‘Mad Jens’ was a nickname Arsenal legend Jens Lehmann certainly earned over the course of his career. The German goalkeeper finished his first season in north London as an ‘Invincible’ having played every Premier League match – one of the many wonderful moments mixed in with the downright weird.
Lehmann’s spells at Schalke and Borussia Dortmund told Arsenal all they needed to know about the rogue character they got their hands on in 2003. A dismal disciplinary record saw him shown four Bundesliga red cards – a record for a goalkeeper – including one for shoving his own team-mate.
Just over a year after landing in north London, Lehmann was involved in the ‘Battle of the Buffet’, also known as ‘Pizzagate’, in which a slice of pizza was thrown at legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as part of a mass post-match bust-up in the tunnel.
Cesc Fabregas later admitted he was the player who threw the slice, but Lehmann also took his opportunity to get involved by adding water into the mix.
“The only thing I did… I was quite late and I saw the bunch of players in front of me, the two managers standing, confronting each other,” he explained. “I was spilling water from behind on to the whole crowd. It was like petrol onto a fire.”
Lehmann was settled and established by the time Arsenal lined up against Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League final. But he was partly responsible for the Gunners’ big day going south, receiving a red card on 18 minutes for scything down Samuel Eto’o before Barca won the game 2-1.
Lehmann’s wild antics continued upon joining Stuttgart in 2008. The following year, aged 40, he jumped over the advertising boards behind his goal and urinated in full view of the stadium during a Champions League win over Unirea Urziceni.
The veteran stopper only escaped punishment because the referee completely missed the incident, while Stuttgart sporting director Horst Heldt even praised Lehmann for handling the situation ‘like an expert’.
