can win matches for us. I’ve experienced this before and know what the others are expecting from the goalkeeper.” Five months later, Almunia responded: “I treat people the way I would like to be treated myself. To have someone here who hates me is just amazing. Every morning I wake up I know it is going to be the same. But I don’t care any more. I come into training and work with Łukasz Fabiański and Vito Mannone. They are better than him anyway.”
  Almunia finally won the battle for first-choice duties in the 2007–08 season. Highlights included saving a penalty from Robbie Keane to help Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–1. He was given the number one shirt after Lehmann left for VfB Stuttgart at the beginning of the 2008–09 campaign, and he saved another important penalty on 21 March 2009, this time from Newcastle United's Obafemi Martins in a 3–1 victory. In June 2008 he signed a new four-year contract with the English club, but his subsequent performances were highly inconsistent, with brilliant displays in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester United and the 2010 Champions League quarter-finals against Barcelona, and poorly received ones which resulted in rumours arising that he would be sold.
  Despite the speculation, Almunia started 2010–11 as first-choice. However, on 25 September against West Bromwich Albion, he conceded a penalty (which he saved), let a weak shot slip through the near post and was caught out of position in the opposition's third goal; he lost his place through injury and, upon his return, found himself third-choice behind the Polish duo of Fabiański and Wojciech Szczęsny.
  Almunia made a return to the team on 30 January 2011 against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup, and went on to play both games in the next round against Leyton Orient. On 8 March, he came on as a 19th-minute substitute for the injured Szczęsny against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League last-16 stage, and made a series of saves as Arsenal lost 3–1 at the Camp Nou to exit the tournament, 4–3 on aggregate; he was voted man of the match by fans on the club's official website.
  With Szczęsny (dislocated finger), Fabianski (shoulder) and Mannone all out with injury, Almunia again became Arsenal's first-choice. On 19 March, during a 2–2 draw at West Brom, he was caught out of position along with Sébastien Squillaci, gifting the home team their second goal; already with Lehmann back in the club as an emergency signing, he injur
caption: Almunia warming up for Arsenal in 2006
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