A statistical comparison to highlight what I mean about the aggregate scoreline not being indicative of the difference in the teams' respective abilities. If you take chances created and convert so that Barcelona end up with the number of goals they scored, you get an aggregate of 5 - 3.333 in their favour (or 5-3 when converting to a whole number obviously). That's essentially the difference I see over 180 minutes of football, a 2 goal difference- albeit it was without our best CM, somebody who was immense against the best midfield in the world- Bayern Munich's "VAT" and our 2 other best players in a run of poor form. Speculation to how we would've faired with Santi in the team and Mesut & Alexis on form, my guess is we would've created more but still missed at the same ratio as I've seen all season. Essentially, we need a world class finisher and that's the biggest difference between the 2 sides. Amazing when you consider Barca have 3 up front!
@asinko- It's actually only the difference between a non-world class striker & a world-class one plus also a better defensive setup when playing Barcelona/Bayern (only) to counter their depth of world class attacking players. No other team touch the 2 aforementioned in terms of the front 6 so there's no chance of outgunning them, but there is more than 1 way to win and a better defensive setup plus a world class striker and it'll transform our team. I don't think we'll get either with Wenger in charge though...
@nceshNcero- We Gooners say that every year but it never happens. Wenger is too arrogant and stubborn to learn as is evident by a press conference before this game where he essentially intimated he was unsackable because he built the club in the 90s. Even without a title for over a decade, he still believes he is untouchable.
@neumi17 as i said. they need a quality expensive striker and another attacking middle fielder with pace and dribbling skills and keep they styl of play. the pace and possesion. they can do wonders in europe. arsen wenger is not a problem. he just needs to be more ambitious. seek the ucl and pl.
arsenal needs to buy two great stars. another great foward and a centet mid. insult to think they can bit quality teams with expensive quality team. real iinsult. arsenal not serious.
I was proud with our performance tonight. We lost but we deserved a draw. Over the 2 legs, Barcelona were better so deserve to go through. I can't argue the result of the tie but the scoreline doesn't do us justice imo. In terms of chance creating, both teams were level and if we had their front 3, we would've won by a couple of goals ourselves. I don't agree when people say quality of individuals decided the first leg, I thought a large part of that was down to poor 2nd half tactics and timidness but this game pretty much was 50-50 with world class strikers deciding the result. We dilly-dallied with our chances (although the fact Welbeck got in those positions is a positive for his development into a 9 is concerned) which allowed the Barca defence to get back whereas Neymar and Messi shot at the exactly the right time. Can't defend against Suarez's volley and it's the 3rd time in as many weeks a wonder goal has been the decisive one. All the fans want to see is effort and we got that.
@SteveHyland hahahaha Steve one must admire how one eyed ARSENAL you are. Of course they were far from disgraced but I don't know where you get this "deserved a draw" from. I had 2 weeks wages on the 1st leg, and 6 weeks wages on this leg, and I was never sweating on it even at 1-1 one who knows both teams well could easily see that BARCELONA would trump as they did.
And to name 1 goal as "the decisive one" when it was 3-1 seems a bit funny also. ARSENAL have been struggling in all competitions lately and this performance was absolutely typical of their weak form.
@Quest- I do get what you mean by the section of your comment- "...one who knows both teams well could easily see that Barcelona would trump as they did" but I simply don't agree. In my experience of watching even good teams of the past (and Arsenal are a good team, not just a great one) it's the creation of chances, or more importantly, a lack of, which gives the air of predictability of a result. I would wage 8 weeks of YOUR money lol, that no team has created as many chances as Arsenal did at the Nou Camp and Real Madrid definitely wont on the 2nd April. Sure we didn't convert them, and we're bottom of the prem in terms of conversion, but ultimately I don't see a team that contains good players and a couple of world class ones that happens to create a ton of chances as predictable losers. We wouldn't have been able to beat Bayern if it was that clear cut. Neymar and Suarez actually converted their chances at a BETTER ratio than their season avgs incidentally and needed to to win.
@Quest- Well, clearly you're an idiot if you actually did wage 8 week's money on 2 games of football given the number of variables involved in human vs human competition. I'm not sure how you weren't sweating when we had so many efforts at goal. It wasn't a given we'd miss them. I must admit I didn't assume we'd score but it took some last ditch tackles and poor shots on our part to prevent our goal tally from being more than 1. If Barcelona prevented us from getting many shots off or they were all speculative efforts then sure, but that wasn't the case and I've only seen pro-Barcelona/Liga (or anti-EPL ;-) ) people mention anything to the contrary. The reason the 2nd goal was the decisive one is pure psychology. I'm not surprised you didn't understand what I meant :-p , but you could see at 1-1 we believed we could score a 2nd then from there all it takes is a last-minute header from a corner or something equally unpredictable. The belief visibly evaporated after Barca's 2nd though.
Alba was an absolute beast this game... best defender by far. 7.3 does him injustice.
Mascherano was a huge liability, and Mathieu made a bad mistake that once, but was generally the more solid of the two.
@alexreg Matthieu is crap. He nearly gifted Welbeck a detrimental goal. If Mascherano didn't make that key tackle to stop Welbeck, Barca might have been kicked out already.
@alexreg na ,mascherano was the one who ws much more solid . rather mathieu was a bit uncomf. . rather i think it would have been better to play vermaleen than mathieu . mathieu is a great left back but not a good cb .
How does one shut down MSN? Both Suarez and Messi had off games, but they only need one or two chances. If you give him anything, they will punish you right away. Even if you defend everything, one moment of that pure magic. It's either a master class volley from the most talented striker of this generation or a mind blowing chip from nothing by that guy Messi. Genius. Other than that, he was looking tired today. But what about Neymar? Passing, dribbling, decision making, cold finish for the first goal. Brilliant player.
@wladi83 Bellerin got torn a new one by Neymar... his positioning was awful. Still has a lot to grow as a player. Elneny was so-so, very lucky not to get a yellow or two. Iowbi was quality though, going forwards at least.
We created lots of chances to score here, there were periods where we made Barca's defence look pretty ordinary too. I wouldn't say Barca really created better chances, just that they had some exceptional finishes, as you would expect from the greatest forward line ever, which was the main difference between the teams. Both games were in fact closer than the scores suggest, but of course no one will give us credit for that or remember it in future. And Iwobi looked a bit special tonight, except for the dive, I hope Bouldy gives him a good flogging for that when they return.
@What4 A bit deluded, you are. Barça by far created the better chances. Most of Arsenal's defending was last-ditch challenges, plus some top saves by Ospina.
Now, Barça's defence WAS ordinary because Mascherano was playing it. And Mathieu didn't look comfortable alongside him. Barça opted for counter-attack and not control, and that showed. The difference was that Barça was capable of soaking up the pressure when Arsenal attacked, but the reverse was not true.
@alexreg- Better chances? If we had Lewandowski rather than Welbeck, we'd have scored at least 2 just from the #9 position. Barca didn't soak up the pressure, we had more shots- we just shot over/wide for the most part. They are errors on our part not Barca brilliance in defence. I would love to see a first choice XI against this Barca side, I'd fancy them to score 4.
@alexreg Pot, kettle, black. Arsenal actually created more chances, and when Barca's defence wasn't absent, it was just as last-ditch as Arsenal's, similarly for ter Stegen's keeping.
@What4 You clearly watched a different game haha. Barça shut out most chances before a shot was even taken. Arsenal had most of their attempts from OUTSIDE the box. Did that fact pass through your dense skull? I suppose not.
There's no denying Mascherano is an awful defender and would have been roasted by someone better than Welbeck. But he wasn't, because the Arsenal attack was average, and basically just had pot shots from outside of the box the whole game.
@What4 I give credit where it's due and your comment is on point. Glad to see some sense from you. Anyway, yes, games were closer than one might think upon learning the score. Still, I can't say that I saw that Arsenal seriously threatened Barcelona's campaign. Yes, there were few moments of momentum, but Barcelona would just bounce back. I think Barcelona played as much it was needed. And it needed a lot. Good game and a lot of positives from Arsenal. Wenger's tactics spot on and great performances from Elnemy and Iwobi. What impressed me about Iwobi is his willingness to compete with Barca's superstars. He didn't back down or retreat. Very good quality in a young player. Hope to see him get more chances. I think everyone gets some satisfation from this game.
P.S. There is absolutely no possible way to shut down MSN. Goals from Suarez and Messi are simply astonishing. Two different fiishes yet similarly inventive and brilliant in execution.
Arsenal are a pathetic side they have successfully managed to make a champions league round of 16 match boring. Malaga put up a better fight, seriously, they do.
@Beastador- Funny how nobody said that of Juventus last season. People were praising their "tactical brilliance" but they're an Italian team so different rules hey? ;-)
@What4 Haha hardly. You didn't create a single clear-cut chance 1st half. A lot of exaggerated half chances, maybe only the Alexis header should have troubled the keeper (it didn't). Your only clear-cut chances of the game was the FK in the 2nd half.
Are we really expecting to compete with the Barcelonas and the Bayern's of the world with a team featuring players like Gabriel, Flamini, Iwobi (Fine young player, but not ready for this) and Elneny ?
@zhimipe They're all 2nd string except for Cazorla, Cech, and arguably Ramsey. Ospina was brilliant though: better shot-stopper than Cech, just not as commanding.
@Mohamed_Shaker Sure he's doing good now. But can he do it consistently over a season. I like Elneny, i think he was a fine addition to the squad but right now he's not starter material
@MiguelSuave I don't think there's a team in Europe that could score more than Barca over 180 minutes right now. Tonight is them playing without pressure, and they will still score at least two goals purely because they are so creative, regardless how Arsenal play.
@JaydeepJG You could see Arsenal overcoming 2-0 with Petr Cech? They could have Cech, Viera and Tony Adams all in their prime, and I still wouldn't see them going through
Small tin pot Arsenal will be focused on Everton instead of Barca. Pathetic little club who do the same thing every year.What's the point of them being in the champions league?.Tottenham got into the quater finals in their first try. Leceister will be entertaining next season and i hope even west ham qualify for a laugh.Arsenal just stink out the champions league with their repetitive nonsense. Barca needs to tonk them 10-0 so they learn that they do not belong at this level.
I want Barcelona to go with full throttle. But as we have seen many times, in knockout stages, after winning the first leg, Barcelona tends to play safe in second legs. Even in La Liga game, after scoring in first 60 mins, Barcelona play final 3rd of the game on walking pace. A draw or narrow win might be on the cards today. The reason might be because they will want to conserve energy, avoid injuries late in the game, and avoid unnecessary cards and get good practice of tiki-taka against quality opponents. May be because, Barcelona are here for Marathon and not sprints. They have their eyes set on another Treble.
Dont see any arguments for Arsenal, Ozil of course will be the key man for visitors, but no chance this Arsenal could past Barcelona on road. Strong fight, but anyway, Barcelona to win.
Missi=because messi doesnt depend on PKs to pad up stats.
Walkessi= beacause messi dominates games even at walking speed,
Midgetsi= because messi doesnt dive under pressure from big defenders, a small man with super strength.
Uefalona= because barcelona dominates champions league
But,
Divenaldo= for diving
Penaldo= for depwnding on PKs to win individual awards
Gaynaldo= for visiting moroccan bf
Like if u think messi is better or dislike if u think ronaldo is behind messi
@Lapulga You mean Uefalona because UEFA do everything they can to help Barcelona win right? How is Alba playing? He should have gotten a straight red in the last match and the officials should have picked it up after the match. Any deliberate head contact should be a ban. Dispicable from UEFA.
Big fan of Messi over that self important (but formerly legendarily good) Ronaldo.
Arsenal are like a wounded animal and I would not underestimate them. In CL in last few seasons.
Arsenal lost to AC Milan at Emirates 4:0 in 2012 season and won 3:0 in Sansiero, Bayern in 2013 3:1 at Emirates, 2:0 Allianz Arena, Dortmund the following year, 2:0 Emirates, Win 2:0 at Westfalenstadion. Monaco last season, 1:3 Emirates, 2:0 Stade Louis II stadium. Olympiacos 3:2 Emirates, Karaiskakis Stadium Arsenal win 3:0! This is just in Europe. domestic Cups, could not beat Hull 2 weeks ago at home, 0:0, Thumbed them 4:0 away following week! If these stats dont upset the odds then nothing does. Barcelona are favorites to win the competition but Im sure Enrique and his players are wary that Arsenal can shock anyone! 1:1 final score
@albgunn It just occurred to me, I wonder if it isn't the infamously spoilt and demanding home "support" that may be affecting our performances at home.
@What4 I believe the squad lacks leadership at crucial games, once things start to wobble in any game Arsenal are under pressure, the whole team just collapses, there's no one to look up to when facing difficulties. Arsene Wenger is primarely responsible for assembling the current squad. Arsenal plays the most fluid and non aggressive football you could say even in Europe. Their discipline record is attracious against big teams and they don't even play aggressively. How many important games has Arsenal had a player sent off for no reason whatsoever! The whole squad has 3/4 world class players in if. The rest are just casual bottlers and nothing will change as long as Arsene Wenger reigns! Remember last summer was the only team in Europe to not have signed an outfield player when the whole squad needed improving. Wenger made Arsenal about £160m last year alone in profit!
I think this is likely to be 3 or 4-0. Even if Barca play at 60-80%. Only chance is an early red card, but Barca have the UEFA referees in their pocket. As Arseblog eloquently states : " Mascherano could leap on Ozil’s back as he was clean through on goal, chew off his ear, spit it in the referee’s mouth before pissing down his leg, and Mesut would get a yellow for protesting. Still, you never know in football. Except when it comes to Barcelona away in Europe, then you know. "
@Overmars Yes, Arseblog totally does not sound in any way, shape or form a site that could possibly be biased on this matter at all. Very eloquent, very true!
@Overmars We all know UEFA only want 'big' clubs in the semis and finals, to help the commercial side of things. You wonder why they then go out of their way to include small clubs from nowhere, just so Ronaldo can pad his goal tally against them. Still, with or without ref help, it's hard to see us getting anything here.
La Liga might will knock out this pathetic mule league club who won't win the champions league for the next 10 years. Heck they can't even win the championship because a relegation battling club are now favourites to win it. Simply the mule league.
If Enrique will want to show the power of barca they'll win 5-6:0. If he doesnt' think this is the time to show off, he'll rest some players and it will end in 2:0
@fahsfjashf All teams park the bus against Barca, right? They are one of the few teams that can wreck defences like that. 4-0 is probably a bit to much. But I can see them net at least 2-3.
Arsenal. Sigh. A ragged and edgy wounded creature can be dangerous. When the pressures on, collapse, when pressure's off, fight like a tiger. What do Arsenal do, accept defeat, rest key players and let fringe guys get hammered, or play a mixed team, and get hammered? A full strength team could pull off a draw or a 2-1 defeat. I'd rest players and concentrate on a third FA cup and cementing the customary third. A real enigma of a team.
A statistical comparison to highlight what I mean about the aggregate scoreline not being indicative of the difference in the teams' respective abilities. If you take chances created and convert so that Barcelona end up with the number of goals they scored, you get an aggregate of 5 - 3.333 in their favour (or 5-3 when converting to a whole number obviously). That's essentially the difference I see over 180 minutes of football, a 2 goal difference- albeit it was without our best CM, somebody who was immense against the best midfield in the world- Bayern Munich's "VAT" and our 2 other best players in a run of poor form. Speculation to how we would've faired with Santi in the team and Mesut & Alexis on form, my guess is we would've created more but still missed at the same ratio as I've seen all season. Essentially, we need a world class finisher and that's the biggest difference between the 2 sides. Amazing when you consider Barca have 3 up front!
i cant wait for adan turan full form. hes gona be a big thing for barca
@nceshNcero Arda Turan
clearly indicates arsenal is not even close to threaten CL big teams
@asinko- It's actually only the difference between a non-world class striker & a world-class one plus also a better defensive setup when playing Barcelona/Bayern (only) to counter their depth of world class attacking players. No other team touch the 2 aforementioned in terms of the front 6 so there's no chance of outgunning them, but there is more than 1 way to win and a better defensive setup plus a world class striker and it'll transform our team. I don't think we'll get either with Wenger in charge though...
@asinko Of course not, has that ever been an issue?
arsen wenger great coach. great design. he should win bpl next season. must have learnt about his team and what he needs to add
@nceshNcero- We Gooners say that every year but it never happens. Wenger is too arrogant and stubborn to learn as is evident by a press conference before this game where he essentially intimated he was unsackable because he built the club in the 90s. Even without a title for over a decade, he still believes he is untouchable.
@nceshNcero???
@neumi17 as i said. they need a quality expensive striker and another attacking middle fielder with pace and dribbling skills and keep they styl of play. the pace and possesion. they can do wonders in europe. arsen wenger is not a problem. he just needs to be more ambitious. seek the ucl and pl.
arsenal needs to buy two great stars. another great foward and a centet mid. insult to think they can bit quality teams with expensive quality team. real iinsult. arsenal not serious.
I cant believ it, Messi doesnt be MOTM XD
Koscielny 2 errors that lead to goal???
@tar88s I can only remember one...
Actually..Although we lost ,iam so proud of Elnenny .wonderful goal and match playing..if Arsenal won ,he would be the man of the match.
I was proud with our performance tonight. We lost but we deserved a draw. Over the 2 legs, Barcelona were better so deserve to go through. I can't argue the result of the tie but the scoreline doesn't do us justice imo. In terms of chance creating, both teams were level and if we had their front 3, we would've won by a couple of goals ourselves. I don't agree when people say quality of individuals decided the first leg, I thought a large part of that was down to poor 2nd half tactics and timidness but this game pretty much was 50-50 with world class strikers deciding the result. We dilly-dallied with our chances (although the fact Welbeck got in those positions is a positive for his development into a 9 is concerned) which allowed the Barca defence to get back whereas Neymar and Messi shot at the exactly the right time. Can't defend against Suarez's volley and it's the 3rd time in as many weeks a wonder goal has been the decisive one. All the fans want to see is effort and we got that.
@SteveHyland hahahaha Steve one must admire how one eyed ARSENAL you are. Of course they were far from disgraced but I don't know where you get this "deserved a draw" from. I had 2 weeks wages on the 1st leg, and 6 weeks wages on this leg, and I was never sweating on it even at 1-1 one who knows both teams well could easily see that BARCELONA would trump as they did. And to name 1 goal as "the decisive one" when it was 3-1 seems a bit funny also. ARSENAL have been struggling in all competitions lately and this performance was absolutely typical of their weak form.
@Quest- I do get what you mean by the section of your comment- "...one who knows both teams well could easily see that Barcelona would trump as they did" but I simply don't agree. In my experience of watching even good teams of the past (and Arsenal are a good team, not just a great one) it's the creation of chances, or more importantly, a lack of, which gives the air of predictability of a result. I would wage 8 weeks of YOUR money lol, that no team has created as many chances as Arsenal did at the Nou Camp and Real Madrid definitely wont on the 2nd April. Sure we didn't convert them, and we're bottom of the prem in terms of conversion, but ultimately I don't see a team that contains good players and a couple of world class ones that happens to create a ton of chances as predictable losers. We wouldn't have been able to beat Bayern if it was that clear cut. Neymar and Suarez actually converted their chances at a BETTER ratio than their season avgs incidentally and needed to to win.
@Quest- Well, clearly you're an idiot if you actually did wage 8 week's money on 2 games of football given the number of variables involved in human vs human competition. I'm not sure how you weren't sweating when we had so many efforts at goal. It wasn't a given we'd miss them. I must admit I didn't assume we'd score but it took some last ditch tackles and poor shots on our part to prevent our goal tally from being more than 1. If Barcelona prevented us from getting many shots off or they were all speculative efforts then sure, but that wasn't the case and I've only seen pro-Barcelona/Liga (or anti-EPL ;-) ) people mention anything to the contrary. The reason the 2nd goal was the decisive one is pure psychology. I'm not surprised you didn't understand what I meant :-p , but you could see at 1-1 we believed we could score a 2nd then from there all it takes is a last-minute header from a corner or something equally unpredictable. The belief visibly evaporated after Barca's 2nd though.
Alba was an absolute beast this game... best defender by far. 7.3 does him injustice. Mascherano was a huge liability, and Mathieu made a bad mistake that once, but was generally the more solid of the two.
@alexreg Matthieu is crap. He nearly gifted Welbeck a detrimental goal. If Mascherano didn't make that key tackle to stop Welbeck, Barca might have been kicked out already.
@alexreg na ,mascherano was the one who ws much more solid . rather mathieu was a bit uncomf. . rather i think it would have been better to play vermaleen than mathieu . mathieu is a great left back but not a good cb .
We had mercy on them lol, tougher game vs Villarreal coming up on the weekend so.
@bradley.fcb i think we will drop points vs villarreal
How does one shut down MSN? Both Suarez and Messi had off games, but they only need one or two chances. If you give him anything, they will punish you right away. Even if you defend everything, one moment of that pure magic. It's either a master class volley from the most talented striker of this generation or a mind blowing chip from nothing by that guy Messi. Genius. Other than that, he was looking tired today. But what about Neymar? Passing, dribbling, decision making, cold finish for the first goal. Brilliant player.
Eleny, Iwobi, Bellerin, future of Arsenal. Aprart from that very good match. Leaving with honour, as always...
@wladi83 Bellerin got torn a new one by Neymar... his positioning was awful. Still has a lot to grow as a player. Elneny was so-so, very lucky not to get a yellow or two. Iowbi was quality though, going forwards at least.
We created lots of chances to score here, there were periods where we made Barca's defence look pretty ordinary too. I wouldn't say Barca really created better chances, just that they had some exceptional finishes, as you would expect from the greatest forward line ever, which was the main difference between the teams. Both games were in fact closer than the scores suggest, but of course no one will give us credit for that or remember it in future. And Iwobi looked a bit special tonight, except for the dive, I hope Bouldy gives him a good flogging for that when they return.
@What4 A bit deluded, you are. Barça by far created the better chances. Most of Arsenal's defending was last-ditch challenges, plus some top saves by Ospina. Now, Barça's defence WAS ordinary because Mascherano was playing it. And Mathieu didn't look comfortable alongside him. Barça opted for counter-attack and not control, and that showed. The difference was that Barça was capable of soaking up the pressure when Arsenal attacked, but the reverse was not true.
@alexreg- Better chances? If we had Lewandowski rather than Welbeck, we'd have scored at least 2 just from the #9 position. Barca didn't soak up the pressure, we had more shots- we just shot over/wide for the most part. They are errors on our part not Barca brilliance in defence. I would love to see a first choice XI against this Barca side, I'd fancy them to score 4.
@alexreg Pot, kettle, black. Arsenal actually created more chances, and when Barca's defence wasn't absent, it was just as last-ditch as Arsenal's, similarly for ter Stegen's keeping.
@What4 Oh yes and Ter Stegen had literally nothing to do the whole game, in terms of shot-stopping, apart from saving the FK (very well).
@What4 You clearly watched a different game haha. Barça shut out most chances before a shot was even taken. Arsenal had most of their attempts from OUTSIDE the box. Did that fact pass through your dense skull? I suppose not. There's no denying Mascherano is an awful defender and would have been roasted by someone better than Welbeck. But he wasn't, because the Arsenal attack was average, and basically just had pot shots from outside of the box the whole game.
@What4 I give credit where it's due and your comment is on point. Glad to see some sense from you. Anyway, yes, games were closer than one might think upon learning the score. Still, I can't say that I saw that Arsenal seriously threatened Barcelona's campaign. Yes, there were few moments of momentum, but Barcelona would just bounce back. I think Barcelona played as much it was needed. And it needed a lot. Good game and a lot of positives from Arsenal. Wenger's tactics spot on and great performances from Elnemy and Iwobi. What impressed me about Iwobi is his willingness to compete with Barca's superstars. He didn't back down or retreat. Very good quality in a young player. Hope to see him get more chances. I think everyone gets some satisfation from this game. P.S. There is absolutely no possible way to shut down MSN. Goals from Suarez and Messi are simply astonishing. Two different fiishes yet similarly inventive and brilliant in execution.
@blitz Nice to see a fair comment :)
Yearly soap opera of Arsenal has come to the end. fight for 4th begins
OSPINA just got NEUERed
MSN strike again
Elneny is better than Messi today:)
Alexis 8 dribbles please correct
Zoolander was about to be brought on before suarez's goal, but then Wenger thought things are farcical enough!
Suareeeezzz!!! Beautiful goal
Bob Marley scoresssssss yessssssssssss
Oh well Arsene, there's always next year.
Arsenal are a pathetic side they have successfully managed to make a champions league round of 16 match boring. Malaga put up a better fight, seriously, they do.
@Beastador- Funny how nobody said that of Juventus last season. People were praising their "tactical brilliance" but they're an Italian team so different rules hey? ;-)
Juventus is winning ...
@Lapulga Not really
We've created at least as many chances as Barca in the 1st half
@What4 Haha hardly. You didn't create a single clear-cut chance 1st half. A lot of exaggerated half chances, maybe only the Alexis header should have troubled the keeper (it didn't). Your only clear-cut chances of the game was the FK in the 2nd half.
@What4 ok
that Iwobi dive was hilarious
Are we really expecting to compete with the Barcelonas and the Bayern's of the world with a team featuring players like Gabriel, Flamini, Iwobi (Fine young player, but not ready for this) and Elneny ?
Injured players: Rosicky, Wilshere, Arteta, Ramsey, Chamberlain, Cech, Cazorla
@zhimipe They're all 2nd string except for Cazorla, Cech, and arguably Ramsey. Ospina was brilliant though: better shot-stopper than Cech, just not as commanding.
@zhimipe Rosicky Done, Wilshere Done, Arteta Super Done, Ramsey Been playing like crap, Chamberlain same
@MiguelSuave elneny is doing good till now
@Mohamed_Shaker Sure he's doing good now. But can he do it consistently over a season. I like Elneny, i think he was a fine addition to the squad but right now he's not starter material
@MiguelSuave he is at least during the team circumstances
@MiguelSuave Elneny has played well so far this game minus the missed goal
@MiguelSuave I don't think there's a team in Europe that could score more than Barca over 180 minutes right now. Tonight is them playing without pressure, and they will still score at least two goals purely because they are so creative, regardless how Arsenal play.
wow arsenal are weak
why some useless Iwobi instead of few better players who are on the bench?
i have no hope for this game. i see us getting trounced like 4-1 minimum
Good luck Arsenal you'll need it. This is a game where Barca won't need the ref and linesmans help to win.
Petr Cech's absence will hurt Arsenal. Don't see them coming through.
@JaydeepJG You could see Arsenal overcoming 2-0 with Petr Cech? They could have Cech, Viera and Tony Adams all in their prime, and I still wouldn't see them going through
Low scoring match because the next fixture against villareal will be more difficult, so barca will conserve energy.
There is absolutely no chance in the universe that barca will lose this. Adios gunners, it was classy having you lads.
Let the tapping up begin!
Arsenal 11 - Barcalogna 0 Obviously
Messi hattrick and I hope that Koscielny play because he is the only Arsenal defender that can give fight to MSN.
let's not be too confident..this is going to be tough 2-0 or 2-1 probably
Arsenal will go all out and they could be the first to score. Barcelona will be too strong stil and the score will be 3-2 to them.
Small tin pot Arsenal will be focused on Everton instead of Barca. Pathetic little club who do the same thing every year.What's the point of them being in the champions league?.Tottenham got into the quater finals in their first try. Leceister will be entertaining next season and i hope even west ham qualify for a laugh.Arsenal just stink out the champions league with their repetitive nonsense. Barca needs to tonk them 10-0 so they learn that they do not belong at this level.
@spursman Coming from a Spurs fan... I don't want to say anything now. :P
@spursman Better than stinking out the Europa League, don't you think?
Messi brace again..
3-0
I want Barcelona to go with full throttle. But as we have seen many times, in knockout stages, after winning the first leg, Barcelona tends to play safe in second legs. Even in La Liga game, after scoring in first 60 mins, Barcelona play final 3rd of the game on walking pace. A draw or narrow win might be on the cards today. The reason might be because they will want to conserve energy, avoid injuries late in the game, and avoid unnecessary cards and get good practice of tiki-taka against quality opponents. May be because, Barcelona are here for Marathon and not sprints. They have their eyes set on another Treble.
I expect a classico quarters...Barca vs RM would be cool.. I also wish juventus to prevail over bayern,, sorry pep..
Dont see any arguments for Arsenal, Ozil of course will be the key man for visitors, but no chance this Arsenal could past Barcelona on road. Strong fight, but anyway, Barcelona to win.
easy win for barcelona and barca bayern final !!
@simonshow1 Looks like bayern are going out.
Just 2:1, or draw
Barcelona 4 Arsenal 1 aggregate 6-1
Henry Winter is an insignificant, deluded, biased, Liverpool-supporting Rent-a-Gob.
Missi=because messi doesnt depend on PKs to pad up stats. Walkessi= beacause messi dominates games even at walking speed, Midgetsi= because messi doesnt dive under pressure from big defenders, a small man with super strength. Uefalona= because barcelona dominates champions league But, Divenaldo= for diving Penaldo= for depwnding on PKs to win individual awards Gaynaldo= for visiting moroccan bf Like if u think messi is better or dislike if u think ronaldo is behind messi
@Lapulga What you on about Lapulga?
@Lapulga You mean Uefalona because UEFA do everything they can to help Barcelona win right? How is Alba playing? He should have gotten a straight red in the last match and the officials should have picked it up after the match. Any deliberate head contact should be a ban. Dispicable from UEFA. Big fan of Messi over that self important (but formerly legendarily good) Ronaldo.
Arsenal are like a wounded animal and I would not underestimate them. In CL in last few seasons. Arsenal lost to AC Milan at Emirates 4:0 in 2012 season and won 3:0 in Sansiero, Bayern in 2013 3:1 at Emirates, 2:0 Allianz Arena, Dortmund the following year, 2:0 Emirates, Win 2:0 at Westfalenstadion. Monaco last season, 1:3 Emirates, 2:0 Stade Louis II stadium. Olympiacos 3:2 Emirates, Karaiskakis Stadium Arsenal win 3:0! This is just in Europe. domestic Cups, could not beat Hull 2 weeks ago at home, 0:0, Thumbed them 4:0 away following week! If these stats dont upset the odds then nothing does. Barcelona are favorites to win the competition but Im sure Enrique and his players are wary that Arsenal can shock anyone! 1:1 final score
@albgunn probally not a draw becouse Barca will go all in to end the game as fast as possible.
@albgunn It just occurred to me, I wonder if it isn't the infamously spoilt and demanding home "support" that may be affecting our performances at home.
@What4 I believe the squad lacks leadership at crucial games, once things start to wobble in any game Arsenal are under pressure, the whole team just collapses, there's no one to look up to when facing difficulties. Arsene Wenger is primarely responsible for assembling the current squad. Arsenal plays the most fluid and non aggressive football you could say even in Europe. Their discipline record is attracious against big teams and they don't even play aggressively. How many important games has Arsenal had a player sent off for no reason whatsoever! The whole squad has 3/4 world class players in if. The rest are just casual bottlers and nothing will change as long as Arsene Wenger reigns! Remember last summer was the only team in Europe to not have signed an outfield player when the whole squad needed improving. Wenger made Arsenal about £160m last year alone in profit!
@albgunn I think you'll find no team in the Premier League has more that 3/4 world class players.
I think this is likely to be 3 or 4-0. Even if Barca play at 60-80%. Only chance is an early red card, but Barca have the UEFA referees in their pocket. As Arseblog eloquently states : " Mascherano could leap on Ozil’s back as he was clean through on goal, chew off his ear, spit it in the referee’s mouth before pissing down his leg, and Mesut would get a yellow for protesting. Still, you never know in football. Except when it comes to Barcelona away in Europe, then you know. "
@Overmars Yes, Arseblog totally does not sound in any way, shape or form a site that could possibly be biased on this matter at all. Very eloquent, very true!
@Lulzovich He's exaggerating... but like it or not you KNOW he has a point.
@Overmars We all know UEFA only want 'big' clubs in the semis and finals, to help the commercial side of things. You wonder why they then go out of their way to include small clubs from nowhere, just so Ronaldo can pad his goal tally against them. Still, with or without ref help, it's hard to see us getting anything here.
@Overmars Over smoking ? Eh..
2-1 Barca
La Liga might will knock out this pathetic mule league club who won't win the champions league for the next 10 years. Heck they can't even win the championship because a relegation battling club are now favourites to win it. Simply the mule league.
If Enrique will want to show the power of barca they'll win 5-6:0. If he doesnt' think this is the time to show off, he'll rest some players and it will end in 2:0
@radaner i think it will end 2-0 both goals at first half
2-0
Am I the only one who actually believes Arsenal could take something out of this? COYG
@cani08 Yes, that EPL is all media hype...
4-0. MSN to put up yet again a entertaining show.
@StickandMove arsenal will probably park the bus hard to score 4..
@fahsfjashf All teams park the bus against Barca, right? They are one of the few teams that can wreck defences like that. 4-0 is probably a bit to much. But I can see them net at least 2-3.
Those who dont enjoy watching leo messi are virgins. Who can miss multiple orgasms week in week out ? Its your choice..
@Lapulga i think it's the opposite, because Messi fanbase is around 9-15 years old..same for Ronaldo too.
Arsenal. Sigh. A ragged and edgy wounded creature can be dangerous. When the pressures on, collapse, when pressure's off, fight like a tiger. What do Arsenal do, accept defeat, rest key players and let fringe guys get hammered, or play a mixed team, and get hammered? A full strength team could pull off a draw or a 2-1 defeat. I'd rest players and concentrate on a third FA cup and cementing the customary third. A real enigma of a team.
@Khanya Fa Cup is over and league is probably over too.
3-0 barca
0-0
@marinoJuve lol no way barca are not manchester united or juve
@fahsfjashf ^ savage.