Arsenal vs. Barcelona: Goals, Highlights from the Champions League Last 16

The moment Arsenal had been waiting for—and fans had been dreading—for months had finally arrived.

Barcelona's Champions League visit was met with equal parts excitement and fear, as Arsene Wenger's side looked to navigate their way through the trickiest of last-16 ties.

Luis Enrique's visiting side were in a rich vein of form, having extended their lead in La Liga to eight points while having qualified for the Copa del Rey final and remaining firmly in the hunt to repeat their treble-winning exploits from last season.

Arsenal, meanwhile, were held by Hull in the FA Cup on Saturday and remain third in the Premier League title race.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had the first chance of the game but couldn't beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

"

La que se perdió mi cuate Oxlade pic.twitter.com/L8kDHbZFIm

— Chutinho (@chutinho01) February 23, 2016"

Luis Suarez almost put Barcelona in front during stoppage time in the first half, but he nodded wide of the goal.

"

Suarez ile gole yaklaştığımız pozisyon pic.twitter.com/On4sgiSNRk

— Barcelona Türkiye (@barcelona_turk) February 23, 2016"

Olivier Giroud was denied by a brilliant save from Ter Stegen midway through the second half:

But just as Arsenal looked like they were beginning to ascend, Barcelona broke with Suarez, Neymar and Messi combining for the Argentinian to fire past Petr Cech.

"

Goooooooooool MESSI!!! @FCBfanatics @SomosCule pic.twitter.com/vKgQhGj4Zv

— FCB (@nogolipo) February 23, 2016"

Suarez nearly added another but was denied by the woodwork.

"

Suarez tout près d'apporter sa touche ! Quelle occasion, identique au but de Messi... #ARSFCB 0-1 #liguedeschampions pic.twitter.com/3ODFBdrCBg

— Yeahlome Fr (@FrYeahlome) February 23, 2016"

Substitute Mathieu Flamini's first involvement was to bring down Messi in the penalty area.

"

Penalty Decision : Flamini on Messi and he scores the spot kick. #AFC #FCBLive https://t.co/nJq6Ub0igU

— The Need For LFC (@TheNeedForLFC) February 23, 2016"

And the Argentinian duly obliged from the spot.

That was how it stayed, as Barcelona survived a spirited display from Arsenal to take a two-goal cushion back with them to Camp Nou.

The second leg is in Spain in three weeks.

[Twitter]