Date: Tues 6 April 2010
Teams: Barcelona v Arsenal
Venue: Camp Nou
Arsenal: Almunial, Sagna, Clichy, Silvestre, Vermaelen, Diaby, Denilson, Nasri, Rosicky, Walcott, Bendtner
Barcelona: Valdes, Dani Alves, Abidal, Marquez, Milito, Busquets, Keita, Xavi, Pedro, Messi, Bojan
Match Review:
Following the excitement of last week’s 2-2 thriller at the Emirates, the return leg at Camp Nou was highly anticipated. Both teams came into the match with injury and suspension worries with Arsenal missing long-term absentees van Persie, Gallas, Fabregas and Arshavin, as well as a fresh blow from the weekend with Song missing out now too. At the other end, Barcelona would be without centre-back duo Carlos Puyol and Gerald Pique, and injuries to key players Ibrahimovic and Iniesta meant that Barcelona would be far from full strength as well. While Arsenal came into the match as the real underdogs, it was not the first time that they had been in this position. In 2006, Arsenal won away to Real Madrid, courtesy of a Henry strike and they also defied the odds by winning away in recent years to Inter Milan and AC Milan. Barcelona would also have one eye on their weekend match coming up, as they are playing host to Real Madrid in an important top of the table match-up.
Arsenal started the match looking much calmer than they did at the Emirates but the first real chance fell Barcelona’s way when Lionel Messi let fly from just outside the 18 yard box and his shot was tipped behind by Almunia. Was this a sign of things to come? Moments later Messi tried his luck again but this time his shot dipped just over the cross bar. While Arsenal were enjoying a little more of the possession than when in London they weren’t really threatening going forward. That changed after about 18 minutes when Diaby managed to steal the ball at midfield, despite the Barcelona players claiming a foul was committed, and he set Walcott free down the right. Walcott squared the ball for Bendtner, who saw his first shot saved by Valdes, but the big Dane managed to get up ad slot the rebound home to give Arsenal the lead.
While Arsenal supporters and players alike were still trying to come to terms with the fact that they had gone 1-0 up, Barcelona were level. While you could say that it was Silvestre’s fault for a poor clearance, it was a wonderful piece of skill from Messi to gather the ball and unleash a rocket into the top left corner that even a brick wall wouldn’t have stopped. After a period of play which saw Wenger enraged by Walcott being cynically fouled with no yellow and Denilson getting a yellow for a clean tackle, things got much worse for Arsenal when Barcelona capitalised on a piece of fortune when a half clearance by Vermaelen fell to Abidal who slid the ball to Messi who blew past both Silvestre and Clichy and then lifted the ball over Almunia into the back of the net. It didn’t take long after that for the Argentine master to complete his hat-trick. This time Keita headed the ball through from the halfway line and Messi was first on to it before running through to the box to then brilliantly chip over a despairing Almunia. Halftime and it was 3-1 Barcelona and I am not sure what Wenger could have said to his troops to try and lift them from this one.
In the second half, Guardiola clearly showed he didn’t want a repeat of what happened at the Emirates and he set-up a more defensive formation and brought on Toure to replace Bojan. Arsenal saw more of the possession as a result but still failed to really challenge Valdes in the Barcelona goal. There were a couple of half chances for Bendtner and Rosicky before Messi capped off a memorable performance by scoring his fourth goal of the evening. After receiving a long pass from Xavi, the brilliant Argentine raced into the box and fired a low shot at Almunia which was saved but the rebound fell back to Messi who then coolly slotted it home. Game, set, match and Barcelona were through to the semi-finals to face Inter Milan and Arsenal were left wondering what they could have done differently.
18′ [0 - 1] N. Bendtner
21′ [1 - 1] L. Messi
37′ [2 - 1] L. Messi
42′ [3 - 1] L. Messi
88′ [4 - 1] L. Messi
Player Ratings:
Almunia – 6.5
After almost single-handedly keeping Arsenal in the match at the Emirates, I don’t really think there was much that Almunia could have done about any of the goals this evening. Maybe a world class save could have kept out one of them but it unfortunately still wouldn’t have been enough. He actually didn’t have nearly as much to do this evening as he did at the Emirates but still somehow had to pick the ball out of his net 4 times.
Sagna – 7
I thought Eboue may have started at right back this evening because of his offensive abilities going forward but Sagna played relatively well at the back. He definitely doesn’t provide the same sort of width or quality going forward as Alves does for Barcelona but he is generally reliable at the back and does get forward when opportunities present themselves.
Vermaelen – 7
Vermaelen did his best to lead by example this evening and thank goodness he was at the back to at least keep the score respectable. I really do hope we can find him a strong partner next year. I know that Gallas and him combined well at times this season but that is not the long-term solution. I would like to think that Djourou may be a good partner but only time will tell.
Silvestre – 5
Despite the fantastic finish, Silvestre’s poor clearance directly led to the first goal. While I am not sure whether Campbell would have been much better this evening considering his lack of pace, a club like Arsenal needs to have a better back up option than this. He was also left flat footed for the second goal as well. I don’t want to sound too one sided but one or one between Messi and Silvestre and I would bet that Messi takes him 99 times out of 100. That just won’t get it done if you want to challenge for the biggest honours.
Clichy – 8 (Man of the Match)
Clichy really impressed me this evening. Despite making a few too many ambitious forward runs that left us slightly exposed at the back, he really showed a desire and heart that I think lacked from some of the other Arsenal players. He was always first to 50:50 balls and seemed to be the last man back on more than one occasion. It is good to see Clichy back to his best.
Diaby – 6.5
I said before the match that Diaby was going to be important if we wanted to get anything out of this match and unfortunately he disappointed this evening. He didn’t seem to have his usual strength and composure on the ball and he failed to really threaten going forward. After a promising period during the middle of the season, I am afraid that Diaby has returned to his trend of drifting in and out of matches.
Denilson – 6.5
After shining against Barcelona at the Emirates as a substitute, I was also disappointed by Denilson’s performance this evening. Barcelona seemed to have so much space and time in the middle of the field and some of this was a result of Denilson’s inability to close down the space or show a willingness to track back. It really is frustrating to see Denilson chasing back at about 60% pace when everyone else is sprinting as fast as they can.
Nasri – 7
Difficult to know what to say about Nasri this evening. I think he did all that he could but Barcelona just close down on the man and the open space so quickly that Nasri had very little time to do what he does best. He think he also struggles a bit when playing with only one front man as it doesn’t give him very many options to play off of going forward.
Rosicky – 5.5
Really, really disappointing. Rosicky seemed to be well off the pace this evening and that isn’t what you need from one of your more experienced players. I lost count of the number of times he lost the ball and he also spurned a couple of good shooting chances. As sad as it is to say, he really hasn’t been the same player since coming back from injury. He is still a quality player and strong on the ball but he lacks that composure and creativity which really used to differentiate him.
Walcott – 7
Theo had a very promising start creating the run and pass that led to the goal and causing Barcelona all sorts of problems down the right. I think once Barcelona realised that Theo isn’t as good with the ball at his feet as he is running into space though things changed a little bit. There is no doubt that Theo’s pace causes real challenges for defenders but he can be very one dimensional at times. I only wonder what could have happened if Bendtner had set him free again on the break when Arsenal were 1-0 up?
Bendtner – 6.5
Yes, Bendtner scored the opening goal and credit to him for his perseverance but he had a couple other golden chances and he didn’t take them. First, shortly after going 1-0 up he led a break and chose the wrong option by not playing through Walcott. In the second chance he was too slow to get the ball out from under his feet when he was set through on goal and he saw an open header smash off the post, although I think he was offside anyway. Bendtner does offer us something different but when is that last time he really created a goal by himself with his own skill or creativity?
Substitutes:
Eboue – 6.5
Came on for Silvestre. I was surprised he didn’t start this evening. He showed some desire going forward but was penalized a couple times for silly fouls when he really didn’t need to be.
Eduardo– 6
Came on for Rosicky. He only had about 15 minutes on the pitch but I can’t really remember him making any real impact. It has been a disappointing season for Eduardo and I only hope that he can regain some of his form this summer.
Supporter’s Review:
The travelling away supporters were confined to a section quite high up in the huge Camp Nou stadium, but they could still be heard throughout the evening. While there was no doubting the magnitude of the match, I think the supporters were somewhat comforted by the fact that Arsenal entered the match very much the underdogs. When Bendtner scored the opening goal after about 18 minutes there was cheer jubilation, but every supporter was brought back down to Earth only moments later when Messi equalised. Like most Arsenal supporters, I am not sure how to describe how I feel right now. I am obviously disappointed that we lost, but I realise that we lost to the better team over two legs and that helps to ease the pain somewhat. I guess it really just leaves me more in thought about what we need to add to be able to complete with the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea, after failing to win a single game in six matches against these three clubs. The reality is that I feel we have really good players in most positions, but we lack world class players.
Manager’s Review:
Wenger stole some of the headlines in the build-up to the match talking about his own future. “My own personal future will depend on the capacity to win trophies, but as well to feel that this team is improving year after year because we are still very, very young.” This was obviously an important game for him to judge this.
While Arsene Wenger admitted that Barcelona was the better side for much of the match at the Emirates, he also commented that he saw a few weaknesses in Barcelona which he believed Arsenal could “exploit”. Following the much, however, he very much echoed the voices of everyone else when he conceded that Barcelona was the better side over the two legs and deserved to go through. “We had chances, but when you have players like Lionel Messi you pay for any mistakes you make. He’s the best player in the world by a large distance. He’s not always in the game, but when he gets on the ball he’s unstoppable. When he changes direction at such pace no-one can stay with him. Congratulations to Barcelona, they are better than us.”
Conclusion/Final Thoughts:
There are times in life when you just have to stand-up and admit that you were beaten by the better team and tonight was one of those nights. I don’t want to go on about what if’s in terms of injuries or missed chances because over the two legs Barcelona showed real class and they deserve to be going through. I think most of the Arsenal players put up real gutsy performances this evening but unfortunately that wasn’t enough. I would like to hope that we can bounce back from this and do our utmost to challenge for the league title, but I am sure this will have been quite a humbling experience for the players. You would like to think that this will be a learning experience for most of the young players, but you have to worry about whether this will have put certain realities into perspective for people like Wenger, who said his future at the club depends on the ability to challenge for trophies, and Cesc, who has constantly been courted by Barcelona to join their ranks.
Arsenal now have over a week until their next match, which should allow them to rest some tired legs and hopefully get a few players back from injury. Next up is Tottenham at White Heart Lane. Spurs have the FA Cup this weekend so we should definitely come in the fresher of the two sides.
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