Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1 - Match Review



"ARE YOU SENDING ME OFF? SORRY I CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOU'RE
SAYING BECAUSE OF THE 95,000 PEOPLE SCREAMING AROUND US"

     Well. Where do I begin. So many points I want to deliver, but my thoughts are swirling around in a chaotic maelstrom. Brilliant. I'll just do this in cronilogical order I suppose.

     Pre-match, we Arsenal fans were given brilliant news. Van Persie was fit to start. Along with him Cesc, and other than that the only surprise inclusion was that of Rosicky. So we started out like this.

                      van Persie

   Nasri            Fabregas       Rosicky

               Wilshere      Diaby

Clichy     Koscielny    Djourou    Sagna

                       Szczesny

     Then kick off came and as one would imagine, we sat back in our half. We continued with the tactic of keeping a fairly high line, and it seemed to work. But with Barca in our half, and with them controlling so much of the ball, our lineup mutated to something like this:

                      van Persie

                      Fabregas
  Nasri    Wilshere     Diaby   Rosicky

Clichy    Koscielny    Djourou    Sagna

                       Szczesny

     To be honest, we defended well. Nasri was doing decently to keep Dani Alves shut up, but Clichy looked confused at times with the movement of the Barcelona players. Even so, we were doing alright.
     Although our defense looked assured, I still got a little twinge in my throat/heart (I'm not sure) whenever I'd see Villa/Messi/Pedro make a run through our back line, just waiting for Xavi or Iniesta to play the perfect pass. Luckily, they didn't find it, and the first half was fairly scarce of very clear cut chances. There were some times when a last ditch tackle saved us, via Djourou and Koscielny's great play. Koscielny did slip up at one time though, when he made a poor challenge Messi in the box, and we got away with it. We were riding our luck.

     In the 16th minute I wanted to cry. Koscielny was booked for a foul on Dani Alves which was a soft card, and the Brazilian took the resulting free kick. The stinging shot was saved by Szczesny but with a price tag attached. Szczesny was forced to go off with a dislocated finger (so what I have heard so far). That led to Almunia coming on, and I feared the worst.

     Offensively, we were poor. When we got the ball we failed to keep it for more than four passes and van Persie must have been frustrated. I think there were a couple reasons to why we couldn't go forward well:

• Once we would win the ball back, we would try and find van Persie to hold the ball up so we could push forward. However, our passes weren't on the same wave length of van Persie's movement.
• Barca pressed us very well and we weren't quick enough to find feet; they snuffed us out.
• Cesc, the man that links up everyone on the field, was having a poor match. His passes were sloppy, and part of the reason for that was his lack of fitness and also he said he felt a twinge in his hamstring after 15 minutes, but played through it.

     The half seemed to fly by from my point of view, because I looked at how much time had passed and saw it had already been 40 minutes. Then it hit me: I think we can do this. We've already defended for one half of the match, why not two?
     In response, Messi popped his head through the teli said to me: "You're real thick mate" and scored. I was crushed. Usually when a tiny little greasy man insults you, you'd be infuriated, but the fact that his goal came just a minute before half time made it so much worse, and put me in a shocked, depressed state.

     We did go forward on some occasions, but none of our attacks posed any real threats. While we were in their end, prior to the goal, a scuffle was induced because Wilshere went down and stayed down after a rough tackle where his ankle turned over. Clearly he was hurt, and once the referee stopped play the Barcelona players went mad. Soon enough the majority of the two sides surrounded the 19 year old, and on the side of the chaos, Abidal grabbed van Persie and shoved him by the neck.
     This to me, is a clear red card. You simply cannot do that.

Abidal mad that Dani Alves is a cunt

     Not only that, but Dani Alves grabbed Nasri by the neck as well. In the picture below, it is clear that the referee did see this incident, and still  did not hand out even a yellow card. The referee was shit, in simple terms.

Meanwhile Jack is lying on the ground, unnoticed.

     Van Persie was clearly riled up because of this incident, and it took some time to calm him down. Once play resumed, RvP crossed paths with Dani Alves and picked his nose I believe, it all happened fairly quickly through tangled hands.
     Alves did what he does best, and rolled around on the ground, writhing in nonexistent pain. None the less, it was a yellow card offense, and Robin was booked. UEFA regulations states that shit referees are given to Arsenal's most important matches, and that picking the noses of the opposing team is unacceptable.
     I expected more from him, being a professional like himself. His experience would lead you in the direction that he would be above that kind of immaturity, but I suppose the frustration of being up top alone for an entire half and struggling got to him.

     So half time came, and I was very pleased with our performance despite Messi's goal. I thought we were defending well enough and could grind out a 0-0 draw, of course until they scored.
     But Messi's goal meant we would have to attack, and I was very worried about having to commit numbers forward in the second period. I was afraid of being caught on the break. But we couldn't do nothing. We had to attack.

     In contrast to the first half, I thought we started well. The ball was at their end more than it had been previously, and while we never mustered anything near a serious threat, it was a start. Nasri won a corner for us, and I thought dead balls were our best chance of scoring.
     Funny isn't it, in the Premier League it's our weak point, and against Barca it's our best form of attack.
So Nasri swung the corner in, Diaby made a run into the box and leaped like a fucking kangaroo but couldn't quite reach it. But his hard work wouldn't go in vein. Because of his jump, it put Busquets off and the ball went off his head and into the goal. Haha.

     When that went in, I was confused. It took me about ten seconds to realize we had scored. The ball was in the net, but I thought Diaby missed the ball? I didn't hear the referee blow his whistle?* Is it a foul because all those Barca players are on the ground?
     Then the cameras turned to Arsenal celebrating, and I was overjoyed. At 1-1, we could go through! We defended well for 42 minutes of the first half, why not 40 of the second? And we were going forward better than before!
*I should've seen the foreshadowing

     Oh, wait. The incident.
     Fabregas played a ball over the top for van Persie, he controlled the ball, but his shot was wide. It didn't matter though, because he was offside. However, the referee thought Robin was time wasting and gave him his second yellow of the night.

     What kind of bullshit is that? In a stadium of 95,000 fans, how is van Persie supposed to hear one man's whistle. Not only that, he never looked over to the linesman, nor the referee. He controlled the ball, and immediately And not only that, it was only one second between the whistle being blown and RvP shot it. I could understand being the yellow card (being a player myself) if Robin had performed a chip shot of some sort, but his shot was full of intent and he looked frustrated with himself that he missed his chance. But still, a red card offense? Is it really worth it to knock Arsenal out of the Champions League with that call? Utter horse shit.
     Congratulations Busacca, brilliant play.

Oh, sorry. I guess you don't like it
when I congratulate your proffesionalism.

     So now we were really screwed. How we were going to get back into the match, I had no idea.
     We were forced played without a striker for 20 minutes, Wenger not willing to take the risk so early on to take a midfielder of for Bendtner or Chamakh. And when we were able to go forward it was Nasri vs. Barcelona.
    
     Now the objective was just to hold onto our aggregate lead and hope for the best.
But because of the red card, Barca really pressed, and they found the breakthrough in the 69th minute.
     Credit to Barcelona, it was a brilliant goal. Iniesta drove into our defense, gave it to Messi, who's first touch slipped Xavi through and you couldn't ask any more from Almunia. He did brilliantly from when he came on to keep the scoreline low, but this time the finish was perfect.

     So 2-1. If we could hold onto that scoreline and not let them score again it would go to extra time, and maybe penalties. I for one did not want that. I honestly thought there was no way we could stop Barcelona for an extra 30 minute with 10 men.
     Luckily for us, Barcelona hushed that idea. Messi drove into the box, and Koscielny's fairly rash challenge wasn't going to be unnoticed twice. Definite penalty. Messi stepped up and made it 3-1. The match was over at that time in my eyes, and even a super sub couldn't save us.

     Arshavin and Bendtner came on to try and save the match for us, and Nik could've. Late on, we caught them on the break, Wilshere put a ball right into Bendnter's path, his first touch let him down, and Mascherano smothered. Had his touch been better, or had he taken the shot first time, he would've sent us through to the quarter finals. I'm sure of it. Football really is a game of "If only", isn't it?

     Once we were into stoppage time, Barca flexed their muscles and played the possession game. When we did win the ball back, it seemed our players didn't know we only needed one goal to go through. They were simply jogging, with no urgency. Only in the last 15 seconds did we finally boot the ball up field and hope for the best. But by that time it was too late. We were knocked out of the Champions League.

     First of all, credit to Barca. We were dominated in the first half, and they out played us. Second half - I think it was a different story. From kick off of the second period, the game looked as if it would be more open; we were going forward better, and it was a corner that got us a goal. I really was confident we could get a result, as was Wenger, who said that he was confident we would have won the match (whether he was referring to the tie or the match itself, I'm not sure, but i believe he meant the match). Then van Persie's sending off.

     Fuck that shit. As Arsene said, the referee could not have played professional football in a match of that importance to make a decision like that. He completely spoiled what looked to be a very exciting second half between the two best sides in the world (when Arsenal isn't being fucked over by a referee). To those who were unbiased and just wanted to see some good, exciting football, I'm sorry. For a referee to spoil a match of such importance is just atrocious.
     I am fully confident that if we didn't lose van Persie, we would've gone through. For the time in the second half that RvP was on the field, we were a much more of an attacking force. I think we could've grinded out a draw or even gotten a win.

     One thing I don't approve of is that some people are trying to use the sending off as too much of an excuse. Yes, it did spoil the match, but some are choosing to neglect that fact the Barcelona out played us with 11 v 11. The stats proved that. We had no shots at all last night. They are the best team in the world without a doubt, but it's not always the best team that wins. As Nasri says, "Football is like that sometimes".

     I have also heard about some of our fans at the Nou Camp, and their naughty behavior. Shame on you. You embarrassed the club, and when you're going to complain about the class of Barcelona, don't be a hypocrite. To those of you that made the trip to Barcelona and supported the team as a fan should, thank you for your support.

     Lastly on my rant, I pity those that are very upset with the fact we haven't gone through. I think those people need to realize that we were going up against the best side in the world, and that if Arsenal is to be knocked out of any cup, going out at the hands of Barcelona is no embarrassment. Not only that, we are still in contention for the league and FA Cup.
     And I'm not even going to mention or argue with the comments asking for Wenger's dismissal.


     Player ratings now...

• Szczesny - 8 - It's hard to judge him, since he was never really tested and he went off the pitch so early. He dealt with Barca's early shots well none the less.

• Sagna - 6.5 - Adriano made a fool of him on occasions and I don't think his communication with the rest of our defense was very good. Also, when we had the ball he didn't make the best decisions with his passes.

• Djourou - 8 - Without him, the scoreline would have been much different. He made some important last ditch tackles and the offside trap worked well.

• Koscielny - 7 - Yes, he gave up two penalties and got away with one, but along with Djourou he snuffed out danger and kept the scoreline lower than it could've been. The communication between he and Djourou was very good, except for the second goal perhaps.

• Clichy - 6 - At times he looked confused and did not stay tight enough to Dani Alves/Pedro. He was beaten many times and he did not give us the width required when we were defending.

• Diaby - 5 - I didn't want him to play, and his positional play was terrible. His physical dominance did not show and I think it is clear that Denilson would've been the better choice. Diaby took much too long on the ball and the last thing we needed last night was a lack of pace in our attacks.

• Wilshere - 7.5 - The consistency of this 19 year old is astounding. However, just one man can't turn a match against Barcelona around. he almost did though when he sent Nik up perfectly in the closing moments of the match but the Big Dane couldn't finish.

• Fabregas - 5.5 - Very disappointing. His poor play was partly due to his injury he felt at 15 minutes, and he really should have requested a sub. Being the captain of our squad, he should be the pinnacle of professionalism. His naive back heel led to their first goal, and his overall passing was shambolic. The worst match I've ever seen him play.

• Rosicky - 6.5 - A surprise inclusion to the squad, but I think it was a smart, tactical one. He played decently, but gave Adriano too much space on the flank.

• Nasri - 8 - For playing in such a defensive role he did very well. Like Rosicky, he gave Alves a little bit too much space but Nasri obviously isn't a defensive minded player. Going forward he was alone at times, but did manage to win the corner that set up "our" goal.

• Van Persie - 6 - He couldn't get into good areas to pick p the ball, and when he was in those areas, his passes weren't up to par. His first yellow was stupid on his part, but he was unlucky for the second.

• Almunia - 8.5 - My man of the match. Without his brilliant saves, we would've lost by much more than just two goals. He made himself big on many occasions, and while he let up three goals, he was not to blame for any of them. Now we can go to Old Trafford with at least a little bit of confidence in our keeper.

• Arshavin - 6.5 - He was forced to play on the right side so that Nasri could help defend against Alves, and it is clear that the Russian isn't the best at attacking from the right side. Never the less, he strung passes together and did decently.

• Bendtner - 5.5 - His rating is really based on his missed chance. His poor touch took the ball into traffic, and he should've proved to the world how good he is, but he didn't. His hold up play was better than van Persies, but van Persie would've finished the chance Bendnter had.

• Wenger - 6 - He did very well with his medical team to get van Persie fit, but I thought his team selection wasn't the best. I would have liked to see Denilson in place for Diaby, and Abou proved me right. Also, poor to put RvP in when it was clear he wasn't fully fit. Another complaint was that he waited so long to put Bendtner on. We needed a central striker to hold the ball up, and Arshavin wasn't going to be able to make a huge impact without a central striker.

     Going back to the sending off, Wenger naturally had very strong words regarding the referee and his decision. As a result, he has been charged by UEFA for his actions. The punishment will be decided on Thursday, along with a punishment for Nasri, for his comments. Nasri tweeted:

"Thank you for your support once again u were amazing sorry for the result now we have to think about Man utd game and we still have a league to win and by the way bussaca is the best....pff"

     Haha. I mean, to be absolutely brutally honest, Nasri said nothing wrong. You can't assume he was being sarcastic. None the less, I could care less. If he's handed a ban it will be for the group stage of next year.
     And if you're wondering about van Persie's charge, UEFA hasn't handed one out yet for van Persie's strong but true comments about the red card.

     So an injury update and Szczesny has suffered from a disloacted finger and won't make the trip to Old Trafford this Saturday. In his place will be Almunia, and Arsenal has recalled James Shea from his loan to Southampton. Rumors are going around that Cesc won't be able to make the trip either. Brilliant. On the other hand, we'll have van Persie back, but more on that with my preview.

     Speaking of Cesc, he tweeted this which is heart breaking:

"Great support from the arsenal fans. I take full blame for the result tonight. One of the worst moments of my life. I apologise."

     Perhaps this is a little early, but Benik Afobe scored for Huddersfield in his last match. I can't wait to see him back in our squad. Screw Diaby and Denilson.

     Well I think I'll end this post on that positive note. Another year out of the Champions League, but all the more reason to do the League and Cup double.
    Cheers.