Gunners stun Barcelona 2-1: Analyzing the Upset at the Emirates

It was an electric night in north London, as Arsenal pulled off a thrilling 2-1 victory over visiting Barcelona in the first game of the Champions League tie.  Barcelona showed their poise and class, and looked the more comfortable side throughout all but the first and last ten minutes of the match.  The Catalan giants could have easily been ahead 2-0 or 3-0 at halftime, but despite finding space behind the Arsenal back four numerous times, they found themselves holding only a slim one goal lead through David Villa's cool finish.

Arsenal battled back in the second half by first slowing the Barcelona attack, and then taking what chances they generated on the counter.  Through two strikes five minutes apart from Robin van Persie and Andrei Arshavin, the Gunners will head to the Nou Camp in three weeks with the lead.  But don't think for an instant this will make Arsenal favorites to move into the quarterfinals, as a huge challenge still awaits.

Judging by the flow of the game, Barcelona still look the superior side.  Arsenal's players have surely matured, and carry a new will about them.  They pursued with vigor, and maintained great focus throughout the game.  But what they lack is the maturity manifested in spatial awareness of Pep Guardiola's side.

Nobody questions the technical ability of Barcelona—their touches having such an assured precision, perfectly weighted.  However, their 66 percent share of the ball was not the result of a difference between what each team's players did with the ball at their feet, but what they did when the ball was elsewhere.

When a Barcelona player got the ball in the middle of the pitch, he had options all around him.  Not only is Arsenal entirely unfamiliar with closing down these spaces, but Barcelona are the masters of slipping into the gaps that are there.  Sometimes they do so two or three passes in advance.  It was clear from the opening whistle Arsenal's game plan put the emphasis on pressing the ball.  But without the whole defense moving to close off the passing lanes, Barcelona dominated the possession game.  When Arsenal was overextended and came up empty, gaps would open up for Barcelona to navigate towards goal. 

By contrast, Arsenal's most skilled players, Fabregas, Wilshere, and Nasri had to do a lot more individual work to find the open pass.  Wilshere in particular was superb at shifting through the defense to open up lanes to pass through.  Samir Nasri's impact may have seemed somewhat muted on the wing, but his control of the ball was impeccable considering it was his first game back from a two week layoff.  He had few places to go with the ball, but often outwitted Dani Alvez and squeezed out of tight spaces with his team in possession.

Fabregas's pedigree was ever-apparent as he was able to achieve some success in the middle despite Barcelona's pointed emphasis on shutting him down.  Cesc's responses to where the ball went, his movements and touches were exactly like those of his midfield counterparts on Barca, Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets.

Eighty minutes into the game the hard work of creating chances put in by Fab, Jack, and Nasri finally came to fruition as they linked up to set up Arshavin's go-ahead strike.  It was Wilshere who deftly nudged the ball to Fabregas, who in a split second saw Nasri take off up the right side before it got to him and stroked the ball first-touch into space for the Frenchman.

Then Nasri had the coolness about him to pull up in the box, look off a well-marked Robin Van Persie at the far post and instead find Andrei Arshavin streaking from behind the play into the top of the area.  The Russian's shot, screened by not one, but two defenders, comfortably found the back of the net despite being well inside the post. 

The neutral have to look forward to the spectacle of the second game.  There's no way the two teams will play to a 0-0 draw in Barcelona, so Arsenal will know they need goals in a game sure to feature Barcelona possessing and Arsenal breaking with purpose.  Arsene Wenger's weaponry of Walcott, Van Persie, Fabregas, and Nasri on the run should surely challenge Barca to find the right balance between pressing forward and staying restrained.  But the match will surely be decided by Arsenal's ability to keep the Catalans in check on the Gunners' half of the field.

Today, Alex Song may have kicked the ball fewer times than he was whistled for fouling.  How disrupting was his game of "How many fouls does it take to get a second yellow?" To Barca?  It didn't seem to bother them, too much.  He will need to have success on far more of his challenges if Arsenal are to win. 

The defensive bright spot on the day had to be Laurent Koscielny, however, as he showed up at just the right time on numerous occasions, and dispatched the danger with regularity, particularly in the second half.  It might be too much of him to expect the same in three weeks, but only time will tell.

As for now, Arsenal fans should cherish their team's superb (if a bit fortunate) triumph, and look forward to the challenge renewed.