Arsenal vs Barcelona

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010.

Emirates Stadium, London, UK.

It was billed as a beauty contest between Europe's two leading exponents of aesthetic, attacking football. To glance at the final score and it appears there will be much to play for in the second game in Catalonia. Though in reality the disparity between the two ideologies was embarrassing for large portions of the game. Particularly in the first half when Arsenal were in real danger of being completely overwhelmed by Barcelona's interpretation of the game.

They could have scored within minutes of the kick off and continually carved out clear opportunities in an utterly mesmerizing passage of play that saw Arsenal incapable of keeping the ball. During the early stages any suggestion that Arsenal would score, let alone draw this match seemed laughable. When encountering the best teams this season, Arsenal have struggles badly when trying to break down teams set up for the counter attack. Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton have all taken points at the Emirates using discipline using this tactic. What the Arsenal fans witnessed caused an atmosphere, translated to utter amazement and disbelief as Barcelona dominated on the front foot. In response Arsenal displayed a paralyzing fear of losing the ball that caused them to panic, trying to release the ball as soon as it arrived at there feet.

Since Spain's victory in Euro 2008 we are familiar with most of Barcelona's star names but tonight there were others who proved the true depth of this squad. The defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets might lack the presence or reputation of Yaya Toure but proved himself as Spain's heir to Marcos Senna in that role. The two full backs were also impressive, constantly roaming beyond any Arsenal cover and taking advantage of both Arshavin and Nasri who were sucked into the middle to win back possession. In these situations the Arsenal full backs found themselves hopelessly exposed and if there better finishing could have been out of the competition before thirty minutes was on the clock. After last years Champions League triumph there is no need to introduce the consistent brilliance of Xavi, Messi and Iniesta, although the latter was injured and would play no part in this game.

On the quarter hour mark Barcelona had three clear chances to score as a deep cross from Alves caused havoc on the area, the ball fell across goal to Xavi who forced a wonderful save from Almunia. As defenders tried to regroup position themselves in front of the gaol, Messi watched the rebound fall from the air and his volley was desperately beaten away by a combination of defender and goal keeper. It continued as Zlatan Ibrahimović was through on the left of the area and he forced another fine save from Almunia. This time raising an instinctive hand to push the ball away as the Swede tried to force the ball across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner.

Arsenal finally forced Barcelona onto the back foot as Nasri, cut in from the left onto his right foot and was allowed to place a fierce shot wide of the post. This was a rare moment in the first half when the midfield and forwards were able to combine, too many times there space between the too as players were pulled hopelessly out of position. Barcelona continued to create chances and should have opened the scoring when Alves sent in another dangerous cross and found three players unmarked at the far post, Pique rose and headed the ball gratefully into Almunia's arms.

(I would assume that Manchester United had no choice in excepting an offer from Barcelona to take back there composed center back. As it seems remarkable that they would let Gerad Pique go for such a small amount and that no other Premier League teams were prepared to offer more than £5 Million. Especially when they have just signed emerging Fulham defender Chris Smalling in a deal could be worth much more than £5M.)

There were other efforts from outside the area from Ibrahimović again and Messi but there shots all off target as the half drew to a close. When the whistle did blow there was a huge sense of relief coursing through the stadium as there was no denying the gap between the two teams over the first forty five minutes.

After all there possession and neat passing it was a long ball that finally unlocked Arsenal immediately after the restart. Alex Song was asked to stay in central defence after a recurrence to William Gallas's calf injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season. The young Cameroonian was impressive at the weekend when asked to perform the same task but Barcelona are entirely different opposition to West Ham. Unfortunately this change, coupled with a complete breakdown in communication allowed Ibrahimović to drift away from his marker. The ball bounced towards the right hand corner of the box and Almunia panicked, rushing from his goal and leaving Ibrahimović run onto the ball direct the ball over his head and into the empty net. After all the wonderful passing and movement they ultimately needed to use something as crude as a long ball, which lulled the Arsenal goalkeeper into a mistake.

Arsenal responded immediately though and Gael Clichy found himself in the opposition half after a neat passing move and drove towards the Barcelona defence. He sent over a wonderful cross that Nicklas Bendtner met with a powerful header, sending the ball back across goal only to see Victor Valdez in the Barcelona goal instinctively parry the ball away. Unable to build on this encouragement Arsenal found themselves further behind and the second goal was almost identical to the first. Ibrahimović drifted off Thomas Vermaelen's shoulders and Xavi poked the ball over the top, releasing the Swede and he bared down on the Arsenal goal. This time Almunia decided to stay on his line but could only watch Ibrahimović slammed the ball into the roof net beating the Spaniard at his near post as he could only raise an arm in protest.

After being forced into a number of substitutions through injury, Wenger decided to bring on Theo Walcott for the right back, Bacary Sagna. The change made an immediate impact on the game as he pushed the Barcelona left back onto the back foot. Nicklas Bendtner picked up the ball midway into the Catalans half and released Walcott to scamper in behind the left back. He took one touch, powering into the right hand side of the penalty and placed an early strike under Valdez. Cue a come back that barely seemed plausible when the game was tied, let alone 2-0. The feeling of belief started to swell in the stadium and Arsenal started to find a footing in the game, they lived dangerously at times though and Barcelona should have added to there lead. There magician, Xavi should have down better with a free header in the Arsenal box that he could only controlled wide of the goal. He then turned provider as he ripped open the Arsenal defence and released Messi into space behind the Arsenal defence. The Argentian though couldn't find the bottom corner as his shot was blocked from a tight angle.

As the game approached its conclusion Arsenal were awarded a penalty, as Carlos Puyol was adjudged to have prevented Cesc Fabregas from a clear goal scoring chance. The punishment also included a red card for Barca's shaggy haired captain as his legs tangled with Fabregas in an attempt to block Bendtnar's knockdown. Of course it was Fabregas who would take the penalty against the team he grew up with, the team who nurtured him. Stop me if this is started to sound like a bad T.V movie. He also picked up a yellow card in the first half to prevent him from returning home to the Camp Nou next week. However, visibly nervous he stepped forward and bludgeoned it past Valdez. The drama did not end there as it appeared he injured himself in the action of scoring and was forced to see out the game, limping as Arsenal had already made there three substitutions. There was no time for further drama as the game ended in an improbable draw, baffling that Barcelona managed to surrender the game to a spirited Arsenal come back.

Final Score - Arsenal 2-2 FC Barcelona