Arsenal vs. Barcelona: Five Things We Learned from Barcelona's Win
Arsenal vs Barcelona.
Every football fans dream. Yet, at the end of the day, Barcelona dominated the fixture and won 3-1, thanks to some Lionel Messi magic and once again some questionable refereeing.
Arsenal started Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and surprisingly Thomas Rosicky, who got another chance to redeem himself. Theo Walcott and Alex Song were absent, and Abou Diaby started in place of the injured Cameroonian.
Barcelona dominated possession and created the bulk of the chances. They scored the first goal after Fabregas gifted possession on the edge of the Arsenal box. Messi did the rest.
Arsenal equalized eight minutes after the restart thanks to Busquets’ ridiculous own goal. Arsenal then had van Persie sent off for apparently time wasting.
It was only a matter of time before Barcelona finished off Arsenal, thanks to goals from Xavi and Messi.
It was a harsh result for the Gunners, who had displayed tenacity and spirit throughout the tie.
Here is a look at five things we learned from the second leg:
Rigid and Inflexible Rules Cost Arsenal
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Leave it to the referee to destroy any hope of Arsenal progressing into the quarter finals.
Now, there is no denying that Barcelona were the far superior team when it came to possession and chances created.
But if the first leg has taught us anything it was one thing: possession hardly counts for anything, as long as the final result is in your favor. Barcelona had been extremely wasteful in front of goal throughout the tie and it looked like Arsenal’s resilience would come back and cost Barcelona dearly.
In the first leg Barcelona out passed Arsenal yet the Gunners managed to win the game. During the second leg Barcelona dominated the first half and barely gave Arsenal a sniff on goal. Yet eight minutes after the restart Arsenal found themselves level on the night and ahead on aggregate.
For about three minutes it looked like they could win the tie despite being second best. Then Massimo Busacca produces a “fantastic” bit of refereeing that changed the trajectory of the entire tie.
It’s hardly easy to play against Barcelona with 11 men on the field but with just 10, it was bordering on the impossible. UEFA can continue to add the number of referees on the field, but it will hardly make any difference if the main guy continues make such horrific decisions.
Theoretically, the decision was spot on, but it was hardly justified to send off van Persie. It was clear from his reaction that he hadn’t heard the referee’s whistle among 95,000 screaming fans. Yet the referee stuck by the rigid and inflexible rules and sent him off.
It was later shown that van Persie kicked the ball a mere one second later. Yes one second later. It was evident that he never heard the whistle and continued to play on.
It’s always good to have the rules, but when they become so rigid it’s time for change.
Barcelona Are the Superior Passers of the Ball but Profligacy Will Cost Them
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In the previous slide I mentioned that the referee was wrong in sending off van Persie, but that does not mean that the only reason Barcelona won was because of the stupid call. They also won because they created chances and dominated the Gunners.
Arsenal have been proclaimed as the closest contenders to Barcelona’s tag as the world’s best passers of the ball, but on this night they were made to look ordinary. Barcelona managed 19 shots on target while the Gunners failed to get even a single shot off.
Barcelona created chances, and had it not been for their profligacy in front of goal they could have got a few more goals. The likes of Messi, Villa and Afellay missed a few chances and failed to put the game behind Arsenal.
Even in the first leg they were surprisingly wasteful in front of goal with Messi being the main culprit.
Barcelona almost paid for their poor finishing, but Nicklas Bendtner’s poor finishing meant that they progressed. It might have been harsh on the Catalan giants if Bendtner had scored and thus eliminating them, but the game is hardly fair and Barcelona almost experienced that.
Almunia Is a Great Shot Stopper but Consistency Is His Biggest Problem
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When Wojciech Szczesny was substituted with an injury after just 18 minutes, I began to fear the worst. After all, it was the infamous Manuel Almunia who was coming on. However, he produced a great display of football and was faultless for all three goals.
He can hold his head high after this superb performance and he showed glimpses of magic. Last year he produced a goalkeeping master class during the first half of Arsenal's draw with Barcelona, but made a mistake to gift Ibrahimovic a goal in the second half.
This time around he hardly put a foot wrong and produced save after save to keep the Gunners in the match.
He did not look like a player who has played just three matches since September, and if he can continue this form he can minimize the loss of Polish duo Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski.
But that has always been his biggest problem, consistency. There has hardly been any doubt that he is an extremely solid shot stopper blessed with good reflexes.
But a good keeper is not a great shot stopper alone. He has to be consistent and that is something that has always been missing from Almunia’s game. He tends to make simple mistakes that often costs his team dearly.
Almunia is a great shot stopper, but his lack of consistency means that Arsenal fans will always be worried when he dons the gloves for the Gunners.
Arsenal Should Be Proud of Their Display and Can Hold Their Heads Up High
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Arsenal might have lost the tie and the match, but they can take pride in the way they played. Barcelona created a flurry of chances and the only reason they didn’t score more was poor finishing and some inspired football from Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou and Almunia.
For a team that is often criticized of being soft and mentally weak, Arsenal displayed resilience and steel that will make Arsene Wenger proud.
Despite all the pressure, Arsenal held fort and would have gone into half time all square had it not been for a costly mistake from their captain, Cesc Fabregas, as he gave up possession on the edge of the Arsenal box.
Laurent Koscielny might have given away the penalty that ultimately sent Barca through, but he had been mammoth for the Gunners at the back. Arsenal displayed a certain resoluteness that one normally does not associate with the London club. Considering the sheer volume of tackles he and Djourou had been putting in around the box throughout the game, a penalty was bound to happen.
The tie against Barcelona was a sign of how much the Gunners had progressed over the last year, mentally more than the quality wise. The Arsenal players can be proud of their heroic performance last night despite all odds.
Arsene Wenger Is Desperate to Win a Trophy
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Arsene Wenger shocked many (especially Pep Guardiola) by announcing that Robin van Persie would be fit to travel with the rest of the squad to Spain, and then surprised many more by starting the Dutchman. Another key player who started for the Gunners was Cesc Fabregas, the former Barcelona youth team player.
Van Persie was initially ruled out for three weeks but made a shockingly speedy recovery. This is not the first time that Wenger risked a player who was not completely fit. During the first leg he risked Nasri despite him stating before the clash that starting Nasri would be a “crazy gamble.”
For me it comes across as desperation. Now there is no denying that Arsenal should go into every match with the intention of winning it, but should he risk two players who are just returning from injury?
Both Nasri and van Persie have been fantastic this season and have been two of Arsenal’s best performers. Wenger easily risked these two players by playing them and he could have easily injured them further.
With every game in the league extremely important, it might have been better if Wenger had not risked these two players, especially van Persie.
Maybe it was his desperation to win that prompted Wenger to take a slightly defensive approach or it was simply the superiority of the Catalan giants. In the first half Arsenal came out with the mindset to be defensively resolute and it worked perfectly, until one moment of madness undid all the good work. Many have criticized Wenger for taking a defensive approach but I think it was a great plan by Wenger.
Last season, when Arsenal struggled to win against top opposition, many urged Wenger to take in a defensive approach and curb Arsenal's natural game. He refused. But on this occasion he took that risk and sacrificed his philosophy in order to win the match.
But it is evident that Wenger faces an unprecedented amount of pressure to win a trophy and end Arsenal’s drought.
