With tonight's Champions League clash at home to Milan quite possibly Jens Lehmann's last game in an Arsenal shirt, we fondly look over the mercurial Germany goalkeeper's career.

"The Germans gave the world Beethoven, Claudia Schiffer and Michael Schumacher," the Sun wrote in 2004. "Arsenal, sadly, got Jens Lehmann."

That statement looked rather silly after he almost single-handedly dragged the Gunners to the 2006 Champions League final, but It's been an interesting 19 years of professional football for a man who, despite an imposing physical presence and superb reflexes, will be remembered as much for his infamous "red mist" as his playing ability.

After falling out of favour with club boss Arsene Wenger, the 38-year-old has only really featured in domestic Cup competitions, deputising for the injured first-choice Manuel Almunia. With the Spaniard set to return this weekend, and with Arsenal out of both the FA and Carling Cups, three months on the sidelines beckons before Euro 2008.

Physical assaults, verbal outbursts, an almost neurotic perfectionist streak, a long-running feud with Germany rival and fellow motormouth Oliver Kahn, a striking resemblance to local pop hero David Hasselhoff and some good, old-fashioned clangers have helped create a character as colourful as he is talented.

In his nine years at Schalke, "loony" Lehmann actually scored a few goals, the most notable of which saw him equalising late against future employers Borussia Dortmund. He also became a noted penalty specialist, saving vital shoot-out spot-kicks from Internazionale's Ivan Zamarano and Manchester United's Paul Scholes in the 1997 UEFA Cup and 2005 FA Cup finals.

He was also the stand-out performer in Germany's surprise 2006 World Cup run, winning the battle for the number one shirt with usual first-choice Kahn and saving two penalties in the quarter final against Argentina before forcing Italy into extra time in the semis with a string of top saves.

But let's not dwell on the positives.

Former Gunners team-mate Sol Campbell is widely believed to hold the monopoly on half-time disappearances after Brussels-gate, but Lehmann was the trailblazer, "doing one" after being subbed at half-time by Schalke coach Rudi Assauer in 1993 for conceding three goals. Unlike fashionable Sol, however, he did not travel first-class to Belgium to clear his head, but took the tram home.

After a very successful career at the Gelsinkirchen club, Lehmann had a brief and ill-fated spell at Milan, where he was dropped after five matches. A move to Dortmund beckoned, where his good form was tempered with no less than five Bundesliga red cards in four years, a domestic record.

"Mad Jens" then moved to Arsenal as a replacement for David Seaman, where a quite incredible first season saw the club go unbeaten domestically to win the Premier League title.

The campaign did not go without some top-notch Lehmann-isms though, high-profile errors complemented by the regular flaring of his infamous temper when put under the slightest physical pressure by opposition forwards, most notably his bizarre decision to knock down Robbie Keane while being challenged ahead of a corner during the title-winning clash with bitter North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, handing Spurs a penalty.

This came after having already been fined by the FA for throwing a ball at Southampton striker Kevin Phillips following some on-pitch handbags.

He then briefly lost his place to Almunia the following season, but got himself back on track before the next campaign, where he went 500 minutes without conceding in the Champions League, including a last-minute penalty save from Villarreal's Juan Roman Riquelme in the semi final. Then came the coup de gras. Lehmann got himself sent off for a professional foul 18 minutes into the final after rushing out of his area and clattering Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o.

Arsenal soon took the lead but went on to lose late on, and while Wenger forgave Lehmann - pointing to the fact that without him they would not have got anywhere near the Paris final - the foul pointed to the man's tendency to both crack and excel under pressure.

A decent 2006/7 season followed which included a quite hilarious bust-up with Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, both players theatrically hurling themselves to the ground after barely making contact during a tete-a-tete row, seeing yellow from the referee and much ridicule from the public.

And, after a series of howlers against Fulham and Blackburn in August 2007 and a bizarre incident in which German media accused him of giving the finger to fans chanting for rival keeper Robert Enke during an international match, Wenger had seen enough and went with the more reliable if less talented Almunia to mark the end of an era. Having just signed a one-year contract at the Emirates after holding out for two, Lehmann was linked with a move back to Germany but he rejected a return to Dortmund on family grounds, seemingly content with being back-up for the remainder of the campaign.

Choice cuts from Mad Jens:

"The better player has to play. My performances are more consistent. Over the past year I have lost two games and made two mistakes. I can't really say that anybody else is better than I am" - Lehmann demands to be Germany number one.

"I didn't know we were supposed to talk. I don't have a 24-year-old girlfriend. I have a different life" - family man Lehmann sticks the knife into Kahn after the latter was caught cheating on his pregnant wife with a barmaid.

"I am without a doubt mentally the strongest player at Arsenal because I have more experience. There will always be a keeper who will play better for two or three matches but I have never seen anyone do this for ten games. I know I will be playing again at Arsenal. The coach will let me play. He knows it, and I know it - it doesn't matter if I have another week out. I have read that Almunia said he deserves to be the number one but until now he has not won a single important game" - Lehmann on originally being dropped for Almunia.

"I think - and this is aimed at my dear manager - one shouldn't humiliate players for too long. It's possible that some day I'll feel like talking about the whole issue" - Lehmann moans at being dropped by Wenger. It was four months before he made his next Premier League start.

Reda Maher / Eurosport