Arsenal left pondering what might have been as dominant Barcelona progress

Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1 (Barcelona win 4-3 on aggregate)

Messi 45, 69 pen, Xavi 71; Busquets (og) 53

While conceding three goals and without mustering a single shot in the entire game, Arsenal somehow pushed Barcelona all the way despite Robin van Persie‘s farcical sending off. They could even have won it late on had Nicklas Bendtner‘s control not failed him. But the reality is the better side won, and the visitors were grateful to substitute goalkeeper Manuel Almunia for keeping them in the tie to the very end.

Buoyed by the return from injury of both captain Cesc Fàbregas and, surprisingly, van Persie, Arsenal fielded a stronger line-up than many fans had been expecting at the weekend. Abou Diaby was preferred to Denilson in midfield, while the surprise inclusion of  Tomáš Rosický over Andrey Arshavin indicated a recognition of the need for high defensive discipline and workrate at the Camp Nou.

Szczęsny

Sagna – Djourou – Koscielny – Clichy

Diaby – Wilshere

Fàbregas

Rosický – van Persie – Nasri

The omens for Arsenal after their 2-1 first leg win were mixed. On the one hand, they had won just one (and lost three) of their six previous meetings with the Catalans, and entered this match having failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 15 Champions League away games. On the plus side, they had previously qualified on all but one of the 15 occasions on which they had won the first leg at home in European competition.

A solid first half let down by a calamitous finish

Arsenal defended stoutly during an opening period played almost entirely in their half of the field, but were let down in stoppage time by a moment of madness from, of all people, Fàbregas.

With nothing sticking up front whenever the ball was played out of defence, the sum total of Arsenal’s first half threat was a low cross from the right by Rosický which was a yard too far in front of van Persie. That really was it. Instead, the visitors knuckled down to the task of protecting their own goal in the manner that so many visiting teams to the Emirates have done in recent years.

Koscielny had an outstanding game, despite conceding a penalty (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

The centre back pairing of Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny were particularly outstanding. Time and again one of them would make a perfect covering tackle just when it appeared Arsenal’s defences would be breached. But on the one occasion when they did buckle, it had disastrous consequences. Koscielny fouled Pedro and was booked for his troubles. Dani Alves‘s 35-yard free kick was comfortably held by Wojciech Szczęsny, but the young Polish keeper dislocated a finger in the process, and had to be replaced by the much maligned Manuel Almunia.

Despite hogging both possession and territory, Barcelona struggled to break an unusually disciplined Arsenal down. They were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty on the half-hour mark when Lionel Messi was bundled over by Diaby’s late and clumsy challenge. David Villa scuffed a decent opportunity which rolled gently into Almunia’s hands, Adriano hit the outside of a post from an acute angle and Messi shot straight at Almunia after a mazy dribble. But that was about it until deep into stoppage time at the end of the half.

Attempting to play out of defence, Fàbregas back-heeled the ball towards Jack Wilshere but Andrés Iniesta intercepted. He played in Messi, who calmly clipped the ball over the advancing Almunia before volleying it into the unguarded net. It was a finish of breathtaking quality which followed a moment of crass recklessness by the Arsenal captain. Instead of going in at half-time goalless and still ahead in the tie, Arsenal were suddenly behind on the away goals rule and facing an uphill battle.

Referee Busacca hands Barcelona the tie

Arsenal now needed a goal to regain the initiative in the tie, and their prayers were answered within eight minutes of the restart. Samir Nasri made a rare successful foray forward, taking on defenders and earning a corner. The Frenchman whipped in the kick himself, and as the ball cleared the leaping Diaby at the near post, it bounced off the unsuspecting Sergio Busquets into the Barcelona goal. 1-1, and just like that the pressure was all back on Barcelona.

Almunia gave a fine performance after coming off the bench (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

Almost immediately, Villa raced through on goal and would have equalised had Almunia not stayed big and strong as he rushed off his line to block. But two minutes later the tie swung inexorably in Barcelona’s favour. Van Persie, who had been booked shortly before half-time for a small slap on Alves, raced through on goal and fired a shot wide having not heard referee Massimo Busacca‘s whistle for offside amid the cacophony of whistles and jeers ringing round the stadium. But the Swiss official decided this constituted deliberate time-wasting, produced a second yellow card and sent the Dutch striker off. It was such a pernickety and officious decision that it surely cannot have been the right thing to do.

With their difficult mission now rendered all but impossible, Arsenal were forced to retreat and batten down the hatches as wave after wave of Barcelona attacks crashed against their massed defences. Villa was twice denied by brave saves by Almunia. Alves fired over from 15 yards. A second Barcelona goal was all but inevitable, but it did not arrive until the 69th minute. Iniesta ran straight at the heart of the Arsenal defence, Villa helped the ball on and Xavi coolly slotted home, aided by a small deflection off Bacary Sagna.

Bendtner squandered a late chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

At 2-1, the game was heading for extra time, but two minutes later that possibility was removed when Koscielny upended Pedro as he darted into the area and Messi casually rolled the penalty kick in after sending Almunia the wrong way.

Even at 3-1, the tie remained on a knife-edge, with Arsenal requiring just one goal to put them through. Arshavin and Bedntner arrived for Rosický and the struggling Fàbregas as Arsène Wenger threw caution to the winds. And it so nearly paid off. As Almunia continued to defy Barcelona almost single-handed, Arshavin stole the ball in the Barcelona half and immediately fed Wilshere, who measured a delightful flick with the outside of his left boot right into the path of the advancing Bendtner. But the Dane’s poor first touch allowed Javier Mascherano to get in a crucial saving tackle before he could test Victor Valdés one-on-one. On such small margins are knockout ties won and lost.

In the final analysis Arsenal were not good enough to beat the best team on the planet over two legs. There is no shame in that.

Post-match reaction and analysis

An angry Arsène Wenger was particularly upset over van Persie’s dismissal:

When he [referee Busacca] made the decision it was a very promising game, very interesting. That’s the regret. We lost against a very good Barcelona side, congratulations to them and good luck for the future. We have many regrets tonight because we didn’t expect to lose the game like that.

If you have played football at a certain level, you cannot understand the decision. I cannot imagine that someone who has played football, in a game of that importance, makes that decision at the moment he did. Even if he heard the whistle, I still don’t understand the decision. It killed a promising, fantastic football match. What for? If it’s a bad tackle and a second bookable offence, then OK.

When asked whether Arsenal would have won the game with 11 men, he replied:

Yes. I felt Barcelona gave a lot in the first half where we were completely dominated, I agree with that. But in the second half,you felt there was more space and, I knew, like in the first game, we would come back into the game. I am convinced we would have won this game.

And his initial assessment of Szczęsny’s injury was as follows:

[It’s] a dislocated finger. We have to check the tendon and see how much damage is done.

If it is a ruptured tendon, Szczęsny’s season could well be over.

Finally, when asked whether this was  a big blow to Arsenal’s prospects for the remainder of the season, he said:

How big is the blow? We don’t know. That depends on our response on Saturday at Manchester United.

In terms of tactical analysis, let’s start with the obvious: Barcelona dominated this second leg from start to finish. The statistics do not lie. The aggregate score may have been only 4-3, but Barcelona had 19 shots (ten on target) to none for Arsenal, and enjoyed 68% of total possession.

While Wenger and his team felt justifiably indignant over van Persie’s sending off, it must also be remembered they were the beneficiaries of two huge decisions – one in each leg – which went their way. At the Emirates, a Messi header which would have put Barcelona 2-0 up before half-time was wrongly disallowed for offside. Here the referee missed a clear penalty for Diaby’s first half foul on Messi.

There is also no arguing about the quality of Barcelona’s play, both with and particularly without the ball. So much of their passing and movement was mesmerisingly easy on the eye. And as so many commentators are so quick to point out, there is something hugely impressive about their ability to press high up the pitch and hunt in packs when they lose possession.

And yet. What if Éric Abidal had been dismissed for grabbing van Persie by the throat? What if van Persie stayed on the pitch? What if an eleven-man Arsenal had been able to finish strong as the effort of Barcelona’s pressing game caused them to tire late on, as they had at the Emirates both this season and last? What if Bendtner’s first touch had not let him down? What if van Persie and Fàbregas, who had started to feel a twinge early on, were more than half-fit? Or if Theo Walcott had been available?

What if? What if? What if?

The simple fact is that Arsenal were outplayed. For long spells of the game they could not get the ball out of their own half. When was the last time an Arsenal side had no shots? There was a collective failure to retain possession which meant that every time the ball was cleared it came straight back at the Arsenal back four.

In that context, the defence was outstanding. Koscielny and Djourou made one brilliant tackle after another, but they were never going to be able to remain error-free for 90 minutes against the incessant barrage. Almunia reminded his detractors that he is a very good instinctive shot-stopper, making at least five excellent stops to keep his team in contention to the end. And as a team, the overall defensive effort was excellent. But it was just not to be.

Further forward, Fàbregas, Rosický and Diaby all gave ineffective performances – the captain can perhaps be forgiven for being less than 100%, although his back-heel to set up the opening goal was shockingly casual. Only Wilshere – and to a lesser extent Nasri – ever really got into the game. The young Englishman looks every inch a future club captain.

I don’t want to dwell too much on Bendtner’s mis-control – it happens even to the very best players – but the fact that this was the closest an Arsenal player came to scoring in the entire game speaks volumes about the balance of play. Arsenal had just two touches in the Barcelona box throughout the 90 minutes. Barcelona had 47 touches in the Arsenal area.

And while it is easy to point at Arsenal’s apparent inability to pick up the pace in the final 20 minutes, this was down to the impact of having had to chase the ball for the first 70 minutes rather than a lack of urgency or motivation. Quite simply, Barcelona passed Arsenal to the point of exhaustion – just as Arsenal have done to so many other teams over the years.

The better team won. In football that isn’t always the case – nor should it be, as it would be a dull sport if it was – but it is both a consolation and an indication of how far this improving squad still needs to progress if it is to lift Europe’s top club trophy.

Arsenal must now pick themselves up for their FA Cup visit to Old Trafford to play Manchester United on Saturday, a game which could have an important bearing not just on the Cup, but on the outcome of the Premier League too. United are already on the ropes, and if Arsenal can deliver a knockout blow this weekend, the Double will remain a very real possibility. While confidence may be at a low ebb, motivation, at least, should not be an issue.