Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1 - "Barcelona, the best team in the world...", Player Ratings

     I don't even know where to begin with this. My heads buzzing.
Ah yes, how about the start of the match.

     So Nasri was chosen over Arshavin to play, and the rest of the squad stayed the same. It was our full starting XI (without Sagna) against their full starting XI (without Puyol).

     We started very well. RvP  had a chance early on as a result of fantstic close control from Walcott, and a fantstic chip from Cesc.
     Then Messi, the best player in the world, found himself one v one with Szczesny and put it wide. It really was fantastic keeping from Szczesny. Messi was waiting for the Pole to go to ground, and Szczesny didn't buy Messi's fake shot. He stayed big, which led the Argentinian to put his golden oppurtunity wide.

     However, we were holding a very high line. I was pleased and worried with that. I was pleased because Barcelona likes to posses the ball right on the edge of the oppositions penalty box and make short, quick clever passes. The Arsenal did not want that, and stopped that from happening.
     The downside to playing a high line is that Messi is a firebolt, along with Villa and Pedro. So if a good enough ball could be played into their patch, we'd be screwed.

     Then Song made a silly challenge on Messi.  A definite yellow card, and as a result he'd have to be careful the rest of the night.

     In the 26th minute, Messi played a perfect ball through for Villa, and he megged Szczesny with ease. One nil to Barcelona, and Arsenal heads began to drop.  After that Arsenal didn't pose any real threats on Barcelona, however Barca continued to pressure Arsenal.

     As a result of the pressure, Song was forced to make tackles in midfield. Unluckily, he wasn't winning his tackles despite the Barcelona falling down like feathers. A real concern for the Arsenal - If Song were to be sent off we'd be in a real hole.

     Then, right before half-time, Messi bundeld in a goal with his head. Luckily, the flag ruled him offside.
In the second half we started very, very brightly. We commanded the game. Not often do you see that against Barcelona. We pressured them well. We choked them until they said "Sorry for aimlessly passing the ball, here ya go". We were dominant. Our passing was better. Our movement off the ball was better and we held the ball for much longer than we did in the first half.

     The Catalan side had stints of pressure, however Koscielny especially snuffed out any hint of goal they dared smell.
     One sight of goal they did get was a break. Pedro was through and Koscielny tracked back to make the tackle. It was very important, because if he mistimed the tackle it would've been a red card and a penalty.  But it didn't matter. Pedro handeld the ball, and the (fifth?) official (hopefully) would've spotted it.

     But Barcelona is Barcelona, and they weren't going to stay quiet. Messi had two chances and his final shot hit the side netting. A close call.

     In the 68th Wenger made a fantastic switch. He put Arshavin on for Song, who was living on the edge after his yellow card. Therefore Wilshere was out only holding midfielder and Nasri and Cesc took up the creative positions as Arshavin played in his usual position.
     A real gamble, with Wilshere not exactly being the most solid defensive midfielder, but risks had to be taken as we were trailing by one goal.
     Walcott was ineffective during the match, despite most of the danger for Barcelona lying in his fast legs. As a result, Bendtner replaced him.

     By that time, i thought the match was lost. We had possesion in their half but no real goal scoring oppurtunities arose.
     But then RvP gave us hope.
     Clichy played a lobbed through ball for van Persie, who, from an absurdly tight angle, smashed it past Valdes's near post. It was fucking brilliant.  That strike was world class, and only a striker on as great form as himself could score a goal like that. It lifted the hearts of the players and the fans, and we were back in this match.
 



Bam



     Five minutes later, in the 83rd minute, we struck again. After suffering some pressure from Barcelona, Bendtner played a inch perfect square ball for Wilshere, who's quick thinking one-timed it to Cesc, who then played a brilliant ball over the top to set Nasri free. The frenchman then waited for support to arrive and he found Arshavin, who's one-time shot found the back of the net. A truly fantastic goal.
     The goal was very similar to the one van Persie scored against Wolves this past weekend. From our penalty box to theirs in just seconds. World class.
     At that time my head hurt from screaming in delight.




We scored an Arsenal goal, not a Barcelona goal.


     Barcelona applied some lat pressure, and questions arose when Arshavin looked to handle the ball in our own penalty box. However the replay showed that the ball cam off Arshavins head and his his hand, so it was clear that there was no real intent to play the ball with his hand.

     And that was that. We beat Barcelona.
     Not only did we beat Barcelona, but we came back and beat them. It shows real character to come back from one nil down to beat Everton, but to come back from one nil down to Barcelona is an entire different story.
     This result tonight really shows what Arsenal is capable of, and how far the swuad has gotten in just one year. And it's not even as if Barcelona played poorly, they played brilliantly. We just played better than them.

     One thing I am very upset about is that people have been saying that our second goal was a "Barcelona goal". Arsenal and Barcelona have similar types of play, however they are not the same. Arsenal has scored many goals like that, and we should be fully credited for it. It was a brilliant goal, scored by the Arsenal, so wouldn't that make it an Arsenal goal?

     Something I am happy about other than the result was the home support. It was fantastic. The Arsenal faithful never gave their lungs a rest and created a fantastic atmosphere. Hats off to those of you that were in the Emirates belting your lungs out.

Alright then, on to player ratings -

• Szczesny - 8 - He was fantastic today. He made himself big on many occasions to stop Barca from scoring, he was commanding in the box, and showed no nerves for his Champions League debut.

• Eboue - 5.5 - Defensively was able to keep Maxwell quiet, but when going forward he was poor and lost the ball on many occasions.

• Djourou - 6 - Not one of his best performances. Made some sloppy mistakes and gave the ball cheaply away. Outshined by his partner.

• Koscielny - 9 - Man of the match for me. Defended superbly. He read nearly all of Barcelona's moves, was not undone by their pace, did not commit many fouls, and kept Messi fairly quiet in the second half.

• Clichy - 7 - Did not defend to the best of his ability; his mind switched off at times, and positionally was caught out by Dani Alves's positioning, However, he made up for it with his fantastic assist for van Persie's goal, and his ability to keep David Villa fairly quiet at times.

• Song - 6 - Put his side in a very tough position when given a yellow card early on in the match. As a result of his poor tackles and likeliness to be sent off, he had to be replaced by Arshavin.

• Wilshere - 9 - Absolutely brilliant. Made 10 of his 11 passes in the final third, and rarely gave the ball away.  Tackling was timely and important, as he was the only holding midfielder in the second half. Played a big part in the second goal. Went past everyones expectations. As Piers Morgan tweeted him, he played better than Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi.

• Fabregas - 8 - Not everything came off for him tonight, although he helped create the match winning Arshavin goal, and managed to keep his side in focused after allowing the Barcelona goal. Great leadership.

• Walcott - 6.5 - Looked bright in the first opening minutes, but then died down as the match wore on. He did not trouble Maxwell as many anticipated, and did not live up to the expectation many set for him. However, he tracked back very well and helped give Eboue a lot of much needed cover.

• Van Persie - 8 - Started off well, but then died down. Wasn't a great influence on the game. But then in the second half his goal was vital and fantastic.

• Nasri - 8 - A fantastic match, especially after coming back from an injury. Covered Clichy well to a certain extent, and made the fantastic pass to Arshavin for Arsenal to win the match.

• Arshavin - 8.5 - Came on as a sub and showed the boss that he's back on form and is worthy of a starting position. Scored the fantastic goal to win the match.

• Bendtner - 6.5 - When he came on, he didn't really have an effect on precedings except for taking part in Arshavins goal.

• Arsene Wenger - 9.5 - Set his team out to do a job and get it done. At half time his team talk must have been excellent because the squad came out of the locker room with more intennstiy and class. Took a risk by taking Song off and leaving Wilshere as the sole holding midfielder. Arsenal could have let in another goal or two, but the gamble worked and Arshavin scored. fantastic.

     Well that's that. A fantastic win and one to remember, even if we do lose at the Camp Nou.

     I'll be back tomorrow. Rubbing this win in the faces of my Barcelona supporting friends is the main prioroty.