Lol,, somewhere down these comments sees an arsenal fan go 'if arsenal were in la liga they'd be 2nd'..,,
Aye you sure? is this la liga ir liga adelante youre talking about? dii you consider Real, atletico and sevilla? because barca fans rubbish these teams doesnt give you he right to, Real would anl you, celta would get a rimjob by you, atletico would bang you like a very nasty hooker and sevilla would take it slow with you, neverthe less cumming in you.
@spursman Arsenal did compete but u guys need to give la liga more credit as a whole. The bottom teams aren't just rollovers . Barca makes them look like that.
This game was actually a case of Arsenal losing control of the game rather than Barca turning it up and out-playing us. Let's look at the facts. The first goal came from Arsenal making the mistake of pushing too many players forward in attack, leaving Monreal on his own at the back. Before that Barca only had half chances for 70 minutes, and in fact the best chance up till then fell to Oxlade-Chamberlain who basically missed an open net. After the first goal we continued pushing too many players forward, but the second goal can from an unforced error when Mertesacker mis-controlled a ball or whatever, and Flamini dived in. So it was more a case of Arsenal losing their composure than Barca out-playing us. And please, Barca fans, react with factual arguments rather than insults and "U mad Arsenal fan Barca best team Evah crush everywan!!" type of comments.
@What4 Can you BE any more BIASED and stupid dude? Let's see. Arsenal chances before the goal were: Ox clear cut chance and Giroud's header. Barcelona chances were: Suarez's free header, Suarez 1v1 vs Cech before that and Neymar 1v1 with Chec before the goal. You are the one who is completely blind and stupid here mate. Nobody has responded to your blabbering in that way. Arsenal had a good spell, but everyone expected them to have a few chances. Like Messi said: " We knew they will crumble in the second half." If Suarez or Neymar scored those 1v1 which they should've and usually do, you could have been battered. Barcelona had the complete control and they just sat back and waited. Of course you can say it was because of this or that. Accidents, for you. For somebody who knows football a clear clear victory.As I mentioned before, Las Palmas gave Barca much more dificult time. MUCH MORE!
@blitz Another Barca supporter who can't address any of the points. Barca's chances were half chances, Oxlade-Chamberlain's chance was clear because he basically had an open goal. You would count Giroud's chance as a half chance as well, so overall Arsenal should have scored from the clear chance, plus there were some other chances where either side might or might not have scored. So all Barca's plans and pressure up 70 minutes did not actually give them the upper hand, it was only when Arsenal lost composure that Barca dominated, which was my entire point. We lost mainly due to us losing composure, rather than Barca brilliantly out-playing us.
@blitz Have to agree 100%. Arsenal were always going to get chances. Barcelona controlled the game and never looked like losing. Like for most of Arsenal's season, Cech has just about kept them in this.
Arsenal fans think they outplayed Barca in the first half when barca was clearly just trying to slow the game down which they did. Even Las Palmas or Granada give them better competition in first halfs of La Liga games. Of course Arsenal will have some chances, I can't believe people are actually saying Arsenal had better of it.
@blitz Yep.They do this on a regular basis when facing an opposition that defends counter attack poorly.This is a new hybrid Barca and they have massively improved their transition over the last year and a half.Slowing the tempo in order to take the possesion more rigidly and then striking on counter makes this team virtually unstoppable and basically a stronger version than Pep's Barca which was incredible but one dimensional team with no plan B.Bayern has a chance in one game.
The game was completely predictable as Arsenal is nowhere near Barca quality wise.They have taken a beating with Wenger because it is clear to anyone that you can not mask 10 years of domestic and European irelevance with barely-"We are saving the money for new stadium doctrine".It is a shame the ownership is strictly neocapitalism in a bottle these days,I am a Barca supporter but also a Liverpool one so I understand how Gunners must feel.
Dani Alves suprised me immenesly.He was pretty much done a year ago and the guy turned it around somehow (again) to become the most dangerous RB of the past, present and near future.Arsenal has 5% chance to progress.
@IlFenomeno Dani Alves was never done for. He has always maintained the brilliant flair that we know and saw last night, but sometimes his ultra attacking play can go wrong and that's when many turn on him quite unfairly, whilst easily forgetting his pure brilliance.
0-2 seems quite fair result, considering the chances. Sad, because after first half, seemed like Arsenal was able to play like equals. I would say that Arsenal as a team would need more world-class players like Sanchez and Özil. As soon as these two got the ball, something dangerous was about to happen. Ramsey, Ox and Mertesacker were simply terrible, not to mention Flamini.
part 4- But I feel regardless of the personnel, the tactics in the 2nd half coupled with individual errors cost us the chance of making this a tie after the 1st leg. Barcelona have an all world-class front 6, if you fail to make it difficult for them to attack and miss your own chances then, frankly, there is zero chance of beating them. I would fancy Bayern Munich to beat this team over 2 legs. They would've at least scored 3 or 4 against a get-at-able defence. The clean sheet flatters them. Going to the Nou Camp with only the token 1% chance that every team has against any other, I would like us to approach it differently to show the fans they have this team spirit we get told exists in the dressing room. I think we have to otherwise it'll be 90 minutes of keep-ball and a procession for Barcelona.
@SteveHyland
This is how your logic works -- Arsenal created chances therefore Barcelona's defence is bad. Las Palmas created more chances against Barcelona. It's football mate. Chances happen all the time. Barcelona could've scored at least 5 if they converted all their clear cut chances. Stop being so biased and look at it realistically. You absolutely had no chance. This is a typical Barcelona away game. Opponents struggles, they even feel they have the game by its horns sometimes, but eventually they lose. You can discuss it all day long, but it changes nothing. Barcelona is simply the better side.
@blitz- No, every team creates chances against Barcelona so their defence is bad and it's not the fact we created chances, it's the fact the chances came so easily. Frankly had we not been so timid early on, we could've created a lot more and the irony of being called biased from the bloke who trolls about the prem being bad at every single opportunity must be lost on you.
@SteveHyland the clean sheet does not flatter them, and don't forget the simple fact that despite all of the stars at ARSENAL, they have been struggling to score for weeks now. And the errors came in the 2nd half as players were falling to bits under the immense pressure. What type of different approach would you like to see at Camp Nou? If you don't sit back and defend you may end up losing 6-2 or 5-1, Wenger had done his homework and the game plan was good, just didn't have the skill to pull it off on the night.
And if you think BAYERN MUNCHEN would've done better you obviously don;t watch them week in week out and see just how porous their defence can be at times. Just as it obviously was against JUVENTUS late in the game when they gave up a 2-0 lead.
@Quest- Nope, the gameplan against Barca of sitting back and inviting pressure for the WHOLE GAME simply doesn't work. Tell me the last time a team did that and won. Incidentally, Bayern haven't had 2 fit CBs for weeks now. Kimmich (a CM) and Alaba (a LB) played in defence last night so let's not be an idiot.
@SteveHyland Ahh Steve, you often make some good and very valid points, but you always insist on being correct even when you are simply making outlandishly biased comments. Your views are always worth reading, even if they do sometimes border on ridiculousness. Have a good Saturday, and come on Leicester City!!!!!!
part 3... Even employing those tactics though, Giroud should've scored with his header at 0-0. He was another who had a poor night. We looked much better with Welbeck on. I'm also not sure why we didn't go at Pique and Mascherano more throughout the whole night. As soon as both of those were put under pressure, they looked exactly what they are- poor, but it didn't happen enough to force an error in a dangerous position. It didn't help we came into the game with so many individuals out of form, and those players were responsible for sloppiness throughout the night (Coquelin, Ramsey, Sanchez). Contary to some of the comments below, Oezil, didn't have a poor game. He made some excellent runs into the space in-between Barca's lines but we failed to find him and whenever he did get the ball, he found himself in the wrong areas because he went chasing. We really missed Cazorla tonight. He would've given us much more of a linkup between defence and attack... cont.
@blitz- Please do tell why he is a good defender then, actual facts based on analysing his style of play and ignoring the fact he plays for Barcelona which must mean he's good because there are never bad defenders in good attacking teams now are there....
@SteveHyland PIQUE & J.MASCHERANO poor? You have got to be joking, they are truly world class defenders of the highest order. People might want to blame Flamini for the penalty, but P.MERTESACKER often makes dubious clearances, and his effort to clear the ball in 82nd minute was akin to a schoolboys effort. It isn't too often that the 2 Barca Centre Cacks would make such a terribly meek clearance right into the path of a lethal CF is it?
@Quest- You really need to start watching good defenders then. Pique is fantastic on the ball but looks shaky when you put him under pressure. Had you watched the full game last night rather than the highlights then you'd have seen that. Mascherano would only make it as a CB in Spain, and for Barcelona. Stick him in any other team and he looks like a converted DM. Mertesacker's clearance, or lack of, to Flamini was poor for sure but it came about from being tired from defending all night. Pretty understandable, it'd happen to Nesta, Adams, Vidic, Sammer etc in the same circumstances but his defensive positioning is very good (when the team's is good, by that I mean the defensive line set out), he doesn't jump into tackles unless he has to, he marshals players very well (something not always obeyed by the players and rarely seen on tv) and generally his offside awareness is good. He's also better on the ball than 90% of world defenders.
part 2... It was understandable why we were cautious in the 1st half and had we gone too aggressive too soon, they could've nicked a goal and made the 2nd half really uncomfortable, but it was clear to me that the more time Barcelona's players, particularly Iniesta and Rakitic, spent on the ball, the more confident they grew- safe in the knowledge we were going to employ those same "sit back and counter" tactics all night. It become predictable and it was no surprise they scored, although I would've liked better marking on the best player in the world. This Barca team isn't a tiki-taka one, they general look to get the ball forward as quick as possible. Sitting back worked against Bayern (as an attacking tactic as much as a defensive one) because they can overplay, Barca rarely do so I honestly don't see how Wenger thought we would hold out playing a style which is very un-Arsenal... cont.
@SteveHyland Arsenal's "counter" tactics did not have anything to do with Barca's first goal. It was simply a fast counter attack and a good finish from a player better than Chamberlain. That was the difference yesterday. Pure quality of individuals.
@DarkArs- Actually, if you correct employ counter tactics, you shouldn't yourself be countered on yourself. You should be defending too strictly and deeply to prevent that from happening. It was a botched coverage which left Messi unmarked. Some of that has to do with the fact Coquelin is only 2 games back from injury though. I still think the tactics themselves were poor. Barca created chances at the end of the first half when we were employing sit back and counter tactics well. A tactically astute coach would've seen that and changed the plan.
I think we got it tactically correct in the first 45 minutes. We stifled Barcelona's attacks, made them revert to un-Barcelona passing, got them visibly frustrated and resorting to the typical Liga combo of niggly fouls- which went "unseen" and making the most of every tackle- which went unpunished. We also created chances including the golden opportunity which Chamberlain (who had a poor night) should've buried. However, in the 1st half injury time, there was a warning that those tactics weren't going to work much longer. Suarez missed the header but should've scored. We should've come out in the 2nd half employing the same tactics Celta Vigo in particular employed earlier on the season- aggressive pressing, not allowing Barcelona's midfield time on the ball and breaking with pace and directness. Sitting back, inviting attacks doesn't work against Barcelona for a whole game. It didn't for Man City or Juventus last season so I'm not sure why it would for us.... cont.
@SteveHyland The tactics that work against Barca can't be maintained the entire 90 mins, which is why the majority of Barca's goals come in the second half.
@SteveHyland in hindsight perhaps the best bet for Arsenal was Gibbs for Chamberlain (Gibbs LM, Sanchez RM). Chambers could have come on for Giroud (Chambers going into central midfield and a 4-5-1) and Walcott brought on at the same time for Ozil and left up to on his own. 0-0 would have been a good result for Arsenal and Walcott might have got a chance on the break
@SteveHyland Chamberlain was wasteful . But you were much tighter defensively with him on the park. He did a good job without the ball and at least offered a threat going forward. You looked wide open as soon as Walcott came on. Barcelona are so good you were having to rely on Chamberlain and Sanchez (who slept a few times) to help you defend often. You opened right up when Walcott came on. It's why Wenger was desperate not to sub off Chamberlain at half time despite him having a huge knock. For me Wenger make a mistake bringing Walcott on for Chamberlain. The logical option on the bench is Gibbs to come on at left midfield (which Wenger has done before), with Sanchez moving over to the right. I was very surprised such an experienced manager made this change against a side like Barcelona. Also Ozil playing as a striker was fine, but 0-0 after 60 minutes Ozil should have tucked back and helped the midfield 4 more. He didn't take enough defensive responsibility second half
@TacticalMastermind2.0- I'm not knocking Chamberlain's work-rate, in this match or in general, but in these matches, it's the important moments you have to make count and he was 5 yards out with 90% of the goal to aim at yet hit it to Ter Stegen on the floor. I could've put the botched passes, poor touches and failed dribbles down to over-enthusiasm but that 1 moment which could've changed the whole complexion of the game was missed. I dn't argue with Wenger not bringing on Walcott but Welbeck was on the bench. He is a better option than Walcott 99 times out of 100, works as hard as anyone in our squad (actually too hard when he's playing in the 9) and has a directness which you could tell Barcelona's defence were worried about.
Arsenal might be the champuon of CL at least a century from now but up to that time they should ubderstand that wenger is not a reall or good coach and he just waste his money on weak players. poor EPL!
Alba should have been off at 0-0. You can't head-butt people in the nose and get away with it in the CL unless you have a Barcelona or Madrid shirt on.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 headbutt? Alba and Alves were definitely whiners about dumb challenges, but every foul and card against Arsenal were justified. Replays proved it.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 And Barca getting the free kick every time an Arsenal player puts a hand on him, Alves and Coquelin both diving in for a ball, and guess who gets penalised, no card for Ozil being hacked down, Monreal given card in the 6th, sixth! minute for slipping...Barca get help? Never!
@What4 Refs make mistakes but the cards were warranted, and all the rest had no affect on the game. What ref decision wrongly favoured Barca to allow them their 2 goals, or to obstruct any from Arsenal? none? ok byee
@LLCAN- So you can see into the future? How do you know the bookings which should've happened in Arsenal's favour WOULDN'T have altered the game. The only reason they didn't is because they were in Barca's favour and THEY won. Had Arsenal won then you could say they had no affect but you have to assume it at least helped Barcelona stop pressure in the first half. Liga refs favour the big 2, that's without question and in the CL, Barcelona get favoured. That too is without question.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 Well, me with my white goggles can't really remember getting any help from referees at crucial games in CL. I would say there is only one club which can do that :)
Arsenal played 4-4-2 whether you lot like it or not. Pundits agree with me. Koeman calling it 4-4-2. Ozil average of Giroud on average position map. As usual football fans don't actually understand football formations and tactics. I remember now why i stopped coming to this site full of noobs
@TacticalMastermind2.0 4231 IS a derivation of 442, it's not about the positioning, roles make difference.
in the 442 the front 2 are flat and move alternatively deep or high, in the 4231 there's a first striker with a second striker behind him, their movement are fixed not alternative
@TacticalMastermind2.0 no it hasn't, the movement and the duties requested to that player are those proper of a second striker. don't trust english definition on tactics and players they're culturally poor on this argument, stuck in 70s. the modern 442 was invented in italy in the 90s, so is the 4411 or 4231 version. the "trequartista" old #10 or attacking mid survives in tactics such as 4312 or diamond 343, one player behind 2 or 3 strikers, el enganche, a link between midfield and attack that plays mainly horizontally onto a large portion of the field, go often deep to receive from the defense and make the ball move linking up the play. the modern 10, the second striker, is instead focused on scoring, plays vertically and much more higher on the pich
@Mattia 2 clear set banks of 4 with 2 men in front is not 4231. Call it 4411 if you want, but that's a real push. But Ozil wasn't playing that much of a second striker, I'd call it more a support striker. He was basically playing like a striker all game. One you argue Giroud was a support striker to Ozil. So I think this is a nailed on 4-4-2 and it's why Koeman called it 4-4-2 so boldly like it was a matter of fact, because it is one. i hope you realise Whoscored only gets the formations from Opta. And Opta usually just guess the formation and positions prior to kick off. They very rarely alter it if wrong. They tend to have set templates for teams and it takes a few games of them getting the system wrong for them to make an alteration. I complained about the Saints system being wrong a few times and eventually it got changed.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 read about sacchi and milan, that is the modern 442 that was hegemonic since the '90s and evolved into the 4231 lately. i haven't seen the game i was only awaring you about the origins and the differencies between 442/4231 that are very minimal indeed. i doubt ozil and giroud had the same duties on the pitch yesterday, but if so, that's a 442, if not it's a 4231 (or 4411, it's the same)
@TacticalMastermind2.0- The team sheets handed into the officials before the game formatted Arsenal as 4-2-3-1. That was, presumably, set by the Arsenal management. If you look at the heatmap, not the average player position, on the Arsenal 0-0 Soton page, you'll see the majority of Mesut's positioning was slightly left of centre in the position behind the striker (save for the time spent in the corner) and Olivier's is in the box. It's a 4-2-3-1 where Mesut is given the licence to roam essentially. However, tonight was difficult to pin down because both players were everywhere, looking for the ball because we weren't getting it to them as often as we should've and also to press their midfield, well as much as the 2 slowest non-defenders in our team could.
@SteveHyland In modern football, teams often have different formations when they attack and defend. It is safe to say that Arsenal was in deep 4-4-2 when defending but 4-2-3-1 when attacking with Ozil as a roaming AM.
@DarkArs- Arsenal under Wenger always done so (even when we were listed as 4-4-2 with Bergkamp in the 10) but formations have generally been listed as their attacking one for as long as I can remember.
@Beastador- These are the things which do you no favours. Chamberlain had the first genuine goal-scoring chance. Had he not had an off day, we'd have gone 1-0 so the rest afterwards would've been re-written. Pretty easy to fit things around a preconceived opinion, that being everything to do with England = bad, pretty hard to find those facts to fit when you look at the game's big events in chronological order.
@blitz- The whole match would've been re-written. I don't mean it would be an Arsenal win just that nothing after 1 event will be the same after that event has been changed so minutes x to y would be different.
Messi again shows up against quality opposition, just a genius! Arsenal for sure gave us a tougher game than Real Madrid, relieved to take the away goals back to the nou camp cos it was a difficult game. I also think Neymar and Sanchez deserve massive credit for gr8 performances!
@MSNism- I don't think he showed us up. He's a fantastic player but he had nobody marking him for the first goal, the best player in the world not being marked seems unfathomable- but it happened. He played well for sure, he always does, but he didn't do much in the first half when we did well.
@SteveHyland Messi statement after the game " We were waiting because we knew Arsenal will not endure in the second half." - Football is more than running like headless chicken for 90 minutes. Messi applies pressure where pressure is needed.
@blitz- What does that have to do with my comment, exactly? Messi didn't get space for the first goal because he completely outwitted our midfield, he got it because nobody was covering him. That's an Arsenal error not a Messi piece of genius.
@SteveHyland Does that statement have a means to an end "XX error not a Messi piece of genius"? Your argument can be applied to every goal every person has ever scored; "Rooney scored a 30 yard whopper because he wasn't pressured fast enough, his ability is irrelevant". Please stop denying a genius when you see one.
@John_Wick- Huh, where did I say he wouldn't shine in the prem? I said he wouldn't score as many as he does in La Liga but would still be considered the best player and score the most.
Disappointing 2nd half from Arsenal, much less disciplined performance than the 1st, too many players committed forward in attack. Actually a closer game than the scoreline suggests. I was hoping Welbeck would start on the right, or at least come on for Oxlade-Chamberlain at the start of the second half. We showed, anyway, that we can hurt Barca on the break.
@What4 Of course you think so. You are an idiot now. I can say that out loud finally. What did you expect? Barca to run riot? Re watch Las Palmas - Barcelona. Las Palmas was three times better than Arsenal. And it's not Arsenal who was less disciplined, it was Barcelona who started playing their football. In the first half they didn't even bother going forward that much.
@blitz Do you have to insult everyone you respond to who doesn't support the same team? Or can you ever say anything backed by reality? For example, Barca not having a shot on target in the first half, and Oxlade-Chamberlain missing an open net? Barca had no decent attacks until we over-committed in attack and left Monreal on his own at the back
@What4 Only for idiots like you. Yes, I have. Look at the bigger picture. Barcelona deployed a tactic. Barcelona had better chances in the first half too. Suarez alone with the header and Suarez 1v1 vs Chec. That was not an open net you idiot. There were three men on the line including the gk
@John_Wick- If we played in La Liga, we'd finish 2nd or if there was a big European 20-team league, 3rd behind Barca and Bayern in whatever order so the CL is only for the 2 best teams in Europe? Maybe the final but we're better than most teams in the competition at this stage. Just not as good as Barca........ like 99% of teams.
@blitz- I like how you throw around opinions but back absolutely none of it up with facts. Is that because it would interfere with your everything English = poor mentality.
Giroud and Coquelin are just awful... For those who were saying that this Barcelona is one of the best team ever, let me laugh ! With a true striker, Barcelona would never deserve to win this game
@Ouftey- Don't disagree we need an upgrade to Giroud but Coquelin has had a couple of games coming back from a serious injury. He did well considering.
@Ouftey Coquelin played ok. His long balls were really stupid though. In particular one. He hit an unsuccessful 40 yard pass in the air, when a player was wide open 10 yards in front of him. Taking him off was a big mistake.
@Ouftey I think Coquelin was excellent tonight, hassled Messi particularly well and in general made it difficult. Plus not all of the chances missed were due to bad finishing, some were because of excellent goalkeeping from Ter Stegen. Also Suarez missed chances does that not make him an excellent striker?
@Ouftey I am following this Barca for a long time. They kill off the game, opponents always have some chances and their fans always "feel" like something else could've happened.:) It's always like that. However, somehow, they always outclass, outsmart every opponent and then their fans are like MAN IF ONLY THIS OR THAT.. MAN MAN MAN :)
Keep imagining.
Barcelona playing with 12 men. This is farcical. Barcelona getting so many cheap free kicks and aren't picking up any bookings either for blatant fouls, diving and the head-butt.
@T0ny04 Actually I don't like Arsenal usually. I don't support either team. I tend to like Barcelona and like them the most out of any of the realist contenders to win the CL. My view is actually neutral. I think Arsenal fans are the most annoying PL fans.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 UEFA can still reprimand after the fact. But we all know that won't happen. I still can't help but laugh at the fact that they signed 5 players during their transfer ban
@khonda They haven't. They signed them before the ban. Just a few thoughts for a morons like you: Barca is pampered and supported by UEFA, you say? Why would they ban them in the first place? Hmm... So they can let them buy? :D And it wasn't UEFA who banned him you imbecile, it was FIFA:
Alba should be OFF. Yellow card for simulation. Straight red for head-butting Giroud in the nose. I thought the days of Uefalona were over. But they seem to be back here.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 he barely touched him with that headbutt, yes he should have been booked for simulation but if that's a sending off then football is just a game for pussy's
@JoeB91 It's a red card by the law. If an Arsenal player did that he'd be off. The reason it's a red card, and isn't allowed, is because of doing that is legal then all gave players would be doing annoying stuff like that and the game would turn in to a farce.
It is definitely not 4-2-3-1 by the way. It's a nailed on 4-4-2. Koeman has also just said that at half time after I posted. This is nothing like 4-2-3-1. The midfield is a clear flat 4. And I can't call it 4-4-1-1 either as Ozil and Giroud tend to be level most of the game. Ozil roaming like a second striker is causing Barcelona as sorts of problems. It's also a nuisance for Barcelona when he or Giroud decide to defend. It surprises Barcelona that the extra man drops into midfield. Hence me and Koeman referring to it as 4-4-2.
Arsenal are definitely playing 4-4-2. Two clear banks of 4 with Ozil and Giroud together in front. Occasionally one drops a bit deeper. Ozil's movement is causing Barcelona a headache with and without the ball. He sometimes decides to drop back further (as does Giroud). This is creating a blockade similar to the 4-4-2 masters Atletico Madrid. It is a shame for Arsenal that Oxlade-Chamberlain blew the chance and they didn't score from one of the other openings they created. Arsenal are the better team at half time for me. The problem with Barcelona is all their outfield players are fantastic on the ball. I can't call this parking the bus from Arsenal. It's more keeping it tight and wanting to counter. They aren't just looking to survive, they are trying to win the leg. The main thing Arsenal need is for Sanchez to defend better. The referee has been favouring Barcelona so far which I don't like at all. Barcelona are already very difficult to beat, without the officials helping them.
Playing Mertesacker in this tie, which Arsene will most likely do, concerns me, as it does all Gooners. The big German is a big aerial presence against tall strikers and physical sides and has plenty of experience, but with the way Barca play and their fearsome attack, his lack of pace and towering height against Messi, Suarez and Neymar is a recipe for disaster.It’s no disrespect against the German – he was magnificent against Lewandowski. But the type of small, fast and creative players Barca have is just a complete mismatch.
Gabriel and Koscielny are a combative and strong pairing which would give us a decent chance against them. If the Brazilian is unfit, I would even rather see Chambers come in than Per after a composed performance against Leicester.
Obviously Barca are the favourites for the tie, and one of the favourites for the Champions League, no one seriously denies that. Both teams have improved since their last meeting, Barca now have probably the greatest front three ever assembled, but the quality of their midfield has declined, in 2011 they had Xavi and Iniesta at their peak. Today Iniesta is past his peak although still a top player, and Rakitic, Roberto, Turan and Rafinha are not quite at that level. Arsenal have improved immensely too. In 2011 we had a very young midfield with Wilshere, Nasri, Fabregas, Song, Walcott with Djourou and Eboue in defence and an even younger Szczesny in goal. If you go back further in time it was even more of a mess. Those were the days we were suffering from the stadium debt, something many still refuse to acknowledge. Today we have a world class keeper, a much better defence, the under-rated Mertesacker included (thanks for Bellerin, by the way)...
[Cont.]...but the biggest improvement is in midfield. It's a pity so many of our midfielders are ither injured or not at their best, you can put all of the following in those categories: Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Sanchez, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky and possibly Welbeck. If our midfield was anywhere near full strength, it would be more than a match for Barca's. Someone below mentioned Cazorla's ability to beat any press, Coquelin is about as good as any DM, Ramsey at his best is one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world, Oxlade-Chamberlain is a great dribbler and tore Bayern apart the season before last I think it was...I could go on and on. It's a pity our midfield is not at it's best right now, or this would have been a great contest. People often say Arsenal like to have possession and play a similar style to Barca. Well, that's partly true, actually, many teams like to give us the ball, and then we play a Barca-ish sort of way...
[Cont.2]...but sometimes we actually sit deep, concede possession and hit teams on the break, for example when we beat Man City 2-0 away from home last season, where we had 33% possession. Obviously we will look to do something similar here. I reckon our fullbacks will give Barca's wingers a better test than they've had in a while, but of course it will still be very difficult to keep MSN quiet. I'm guessing we'll play Giroud and Welbeck and try to use them on the counter, Giroud winning the aerial balls, and Welbeck using his pace to try to run at the defence or get in behind with balls over the top. But, with our midfield not at it's best, our counters may not be so great.
Either Arsenal will get a draw or Barca will dominate gunners. I hope, defence will work well, Cech on good form, hopefully, Ozil and Giroud ready to rock
everyone is expecting Barcelona to win based obviously on history and current form. Bayern was exactly in same spot and were heavy favorites to beat Arsenal at Emirates! I recall the game Arsenal in fact had more shots on targets and Arsenal created more chances throughout the game and scored 2 goals that completely put Bayern out of the game! The second goal was devastating, it happened so fast nobody believed Arsenal actually scored until the linesman had seen the ball cross the line! Arsenal were beaten heavily by same Bayern squad in Germany but Arsenal had 5 key players injured and paid the price! I want to be cheeky and go against all odds. Arsenal to win this tie 2:1
@albgunn You forget one important thing mate: Bayern is no Barcelona. MSN baby!
"I recall the game Arsenal in fact had more shots on targets and Arsenal created more chances throughout the game and scored 2 goals that completely put Bayern out of the game!"
None of that is true. Ball possession: Arsenal 30% Bayern 70%
Corners: Arsenal 5 Bayern 11
Shots on target: Arsenal 7 Bayern 9
It was a small miracle that Arsenal won that night.
Take a look under general game stats chart. It was a small miracle that Arsenal won that game.
@asinko Juve do have a good defense but Chiellini didn't play that match. And they weren't as dangerous in in counter attacks as Arsenal are now, they didn't even have Cuardado back then. Barca seem to play even better as usual when it matters (4-0 against Real this season), but that doesn't mean they are not vulnerable against teams with skillful players. For example, Barca are "very weak" at defending counter attacks according to WS.
@John_Wick Yes their performances against top sides are outstanding but a team that is committed to a good game plan can still come out on top against them, at least in a single match. I'm not sure if Real's players were fully behind Benitez in that match, although that doesn't take anything away from Barcelona.
Barcelona has been the most consistent, the team playing the best football, the most attacking football, have the squad with the best individual top class players and at the same time the best team. Suarez and Neymar have given Barcelona the directness they lacked in previous years and now they do not just play tiki-taka, they actually are capable of creating chances out of nowhere and from any of the wings or the middle.
Arsenal on the other side, having made three star transfers in the names of Ozil,Alexis and Cech have managed to produce better performances overall compared to previous years. They still lack the consistency needed to win trophies on a regular basis but i expect them to get better in the next couple of years if Wenger splashes some more cash and brings in a couple more top class players.
As for this game, i expect a game filled with fast attacks from both sides, lots of crosses and chances. Barcelona most probably has a slight advantage due to MSN.
@koziol.mutant If Gabriel starts, it allows Arsenal to push up their back line when having a ball and space behind Arsenal's defense could lead to more fast break opportunities for Barca and therefore more intensive and entertaining game. However, I expect Mertesacker to start here forcing Arsenal defense to stay a little deeper. This doesn't necessary mean a boring game but it could cause the game to be less open and Barca to see more of the ball.
C1 is not the best competition for Arséne Wenger.. When you loose against Monaco how can you beat Barcelone? Will be not a good moment for Gunners. MSN will send a message directly inside the cage.The 15' first minutes for Arsenal, and if they don't score .. will be for Barcelone with many goals.
The time for battle is approaching, let's go Arsenal, let's go boys, be brave, I hug y'all and may the god be with you. And remember, if Sir Francis Drake belived the invincible spanish armada is really invincible, he would never had won. So players, clean your canons, fans on the stands, prepare your photo canons to mark this moment of glory. We are the gunners !!
(PART 1)I am really wondering how Wenger is going to approach this match, given in my mind the two fold way a positive result can be reached for Arsenal. Barcelona everyone knows has a really good form and seem to have the edge in every situation they might face, defensive-attacking-possession teams. But we saw already this season Barcelona having two terrible games with Celta and Bilbao away, even teams like Las Palmas and Malaga have posed a threat to them. In attack everything seems to go right, eventually finishing,vision and decisions can guarantee a winner. The times though defense is exposed are many this season and that is the key that Arsenal should exploit. What I would like to see from Wenger is deploying a high defensive line with a really compact midfield and instructions for players to launch immediate attacks when possession is won back, despite Arsenal's usual game. Wellbeck upfront with Sanchez can and should exploit that space.
(PART 2)Even if Giroud is deployed as a forward which seems also good as a plan, since Barcelona's lack of height and aggressive midfielders are a good indicator that many crosses and long balls will be won. Those two tactics are in my opinion the ones I saw most successfully used against Barcelona this season in combination or separately. Barcelona is a side that rarely reacts to opponent tactics, call it because Enrique is lacking tactical wisdom or actually there is no need to change their game the result is the same, they might be caught by surprise. To conclude,a deterioration from a typical Arsenal game plan is a must and I hope to see it , instead of an Arsenal team trying to hold possession and wait Barcelona to return in defensive shape a much faster paced and more aggressive line of play should be used. Also pressing the opposition defenders is a way to counter Barcelona but they seem to play around it fairly easily and maybe to their advantage.
(PART2) and they very rarely play with 100% intensity. They are aware that in order to win every three days they need to preserve their energy. In Champions League games like these, experience is vital and no team is more experienced than this Barcelona. I simply don't see how can Ozil outplay Busquets and Rakitic in the midfield because he will often be isolated. They will have to commit players to the defence because otherwise there will be no contest. Arsenal is a good team, but it's quite obvious they cannot beat Barcelona in Barcelona style. They need to be ULTRA careful, very aggressive, very compact and also very sharp and use every chance they get because they won't have that many. I don't see how Barcelona can be beaten over two legs, but this is football and anything can happen.
@blitz You are absolutely right. Enrique's Barca don't just rely to their possession, just look at their matches against Real and Bayern in last couple of seasons. Arsenal could find themselves keeping the ball for 2-3 mins from time to time and even get it to scoring opportunities through their passing combinations. However, MSN have a huge counter attacking potential, and with Iniesta and Rakitic sending them forward it could be just as likely Barca to score from fast break as from their usual long attack.
@McKonidas Enrique tactical knowledge has been on display for two years in the most brilliant of ways. Whether he pulls his talisman Messi back so he can have an extra midfielder or he changes the formation completely to 3 5 2 at times, he showed that Barcelona adapted to playing both possession based and counter-attack based football at times. Just because you haven't seen Barcelona games enough, doesn't mean Barcelona has one and only tactic. It is absolutely impossible to win so much with only one plan. Tata Martino knows a thing or two about that. Now, you say Barcelona midfielders are not aggressive? Please show me a more aggressive pressing team than Barcelona. When they lose the ball, they will be all over Arsenal players double teaming and even triple teaming them at times. Barcelona played badly in games you mentioned, but it doesn't mean anything. First of all, Barcelona is a very experienced team and they like to play in their own pace. They don't rush things in lesser games
@blitz PS4: I attribute the change of style by Enrique as you say to the demise of the collective unit that Guardiola has created and the natural emergence of the natural talent of Neymar and Suarez since these are the newest players joining the squad along Rakitic. As a team I can hardly say I see something new, they just diverged their playstyle which is not something I see as positive but rather a downfall from what they used to excel in.
@blitz (PART 3)100% intensity with teams like Malaga or Las Palmas, I am pretty sure they run the same amount of kms as they do with teams like Real Madrid if not more.If you mean by intensity the willingness to risk an injury in order to gain an advantage then that is a different thing and all teams are employing that in order to preserve their roster in a healthy state in minor matches.PS1: I do not think your arbitrary claim about me not watching enough Barcelona games makes your points more valid by self-reinforcing your belief that this is indeed the case, since you must be right about them although you cannot possibly know what I do. PS2: Athletic Bilbao is pressing more PS3: I do not think Arsenal will win today but of course Barcelona can be beaten under the right circumstances.
@blitz adapting their game according to the spontaneous circumstances. Also I find it meaningless to speak about formations for such a fluid side while a primary 433 is turned into a 352 by allowing the wing-backs to stay in the midfield which rather happens often with Alba and Alves. I do not think Barcelona has changed as a unit after Guardiola but rather individual's have rather or evolved or joined the side to create this unique team again. The principles remain the same though and i do not mean tiki-taka only ofc. I used the word midfielders and not midfield to account of the lack of aggressiveness. As a unit in midfield they are pressing aggressively but as individuals they are not aggressive players, I could hardly see Iniesta and Busquets how they can be compared to aggressiveness with players like Naingolan or Vidal. By aggressiveness I meant how willing is a player to dive into a tackle or have physical contact despite a chance of injury etc. Why you believe they are not play
@blitz First of all Messi running back to midfield and Barcelona playing possession football is not something new and I do not think it should be credited to Enrique. I also believe Messi is as mentally gifted as technically he is in this game that any specific role attribution from a manager is meaningless for his calibre. By counter-attacking football you mean 8-9 players sitting behind the ball waiting for the opponent to advance and then try and interrupt the ball in order to storm forward towards goal, which I can hardly see Barcelona employing so far. If in the other hand you mean counter-attack as a fast attack after you have interrupted the ball in your half then all teams in the world are employing this tactic. Maybe they have used this tactic but can hardly see how can Barcelona would like to invite pressure from any team while they can do that easily to their opponents.A spell of 5-10 minutes doing that also does not mean its a counter-attacking tactic but rather they are
@McKonidas (PART 2.4) PS3 Yes, Athletic does it sometimes, but not always. Watch tonight's game and compare how Barcelona does it on the highest level. PS4 Of course Barcelona can be beaten, no team is invincible. That doesn't prove a thing. It's a pretty normal thing. However, to win against Barcelona when they are playing their football is very difficult and I don't see a team that can beat them chest to chest playing attacking football and trying to outplay them. I have seen some Spanish sides like Las Palmas almost succeeding in that, but when Barca is motivated 100%, it's almost impossible. I think Arsenal might even win today, that's not the point. However, they'll need to be very sharp and lucky.
@McKonidas (PART 2.3) won't see him running like a headless chicken. The bottom line is, that's not necessary. They do what is necessary. When I say that Barcelona doesn't play with the full intensity, that means that they won't go out and run their hearts out every game. They will sit, wait and once they get the lead they will enjoy themselves and take it easy. They are not out there competing for everything all the game. They run, but they distribute the responsibility. They are very compact and they know what players around them need. For example, one game you'll see Messi running like crazy and Neymar taking it easy, next one it's different and so on. They distribute the burden. PS1 It's not an arbitrary claim, it's rather based on your statement that undermining Lucho's influence in this team. No person who watches Barcelona and has basic knowledge can state such a thing. Maybe you watch Barcelona, but then you definitely don't understand the dynamics of their game
@McKonidas (PART 2.2) a full match. Barcelona's primary games style is possession based because it is the most effective and the best of all, but in cases when they are temporarily unable to execute it, they have different tactics. Even if a tactic lasts for 10 minutes, it's still a part of the overall plan. You are talking about sitting in the back, or bus tactics which requires people in the back. Counter attack's meaning is in its name obviously. You counter the attack of your opponent. Nothing more, nothing less. This Barcelona is very swift in transition. When it comes to Barca's midfield players, again it's an illusion. Naingolan does seem more aggressive, he is more aggressive, but in Barcelona, football is played with your mind, not with your calfs. Busquets is like a wall and he's one of the slowest players you'll ever find. Why? Because he reads the game almost perfectly. I say almost, because there's no such thing as being perfect. Iniesta is also very aggressive, but you wo
@McKonidas Messi has always done that, but Enrique completely changed the mentality of the team in those situations. I agree that their game is fluid, but that's absolutely not an accident like you claim or only because of players. In Barcelona, there are no accidents. They practice and agree on every single detail and that's one of the things that makes them great. I don't think bashing Enrique or labelling him as meaningless is anywhere near the truth. His influence is obvious in every aspect of the game. He brought players he needs and then put them together in a compact unit which he imagined in the first place. I don't think good players play well together for no reason. Look at Real Madrid, for example. World Class players, but nowhere near Barcelona. And it's not only because of Enrique. It's his amazing team of great experts. Just because they don't employ the counter attacking tactic for full 90 minutes doesn't mean anything. I guess you think "tactic" is something you do for
@blitz (PART 1)I think we both agree on many points but we differ on the way we interpret them. You are seeing them as something positive that Enrique should be credited for ,I see them as a drawback from the style I would like to see from Barcelona. Surely Barcelona's playstyle has changed a lot and is more wide with long balls,crosses, fast transitions etc but those are not new tactics and many clubs use them to succeed. My club Olympiakos scored a goal in champion's league when the central defender (Siovas) hit a long pass directly to the open space behind Dinamo Zagreb's defense only for Ideye to score a one on one goal against the goalkeeper. This tactic can be very effective and I saw Barca trying those long balls, imagine if Olympiakos can score that way what can Barcelona do. But my point is that Barcelona had already a distinctive way of play that excelled and tactics like this although effective only undermine the real strength of the squad.
@blitz (PART2)Given though the amazing skill of their squad everything can be effective the matter is for how long after Messi is gone or others this will be effective. Individual brilliance is huge and Barcelona is more and more relying on it on difficult moments, obviously still a great collective unit, but I can see that in expense of some mature build-up directly from Guardiola's era. That's my main problem with Enrique and previous coaches that instead of taking Guardiola's Barcelona into a new level have opted for ready things and some minor tweaks that still work though but do not seem promising.I can see what Enrique is doing but I think is more of a patch into the current situation, credit for him that it is working so far. I have seen quite some matches this year that Barcelona was stalled at half time only to return with some brilliant individual goal or some slip up in opposition's tactical positioning, in both cases Enrique did nothing to overturn that stall.
@blitz For example Mourinho used to tell to his defender's to attack in 5 minute intervals while on Chelsea, is this a tactic, yes it is. Is this a distinctive way of playing, no. Barcelona does not need that kind of tricks but needs a coach like Wenger (let me explain) who has an ideal way a team should play and when the right players appear make that unit the most marauding thing history of football has witnessed like Guardiola did. When I said Barcelona does not change tactics I mean it that way that Barcelona is what we know from Guardiola era with some minor additions and changes according to circumstances but nothing really new or innovative. Well you can argue that you cannot reinvent football every 5 years but my expectations might be really high and I want to believe that for the future. I never said by the way that Barcelona needs Naingolan, I just mentioned the lack of aggressiveness of Barcelona's midfielders which Arsenal should exploit tonight with Coquelin,Ramsey and Gir
@blitz (PART4)I think it is very subjective the matter we are discussing and I hope I prove myself wrong in the future but I do not see Barcelona going any better than what their immense skill players can offer which unarguably will be top level for many years to come. Should we say a team makes the players or players make the team. In Barcelona and Arsenal the two foreign teams I support is the first case and that's what I want to see in the future as well.
I think this is a very tight contest. Barca are succeeding with flying colors tho which is why we expect them to pull through this time around.
If we are 100% honest we all know deep down that the Arsenal defence has slowly been deteriorating ever since that 4-0 loss to Southampton. Arsenal are gonna need the aging Mertesacker to be in tip top shape. He is a smart defender but his body is starting to show its age for instance in the red card he conceded to Diego Costa in the match several weeks ago.
Arsenal should not be counted out of this cracker of a match as they have shown us even this season that they are not a team to be meddled with for instance 2-1 win against Man City.
Arsenal need Cazorla bad. In a win against Bayern he was the best player on the pitch because of his ability to hold the ball in small space. When Bayern lost the ball Cazorla wasn't afraid to keep it a while even in hard press, buying time for his team mates to get forward. Barca will also try to win the ball back as quickly as possible, and I don't think Ramsey is a player who can challenge three players in his own half and play the ball forward. He could turn out to be pretty useless if Barca put pressure on him. So it will be hard for Arsenal to attack in numbers. Our best chance would be quick counter attacks (and set pieces) but I'm afraid Sanchez hasn't found his best form yet, his just trying too hard at the moment. It will be hard for us to win this game, not to mention whole tie. But who knows, if we defend as a unit like we did in the first match against Bayern we might be able to hang on, even Barca aren't unbeatable after all.
@Castle I agree but at the same time, Ozil can't mark Busquets successfully. Ramsey is our only hope of matching up with him if Coquelin is going to shield the defenders. Even if Cazorla were healthy, we might be caught between a rock and a hard place here.
@Bellerin Good defending is least what is expected of Ramsey, but I don't think he's asked to take Busquets out. Instead he and Özil might both play quite deep without the ball trying to prevent Barca creating chances from the middle (rather than Özil staying higher up with Giroud as usual). Against Barca it's important to get the ball to their own third and keep it there a while, it's impossible to defend 90 mins because of the fatigue at least. Ramsey can make runs without the ball but he's not the guy to take ball forward. We need good opening passes from Koscielny, Özil and Sanchez plus runs from Ox and Bellerin. If Giroud starts he needs to be able to keep the ball and take his team mates into game.
The game will be won from midfield and not upfront! the MSN hardly drop back throughout 90 minutes. Busquets is the linchpin Wenger must do everything to nullify. He's the most unpopular name in the Barcelona XI but he's the most important player. He's the one that transitions the ball from back to front and dictates the tempo of the game. He's unbeatable on the ball and his reading of the game is extraordinary. No wonder Pep said he's the most important player in Barcelona but looks like the worst player because he doesnt score goals when even the full backs manage to score. His job is to control the game and with Iniesta and Rakitic on the wings looking to receive the ball and thats when the MSN's movement becomes impossible to contain! Arsenal can beat Barcelona with a bit of luck and with players such as Ramsey, Sanchez upping their current game Wenger opting for Walcott who can really cause problems with his movement upfront! Start Walcott and bring Giroud as a sub!
I think Barcelona is going to give away a football show. One like the night in Madrid, remember the 0-4? Last year they did the same thing in the CL against Manchester City and PSG. In those matches they also gave away a demonstration, although the scoreling didn't fallout that high. I'm agree with the 1-3 prediction.
Arsenal are a very good side and Barcelona are the holding Champions of the Competition and boast the best players on the planet. Barcelona are coming in as favorites but anything can happen in football
I hope all these optimistic Gooners won't hate on Mesut and Alexis too hard because both of them are in for two quite, quite games. There's no way Ozil can compete with Barca's midfield and Alexis Sanchez? I am still baffled that people consider him top class. He's good, but he lacks intelligence to be a top player. This is definitely one of easier ties for Barcelona. Chelsea would be three times more difficult. Arsenal has absolutely no chance. And I am not even arrogant, it's simple as that. How can Arsenal beat Barcelona over two legs, are you all insane? Barca would have to have two worst days in their career, I think, in order for Arsenal to have a chance. Let's talk again tomorrow. I say either 1:2 or 0:3 depending on if Barcelona plays with 80% or 90% of their power. I am absolutely positive they won't play with 100%.
Reading through the comments from the mule league fans is hilarious. Mule league fans say the league is setup for Barca and real. It isn't, Real is 3rd and drew yesterday against a side who are 12th in the table. Mule league fans say la liga is easy because everyone is trash in it. In reply la liga fans say if everyone is trash in spain how come we dominate the ucl and europa league? Then, mule fans say its because english teams don't care about the europa league. But thats not true, LVG said he wants to win the europa league. Mule fans than say they can't win the ucl because the premier league is so hard. But if the premier league is so damn hard, how on earth is LEICESTER CITY top of the league??? How can a team who were fighting relegation last season, be top next season?? I'll tell you how, its because the rest of the teams are so damn bad in the prem. Now mule fans say the premier league is the most competitive. It isn't, the indian league is.
@Beastador what i mean by the last part, is that mule fans say the prem is the most competitive because any team can beat anyone. They say that anybody can win the league. The same goes for the indian league.
@Beastador By your own impeccable logic, the Indian league is a million times more competitive than the Spanish league, you do realise that? Because in Spain only Barca and Real Madrid can win, and about once a decade someone else wins it, like Atletico recently. So by your own definition of "competitiveness", the Spanish league is one of the least competitive in the world. Over to you Beastador.
@What4 Mule fans say the prem is the best because it is competitive. I never said la liga is the most competitive league in the world. Also you only replied to my weakest point.
@Beastador Agreed, the competitiveness notion is in respect with another major league, in between the league is just pointless. As far as competitiveness between premier league and a league like La Liga is concerned it is evident by in between battles and general success that the average "teamability" (allow me to use this just crafted word to describe a hypothetical ideal rating system of teams skill and ability) is just higher in La Liga even if the top two teams were excluded.
please Alexis Sanchez rise in this game and please Wenger for once get the tactics right for an European game because we have seen many red cards especially against Barcelona, 3 in the last 5 games inc 2006 CL final! COYG!
Incredible fact: in the last 5 games Arsenal vs Barcelona inc 2006 CL final Arsenal have had in 3 games On my way! Players sent off during early stages of the match and subsequently lost the game even though Arsenal has scored in these games regardless. Also Arsenal is also one of the teams that play less aggressive football in Europe yet they have had had red cards in every other game with Barcelona. I do hope the referee doesn't ruin this game. Barcelona obviously coming in as favourites but it would be foolish to write down Arsenal who is favourites for EPL and have lately shown that they don't succumb to pressure! Barcelona have an average goalie and average defence. Midfield and attack is obviously untouchable but should Arsenal be able to get near their defence then I see no reason why Arsenal won't score! Is personally play Walcott as a number 9 and leave Giroud as a sub! Walcott really will cause problems with his movement upfront! COYG!
Yes, yes. The refs fault is because didn't register a shot on target. Never forget - 3:1 score (19-0) shots on target
19 - 0 with 70% posession. The only game Arsenal can play is Barcelona type of football, but how can they beat Barca in their own game? There's absolutely no chance for Arsenal unless Barcelona has a really bad day. Still, Barca is getting away with this, but I honestly don't see a way Arsenal can win this game. There is no space, nothing practically. Alexis Sanchez was lost in Barcelona and anyone who watched Barcelona frequently knows that. I remember seeing Neymar and Messi looking at him in wonder like "What the fuck are you doing mate?" - He's a good player, but is he a caliber that can bring Barca down over two legs? Absolutely fucking not. And be prepared for an invisible Mesut Ozil. That's a certainty.
On paper, Barcelona does look the favorite of this match however, we shouldn't take Arsenal easy at all... If we are to beat Arsenal then we must be performing at our best. Arsenal's defense is great on its day and that counter attacks can easily give them few goals considering the fact that Barca is pretty poor defending counter attacks. Barca will have to take this game seriously. However, I do trust in Enrique. He doesn't take any game easily and he will surely not take this game as well.
Nevertheless, we will have one damn entertaining game to watch
I like the football Barca play, actually, probably everyone except fans of Real Madrid do too. It's just most of the rest about Barca I don't like. And yes, Barca are probably the best team in the world (maybe Bayern run them close). The arrogance of La Liga fans is just unnecessary. They should understand that it's a fact that the Premier League is the most competitive in the world, which means players are more fatigued; more injuries, so key players are missing or trying to get their form back (Sanchez, Welbeck, Cazorla etc.); and having to rotate more, which affects team cohesion. It is also a fact that La Liga is biased in favour of Barca and Real Madrid. Yes Barca are clear favourites in this tie, but there are reasons for Barca fans to be a bit more modest, and Arsenal are not as much inferior to them as they believe.
@What4 that real and barca are favours in la liga doesnt mean anything becouse other teams put up a great fight against them. do you think that their hard work for domination isnt making them fatigued?
@What4 Also it is good to mention that LaLiga is dominating entire Europe. Just look UCL & Europa League. So to say that it is only Barcelona and Madrid then this is clear bias towards the weak league of England.
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Peace
@What4 sorry to disagree with you brother but Barcelona is the team with most games played in Top 5 leagues, yet the team is still fighting on every competition. We are at the Cup final (Copa D Rey), we are almost securing the league and we are in the Champions League R16. We played the European Super Cup (and won it), We played the Club World Cup (and won it) we played the Spanish Super Cup (We lost it), we had a transfer ban that prohibited us from having Turan and Vidal from playing till January. No Team in the Premier League played more games than us. Luis Enrique is good in rotating squad. This is very funny that a coach of Enrique's age is more expert than Wenger who has been a coach in the Premier League since I don't know when!!!
Yet you Premier League fans keep on whining about heavy game schedule, if Barcelona Can make it through all of this then you should consider what is wrong in your team and the problems of your league
@smb26 And Barca players can walk through half the games in La Liga and still win. Players who come to England from big Spanish say it all the time, many games you just have to turn up to win, but in the Premier League you have to play well every game.
@What4 You should watch La Liga sometimes mate. You would see how teams play against Barcelona especially at their home ground. Put Barcelona in Premier League, they would run much less. Who can give them a fight? West Brom? Swansea? Newcastle? Everton? Manchester City? United? Arsenal? Chelsea? Leicester. None of English clubs would finish La Liga season in top 5. None of them.
@smb26 Enrique is current. Wenger certainly influenced modern tactics though he is no longer at the forefront. Enrique is. Don't go telling yourself that Taylor Swift is better than the Beatles because she is currently selling more albums. Enrique is a better manager in 2016, don't confuse that with being more expert. Did Enrique build this team? No. He innovated on what Pep built there. For better or worse, Wenger built modern Arsenal. Spain has superior managing culture to England without a doubt. You have lots of games against garbage teams in Spain. You can start your B team and win. Of the top 20 players on whoscored in minutes played, 9 are from Ligue 1, 8 are EPL, 3 are from Serie A. Arsenal have 4 players who have more than 2000 minutes this season, Barça has 1. That's Suarez. He's tied with Bellerin who is fourth on our team in minutes played. Haddadi has 555 minutes. Nobody that garbage could get those minutes on Arsenal without a subsequent loss to Middlesborough or Hull.
@Bellerin Do you honestly think Arsenal as a team would have a chance to finish top 5 in La Liga? I would like to see Arsenal play some of La Liga teams away, the games that you clearly don't watch. Most of La Liga's bottom teams are techincally much more advanced than EPL top teams. Not to mention tactically. Arsenal is the only team that is like 6-7 place caliber of technical football for La Liga. They would get eaten in Away games in La Liga especially. Your excuses are quite pathetic. Even if Barcelona players are that good to run over teams, they still play the most games and put Arsenal in the same place of Barcelona. What would happen? Would Arsenal do the same? Come on man. Be realistic for a bit. I know you love EPL, Arsenal and all that commercial bullshit, but how can you talk about La Liga when I am sure you watch only a few games. La Liga teams are top top class and they prove that every time in Europe. Are you sure City, Arsenal and Ferguson's United were ALWAYS tired?
@blitz You are deluded. I watched Villarreal play Atletico Madrid recently and I can tell you Everton has more technical quality than both of them, and Everton are in 11th place. Stones, Jagielka, Coleman, Baines, Barkley, Mirallas, Deulofeu and Lukaku would get into any La Liga team other than Real Madrid and Barca.
@blitz Yes, Arsenal Would be about where Real Madrid are this year in the table. We are better than Sevilla. We'll play better at the Camp Nou than Real Madrid did. I don't love the EPL. I have the same problems with it that I have with La Liga- foolish management that will go into massive debt and spend money they don't have. It's disgusting in an era when many governments (Spain included) are barely solvent. Just because the prem has a better TV deal doesn't make it more commercial. Are we more commercial because we have fortune 500 companies on our kits instead of corrupt governments?
@What4 For sure. We are much better than when we lost 2-1 in past years. Better than when we beat them too. I like Barça. I love their history against Franco and their regional pride. They are a beautiful club. The people without modesty are almost certainly glory seeking fans. I agree that the Prem is underrated. Maybe we don't have a Barça, Bayern or Atleti right now, but La Liga doesn't have to go to Stoke. No 'Aaron Ramsey walks with a limp" from the bottom half of their table. Also, I think the Championship is the best second division in Europe. That makes early stages of the FA Cup more challenging than any other. Not a reason to say England is the toughest place to win a championship or cup, just so say that it translates directly to a stronger bottom of the 1st division table.
@Bellerin Yep, the bottom part of La Liga is nowhere near as strong as the bottom part of the Premier League. And look at the teams that got promoted into the Premier League this season, all of them surviving, it is in fact established teams that are struggling. That just tells you about the quality of the Championship.
@Bellerin Tougher according to who, obviously the top half of the division. You can either translate it as you mention or as that the top half is weak enough to consider the bottom half as strong teams and maybe concede points to them, you made your pick though. You mention physicality as well, as a measure of toughness of oppositions which is very true for epl teams wasting technically gifted players and tactically intelligent for the shake of physical game. Why play a through-ball when you can always cross the ball to the angry upcoming midfielders. That certainly does not build team cohesion nor tactical awareness of the game called football. I do not know how much the physical aspect of football is contributing into team success but the evidence I get is that it is not much. Premier league seems a tough league because teams are competing into the ability to run without the ball,cross it and other minor elements of football which do not provide the expected edge to tactically --->
@McKonidas I would argue that the "physical" English footballing culture hurts our league. If you want to criticize that, doing it to Arsenal supporters is preaching to the choir. I would much rather play a tactical mastermind everytime we go down to the number 16 team than get midfielder's legs broken and face park the bus, set piece football. As @what4 points out though, the talent from out mid table outpaces any league in the world. Serie A, not La Liga is probably the closest talent to talent comparison throughout the table. Wellington Silva came from Almeria to the Championship this and is having similar performance results. Also not a first team regular in the UK. As an Arsenal supporter, I know firsthand the danger of thinking "we lost but we sure looked better. We really outplayed them." That's what I hear from La Liga people anytime there is a disparity in results and performance.
@Bellerin --->and technically gifted squads as in other leagues. Only Arsenal is trying to advance in that matter but the progression is half-hearted and a weird mix of both.
cunning wenger will set the tactics so that the ball is transfered quicly to Oz, and he will with his killer passes play it through the awful barca defence to the fast arsenal wings, and I have the filling it could be the ex-barca sanchez; for that arsenal players must be agressive last 10 minutes when barcelonas pressure weakens
Barca's pressure is always as it should be. If you think Barca's defence is bad, you clearly don't know much about football. It sometimes seems bad, because Barca is an ultra-attacking side and numbers are always committed forward. That's why most of opposition attacks are 2v2 or 3v2. How many goals Barca concedes? Well, not much. Also, in order for Arsenal to do some damage, they will need to have the ball in their feet. Barca will take it at least 65% and if Wenger tries to take it and compete with Barca in that way, Barca will let them have it and then crush them on the counter like they did to Bayern. Wenger is smarter than that, he will wait back. And then, how do you expect Arsenal's defence to defend the best attacking formation of all time when they never do that usually? They are not used to defending. Barca plays short through balls and 1-2s all the time. There's no way to defend that brilliance for 90 minutes. Especially because MSN will be fired up.
@Overmars Hardly. Mascherano and Pique are world class. It looks shite sometimes as I mentioned before becuase they commit numbers forward. Also, Ter Stegen is already a brilliant goal keeper.
Barça is the best in Europe. Almost without question. That said, we're damn good on our day and if the Catalans play like they did against Las Palmas, they'll lose. You can denigrate the Premier league or Arsenal all you want, you may have a point here or there. Barça played poorly against Las Palmas and not just because there was no Busquets or Pique. Arsenal have a CB that's won the world Cup and Koscielny is better than the BFG. Sanchez won the champions league and Ozil has won the UCL and World Cup. Cech has won the UCL. Our fullbacks are good. Our forwards are big and better in the air than anyone Barça has. Maybe we can't burn Alves and Alba, But if they get caught out of position they won't catch Walcott, Welbeck or Chambo. This isn't to say we're better than Barça. Again, I think they're the best team in Europe. But for these people on here saying that Arsenal will get destroyed? Maybe. But if you come to the Emirates with what you brought to Las Palmas, you'll get fucked up.
@Bellerin You are basing your argument on that game? Barca was playing with about 10% of their powers. You do realize, Messi will come out at Emirates gliding with Iniesta and Neymar on all sides? Barcelona is so experienced that they won't play 100% against Arsenal. They know they'll score and they'll take their time to frustrate Arsenal. You'll see. All it takes is one early go to batter Arsenal. You base your optimism on Las Palmas game, yet Barca is undefeat in 34 games plus they are European, Spanish and World Champion and MSN scored more goals than Arsenal this season?
@blitz fucking typos, those who LACK the will to hope. I do wonder how many of the Barça shit talkers are actually Catalans. I suspect very few. The tone here frequently reflects the tone of the glory seeker. Anyone can root for the biggest teams and talk shit before and after games. That isn't what being a supporter is about.
@blitz In Nietzschean sense, those who pack the will to hope have given up on life. A bit of realistic optimism is healthy. We'll do to Barça what we did at home to Bayern. Maybe we'll win or maybe we won't. I don't see us being frustrated though. Saying that Barca can't play away against us like they did away 4 days earlier isn't irrational optimism, it's just a fact. I picked Arsenal to draw 2-2 at the Emirates. We'll lose 3-1 at Camp Nou.
@Bellerin I am pretty sure that Nietzsche himself would admire Barcelona's will to overcome football boundaries, if he himself was a football fan, which I am sure he wouldn't be. However, I am glad people are optimistic, but let's see what happens shall we? Seems like both teams are fired up. Let's see.
@Bellerin He started the season with Real Madrid that year, it can be confusing if you still have pictures in your head of of Mesut with the 2013 Madrid kit :) (even thought they are pretty much all the same to me :D)
Gunners are healthier now than when they beat Bayern at home. Barcelona is a good squad without doubt and I don't think you can ever take them lightly, but they also haven't truly been tested for a while. I think Arsenal at least pulls out a draw in this one. I'll take them with the hook.
@blitz@blitz RM game was 3 months ago and Atletico was down two players for nearly 30 min-- they still only lost by 1 goal. Of recent, Barca has also only won by a goal to Las Palmas and Malaga in La Liga. Not exactly impressive and Arsenal is not the mediocre squad they've been in the past. If you think Gunners stand no chance for a draw you are straight bonkers. By all means though, place your money on a -137 moneyline and tell me how that goes for you.
This Arsenal team is very well suited for the counter-attack, Ozil+Sanchez and Chamberlain running like crazy, Ramsey the surprise factor....i mean, i really see them scoring, but their center back couple is weak, Mertesacker is slow, so Suarez or Neymar could make a mess there.
@Ffaris How does that even make sense? Juventus, PSG AND Arsenal are all in excellent form. Barcelona have had positive results against all three teams in the last 3 years; where PSG has failed to qualify past Barcelona on two occasions and beat Juventus in the finals last year. PSG is there preferred opponent if we were to compare the three.
So many people expecting a trashing by barca...wont be surprised if arsenal make it very tough.they definitely have a chance of going to the next round
All i know is this is going to be the most talked game of the last 16.. Either MSN dictates the show or a spirited Gunners...To some its Liga vs EPL.. But Messi on his day will be the huge difference between these teams..
@Lapulga Given the otherworldyness of the Messi, that statement about his day is just about always true, ok World cup finals aside. But should be a great game
@What4 You are clearly a typical EPL lover who can't see past his own nose. EPL is below bundesliga and La Liga, face it. Barca will beat Arsenal fair and square and you will make up any excuse to justify it other than pure skill. I pity people like you.
Just had a look at the last line ups, an eternity agaon in 2011. Arsenal were so different. Past results cant be compared. My goodness, Bendtner was a sub against Barca. Sorry to knock the Danish nutter, but the striking options for the Gunners look one helluvu lot better now. Also, Arshavin, the strange ghost of potential, scored that famous goal. Again no offence to the Russian, but where does he even play now?
@Khanya And now you have Giroud? Real Madrid reject Mesut Ozil and Barcelona reject Alexis Sanchez against Messi, Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta, Busquets, Alba, Alves, Pique, Mascherano. Experience is by far on Barca's side, quality obviously...
@Beastador Yes, a league where all the money goes to the top two teams, child-trafficking met with a slap on the wrist, and various covert government help for the top two, making it very easy for those top two clubs to prepare for cup games, leaving a bunch of mechanics and hair-dressers to fill up the teams in the bottom half of the league, dodgy refereeing in favour of the top two in domestic and European games, such a league is a shining example of all that is best in football. On the other hand, those "mules" in the PL have a fairly even distribution of money and talent throughout the league, making it the most popular and competitive in the world, and refereeing that is so uniformly rubbish that just about everyone is put at a disadvantage, they must be deluded, those fools making up the most popular and richest league in the world.
@What4 So much ignorance in one comment and so much bias. You are probably the biggest idiot here. Disgusting. Watch some La Liga games and see how "mechanics" and "hairdressers" play you fat bastard.
@What4 I had to collect a mouthful of half-digested food in my mouth and grudgingly swallow it as soon as I read "the most popular and competitive [league] in the world". Do some research on Spanish vs. English teams in the champion/europa league. I wish I could see the look on your face after finding out your favourite league is far more than inferior. On top of your audacious attempt at berating less popular Spanish teams, you criticise management and football economics as a PL fan. Two of your major teams are owned by Russian and middle eastern oil money. I won't even begin to list the other countries that have their share of the English football wealth.
@Skibba I said, most popular and competitive *league*, not has the strongest top two teams, which was my entire point. Thanks for missing the point entirely, this has been a great conversation.
@What4 what curious is that the so called weak teams of La Ligiga also beat the top team of EPL. Bilbao knocked a strong United out of Europe, Ferguson was still manager. The Spanish teams (top 4) dominates UCL and the next 3 dominate EL regardless of who is representing. EPL is more competitive as a competition bcoz most of the teams tho not exceptional are at the same level. In Spain there is class football from all the teams tho only 3 have a realistic chance of winning the League. Spainish teams generally do well in Europe because their football is quality. since year 2000 the EL have been won 7 times by a Spanish team and that wasn't Real Madrid or Barcelona
@Truthful04 If you're talking about individual results, obviously anything is possible. And what Spanish top 4? You mean top 2. And no one in the Premier League cares about the EL, sad to say, because there is more money in the league. You're another one that has entirely missed every single point I made about the competitiveness of the *entire* league, not just the top two, and how the whole structure of Spanish football is bent and twisted to support the top two at the expense of the league and all the other teams. Half the games in La Liga have half empty stadiums, something which would never happen in the Premier League, where all the games are well supported, whether in the stadium or on television. Why? Because the Spanish league is a joke except for the top 6 or 8 teams, and it is massively skewed in favour of the top two. You all need to put on your reading specs and actually address the points I made in the first comment.
@What4 You say the epl is the most popular and most competitive league. It depends on who you ask regarding most popular. Now the epl is NOT the most competitive league in the world. A quick look around on the internet shows the indian I league is more competitive than the epl. The epl is an over inflated, low quality football league with many big name players but no big top tier teams. All teams are of low standard in comparison to la liga. Heck the only difference between the indian league and the epl is money. So will you start watching the chinese super league if it is rich like the epl?
@Beastador What? Are you high? DId you actually say the I-league is more competitive than the epl? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH How could anyone take what you say seriously?! hahahahaha. Come off it and join the real world.
@Beastador Um, no, we say that because of the strength of the teams in the league, which as a result means the title race is more competitive. You do realise that by your reasoning the Indian league is a million times more competitive than the Spanish league?
@What4 bpl might be competitive but its sure as hell isnt the strongest. its so overrated that its laughable. they dont care of EL becouse they are after money not glory. the real glory is what you achieve out of your home league. but English teams cant offer that becouse they are too stuck in their own league and talk only about that
@What4 Your premise is that the EPL is more competitive than La Liga because any team has a shot at winning the title. Is a league competitive because all the teams are good, or just equally bad? Barca and RM dominate Europe, so obviously they would also in Spain. If more money makes teams better, than why is MUFC, equally wealthy to Barcelona, so bad? Anyone who criticizes the lack of quality in Spain's league does not watch the games.
@LLCAN if you put Barcelone and/or Madrid in Premier League i'm not sure they will have the same points at the end. Degree of difficulties seams to be higher in England, or difference of superiority lower than Spain IMO.
The last encounter was actually close considering that Arsenal only needed to score 1 more goal to go through. but this time it wont be close. The MSN will blast the Gunners away
It's funny how Arsenal performs well when you don't expect them to and perform badly when you expect otherwise.
I wouldn't say it's impossible for Arsenal to win this one by a small margin just to get trashed at Camp Nou.
@felipe9525 You are transposing the results against Bayern here. I think its a possibility, it depends which version of both teams turn up. After some of the results this season, and yesterday afternoon, I think the "cant handle the pressure of big games" tag that the Gunners have had round their necks can be dropped. I do agree that they need to be consistent against the smaller teams. A lot also depends on Alexis getting his mojo back. Wellbeck's return is a boost.
Lol,, somewhere down these comments sees an arsenal fan go 'if arsenal were in la liga they'd be 2nd'..,, Aye you sure? is this la liga ir liga adelante youre talking about? dii you consider Real, atletico and sevilla? because barca fans rubbish these teams doesnt give you he right to, Real would anl you, celta would get a rimjob by you, atletico would bang you like a very nasty hooker and sevilla would take it slow with you, neverthe less cumming in you.
even teams at the foot of the la liga table can compete against barca. Arsenal are a joker side.
@spursman Arsenal did compete but u guys need to give la liga more credit as a whole. The bottom teams aren't just rollovers . Barca makes them look like that.
This game was actually a case of Arsenal losing control of the game rather than Barca turning it up and out-playing us. Let's look at the facts. The first goal came from Arsenal making the mistake of pushing too many players forward in attack, leaving Monreal on his own at the back. Before that Barca only had half chances for 70 minutes, and in fact the best chance up till then fell to Oxlade-Chamberlain who basically missed an open net. After the first goal we continued pushing too many players forward, but the second goal can from an unforced error when Mertesacker mis-controlled a ball or whatever, and Flamini dived in. So it was more a case of Arsenal losing their composure than Barca out-playing us. And please, Barca fans, react with factual arguments rather than insults and "U mad Arsenal fan Barca best team Evah crush everywan!!" type of comments.
@What4 Can you BE any more BIASED and stupid dude? Let's see. Arsenal chances before the goal were: Ox clear cut chance and Giroud's header. Barcelona chances were: Suarez's free header, Suarez 1v1 vs Cech before that and Neymar 1v1 with Chec before the goal. You are the one who is completely blind and stupid here mate. Nobody has responded to your blabbering in that way. Arsenal had a good spell, but everyone expected them to have a few chances. Like Messi said: " We knew they will crumble in the second half." If Suarez or Neymar scored those 1v1 which they should've and usually do, you could have been battered. Barcelona had the complete control and they just sat back and waited. Of course you can say it was because of this or that. Accidents, for you. For somebody who knows football a clear clear victory.As I mentioned before, Las Palmas gave Barca much more dificult time. MUCH MORE!
@blitz Another Barca supporter who can't address any of the points. Barca's chances were half chances, Oxlade-Chamberlain's chance was clear because he basically had an open goal. You would count Giroud's chance as a half chance as well, so overall Arsenal should have scored from the clear chance, plus there were some other chances where either side might or might not have scored. So all Barca's plans and pressure up 70 minutes did not actually give them the upper hand, it was only when Arsenal lost composure that Barca dominated, which was my entire point. We lost mainly due to us losing composure, rather than Barca brilliantly out-playing us.
@What4 if you think 1vs1 esp neymar's is half chance then u r pretty deluded
@blitz Have to agree 100%. Arsenal were always going to get chances. Barcelona controlled the game and never looked like losing. Like for most of Arsenal's season, Cech has just about kept them in this.
barcelona had no subs
Arsenal fans think they outplayed Barca in the first half when barca was clearly just trying to slow the game down which they did. Even Las Palmas or Granada give them better competition in first halfs of La Liga games. Of course Arsenal will have some chances, I can't believe people are actually saying Arsenal had better of it.
@blitz Yep.They do this on a regular basis when facing an opposition that defends counter attack poorly.This is a new hybrid Barca and they have massively improved their transition over the last year and a half.Slowing the tempo in order to take the possesion more rigidly and then striking on counter makes this team virtually unstoppable and basically a stronger version than Pep's Barca which was incredible but one dimensional team with no plan B.Bayern has a chance in one game.
The game was completely predictable as Arsenal is nowhere near Barca quality wise.They have taken a beating with Wenger because it is clear to anyone that you can not mask 10 years of domestic and European irelevance with barely-"We are saving the money for new stadium doctrine".It is a shame the ownership is strictly neocapitalism in a bottle these days,I am a Barca supporter but also a Liverpool one so I understand how Gunners must feel. Dani Alves suprised me immenesly.He was pretty much done a year ago and the guy turned it around somehow (again) to become the most dangerous RB of the past, present and near future.Arsenal has 5% chance to progress.
@IlFenomeno Dani Alves was never done for. He has always maintained the brilliant flair that we know and saw last night, but sometimes his ultra attacking play can go wrong and that's when many turn on him quite unfairly, whilst easily forgetting his pure brilliance.
0-2 seems quite fair result, considering the chances. Sad, because after first half, seemed like Arsenal was able to play like equals. I would say that Arsenal as a team would need more world-class players like Sanchez and Özil. As soon as these two got the ball, something dangerous was about to happen. Ramsey, Ox and Mertesacker were simply terrible, not to mention Flamini.
part 4- But I feel regardless of the personnel, the tactics in the 2nd half coupled with individual errors cost us the chance of making this a tie after the 1st leg. Barcelona have an all world-class front 6, if you fail to make it difficult for them to attack and miss your own chances then, frankly, there is zero chance of beating them. I would fancy Bayern Munich to beat this team over 2 legs. They would've at least scored 3 or 4 against a get-at-able defence. The clean sheet flatters them. Going to the Nou Camp with only the token 1% chance that every team has against any other, I would like us to approach it differently to show the fans they have this team spirit we get told exists in the dressing room. I think we have to otherwise it'll be 90 minutes of keep-ball and a procession for Barcelona.
@SteveHyland This is how your logic works -- Arsenal created chances therefore Barcelona's defence is bad. Las Palmas created more chances against Barcelona. It's football mate. Chances happen all the time. Barcelona could've scored at least 5 if they converted all their clear cut chances. Stop being so biased and look at it realistically. You absolutely had no chance. This is a typical Barcelona away game. Opponents struggles, they even feel they have the game by its horns sometimes, but eventually they lose. You can discuss it all day long, but it changes nothing. Barcelona is simply the better side.
@blitz- No, every team creates chances against Barcelona so their defence is bad and it's not the fact we created chances, it's the fact the chances came so easily. Frankly had we not been so timid early on, we could've created a lot more and the irony of being called biased from the bloke who trolls about the prem being bad at every single opportunity must be lost on you.
@SteveHyland the clean sheet does not flatter them, and don't forget the simple fact that despite all of the stars at ARSENAL, they have been struggling to score for weeks now. And the errors came in the 2nd half as players were falling to bits under the immense pressure. What type of different approach would you like to see at Camp Nou? If you don't sit back and defend you may end up losing 6-2 or 5-1, Wenger had done his homework and the game plan was good, just didn't have the skill to pull it off on the night. And if you think BAYERN MUNCHEN would've done better you obviously don;t watch them week in week out and see just how porous their defence can be at times. Just as it obviously was against JUVENTUS late in the game when they gave up a 2-0 lead.
@Quest- Nope, the gameplan against Barca of sitting back and inviting pressure for the WHOLE GAME simply doesn't work. Tell me the last time a team did that and won. Incidentally, Bayern haven't had 2 fit CBs for weeks now. Kimmich (a CM) and Alaba (a LB) played in defence last night so let's not be an idiot.
@SteveHyland Ahh Steve, you often make some good and very valid points, but you always insist on being correct even when you are simply making outlandishly biased comments. Your views are always worth reading, even if they do sometimes border on ridiculousness. Have a good Saturday, and come on Leicester City!!!!!!
part 3... Even employing those tactics though, Giroud should've scored with his header at 0-0. He was another who had a poor night. We looked much better with Welbeck on. I'm also not sure why we didn't go at Pique and Mascherano more throughout the whole night. As soon as both of those were put under pressure, they looked exactly what they are- poor, but it didn't happen enough to force an error in a dangerous position. It didn't help we came into the game with so many individuals out of form, and those players were responsible for sloppiness throughout the night (Coquelin, Ramsey, Sanchez). Contary to some of the comments below, Oezil, didn't have a poor game. He made some excellent runs into the space in-between Barca's lines but we failed to find him and whenever he did get the ball, he found himself in the wrong areas because he went chasing. We really missed Cazorla tonight. He would've given us much more of a linkup between defence and attack... cont.
@SteveHyland Pique poor? This has to be one of the most idiotic statements yet.
@blitz- Please do tell why he is a good defender then, actual facts based on analysing his style of play and ignoring the fact he plays for Barcelona which must mean he's good because there are never bad defenders in good attacking teams now are there....
@SteveHyland PIQUE & J.MASCHERANO poor? You have got to be joking, they are truly world class defenders of the highest order. People might want to blame Flamini for the penalty, but P.MERTESACKER often makes dubious clearances, and his effort to clear the ball in 82nd minute was akin to a schoolboys effort. It isn't too often that the 2 Barca Centre Cacks would make such a terribly meek clearance right into the path of a lethal CF is it?
@Quest- You really need to start watching good defenders then. Pique is fantastic on the ball but looks shaky when you put him under pressure. Had you watched the full game last night rather than the highlights then you'd have seen that. Mascherano would only make it as a CB in Spain, and for Barcelona. Stick him in any other team and he looks like a converted DM. Mertesacker's clearance, or lack of, to Flamini was poor for sure but it came about from being tired from defending all night. Pretty understandable, it'd happen to Nesta, Adams, Vidic, Sammer etc in the same circumstances but his defensive positioning is very good (when the team's is good, by that I mean the defensive line set out), he doesn't jump into tackles unless he has to, he marshals players very well (something not always obeyed by the players and rarely seen on tv) and generally his offside awareness is good. He's also better on the ball than 90% of world defenders.
part 2... It was understandable why we were cautious in the 1st half and had we gone too aggressive too soon, they could've nicked a goal and made the 2nd half really uncomfortable, but it was clear to me that the more time Barcelona's players, particularly Iniesta and Rakitic, spent on the ball, the more confident they grew- safe in the knowledge we were going to employ those same "sit back and counter" tactics all night. It become predictable and it was no surprise they scored, although I would've liked better marking on the best player in the world. This Barca team isn't a tiki-taka one, they general look to get the ball forward as quick as possible. Sitting back worked against Bayern (as an attacking tactic as much as a defensive one) because they can overplay, Barca rarely do so I honestly don't see how Wenger thought we would hold out playing a style which is very un-Arsenal... cont.
@SteveHyland Arsenal's "counter" tactics did not have anything to do with Barca's first goal. It was simply a fast counter attack and a good finish from a player better than Chamberlain. That was the difference yesterday. Pure quality of individuals.
@DarkArs- Actually, if you correct employ counter tactics, you shouldn't yourself be countered on yourself. You should be defending too strictly and deeply to prevent that from happening. It was a botched coverage which left Messi unmarked. Some of that has to do with the fact Coquelin is only 2 games back from injury though. I still think the tactics themselves were poor. Barca created chances at the end of the first half when we were employing sit back and counter tactics well. A tactically astute coach would've seen that and changed the plan.
I think we got it tactically correct in the first 45 minutes. We stifled Barcelona's attacks, made them revert to un-Barcelona passing, got them visibly frustrated and resorting to the typical Liga combo of niggly fouls- which went "unseen" and making the most of every tackle- which went unpunished. We also created chances including the golden opportunity which Chamberlain (who had a poor night) should've buried. However, in the 1st half injury time, there was a warning that those tactics weren't going to work much longer. Suarez missed the header but should've scored. We should've come out in the 2nd half employing the same tactics Celta Vigo in particular employed earlier on the season- aggressive pressing, not allowing Barcelona's midfield time on the ball and breaking with pace and directness. Sitting back, inviting attacks doesn't work against Barcelona for a whole game. It didn't for Man City or Juventus last season so I'm not sure why it would for us.... cont.
@SteveHyland The tactics that work against Barca can't be maintained the entire 90 mins, which is why the majority of Barca's goals come in the second half.
@LLCAN- That's exactly why you need to employ different tactics throughout the game, which was my point....
@SteveHyland wow. very fair comment from an arenal fan.
@SteveHyland in hindsight perhaps the best bet for Arsenal was Gibbs for Chamberlain (Gibbs LM, Sanchez RM). Chambers could have come on for Giroud (Chambers going into central midfield and a 4-5-1) and Walcott brought on at the same time for Ozil and left up to on his own. 0-0 would have been a good result for Arsenal and Walcott might have got a chance on the break
@SteveHyland Chamberlain was wasteful . But you were much tighter defensively with him on the park. He did a good job without the ball and at least offered a threat going forward. You looked wide open as soon as Walcott came on. Barcelona are so good you were having to rely on Chamberlain and Sanchez (who slept a few times) to help you defend often. You opened right up when Walcott came on. It's why Wenger was desperate not to sub off Chamberlain at half time despite him having a huge knock. For me Wenger make a mistake bringing Walcott on for Chamberlain. The logical option on the bench is Gibbs to come on at left midfield (which Wenger has done before), with Sanchez moving over to the right. I was very surprised such an experienced manager made this change against a side like Barcelona. Also Ozil playing as a striker was fine, but 0-0 after 60 minutes Ozil should have tucked back and helped the midfield 4 more. He didn't take enough defensive responsibility second half
@TacticalMastermind2.0- I'm not knocking Chamberlain's work-rate, in this match or in general, but in these matches, it's the important moments you have to make count and he was 5 yards out with 90% of the goal to aim at yet hit it to Ter Stegen on the floor. I could've put the botched passes, poor touches and failed dribbles down to over-enthusiasm but that 1 moment which could've changed the whole complexion of the game was missed. I dn't argue with Wenger not bringing on Walcott but Welbeck was on the bench. He is a better option than Walcott 99 times out of 100, works as hard as anyone in our squad (actually too hard when he's playing in the 9) and has a directness which you could tell Barcelona's defence were worried about.
Arsenal might be the champuon of CL at least a century from now but up to that time they should ubderstand that wenger is not a reall or good coach and he just waste his money on weak players. poor EPL!
How much waste for wenger? the looser ever
Alba should have been off at 0-0. You can't head-butt people in the nose and get away with it in the CL unless you have a Barcelona or Madrid shirt on.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 headbutt? Alba and Alves were definitely whiners about dumb challenges, but every foul and card against Arsenal were justified. Replays proved it.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 Head-butt? Really? Wow. Talking about stupiditiy.
@blitz Yes, head-butt in CL terms. That is a nailed on red in CL.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 And Barca getting the free kick every time an Arsenal player puts a hand on him, Alves and Coquelin both diving in for a ball, and guess who gets penalised, no card for Ozil being hacked down, Monreal given card in the 6th, sixth! minute for slipping...Barca get help? Never!
@What4 Refs make mistakes but the cards were warranted, and all the rest had no affect on the game. What ref decision wrongly favoured Barca to allow them their 2 goals, or to obstruct any from Arsenal? none? ok byee
@LLCAN- So you can see into the future? How do you know the bookings which should've happened in Arsenal's favour WOULDN'T have altered the game. The only reason they didn't is because they were in Barca's favour and THEY won. Had Arsenal won then you could say they had no affect but you have to assume it at least helped Barcelona stop pressure in the first half. Liga refs favour the big 2, that's without question and in the CL, Barcelona get favoured. That too is without question.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 Well, me with my white goggles can't really remember getting any help from referees at crucial games in CL. I would say there is only one club which can do that :)
Arsenal played 4-4-2 whether you lot like it or not. Pundits agree with me. Koeman calling it 4-4-2. Ozil average of Giroud on average position map. As usual football fans don't actually understand football formations and tactics. I remember now why i stopped coming to this site full of noobs
@TacticalMastermind2.0 4231 IS a derivation of 442, it's not about the positioning, roles make difference. in the 442 the front 2 are flat and move alternatively deep or high, in the 4231 there's a first striker with a second striker behind him, their movement are fixed not alternative
@Mattia I'll add something else. 4231 has an attacking midfield, not a second striker or a support striker. So you're contradicting yourself anyway.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 no it hasn't, the movement and the duties requested to that player are those proper of a second striker. don't trust english definition on tactics and players they're culturally poor on this argument, stuck in 70s. the modern 442 was invented in italy in the 90s, so is the 4411 or 4231 version. the "trequartista" old #10 or attacking mid survives in tactics such as 4312 or diamond 343, one player behind 2 or 3 strikers, el enganche, a link between midfield and attack that plays mainly horizontally onto a large portion of the field, go often deep to receive from the defense and make the ball move linking up the play. the modern 10, the second striker, is instead focused on scoring, plays vertically and much more higher on the pich
@Mattia 2 clear set banks of 4 with 2 men in front is not 4231. Call it 4411 if you want, but that's a real push. But Ozil wasn't playing that much of a second striker, I'd call it more a support striker. He was basically playing like a striker all game. One you argue Giroud was a support striker to Ozil. So I think this is a nailed on 4-4-2 and it's why Koeman called it 4-4-2 so boldly like it was a matter of fact, because it is one. i hope you realise Whoscored only gets the formations from Opta. And Opta usually just guess the formation and positions prior to kick off. They very rarely alter it if wrong. They tend to have set templates for teams and it takes a few games of them getting the system wrong for them to make an alteration. I complained about the Saints system being wrong a few times and eventually it got changed.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 read about sacchi and milan, that is the modern 442 that was hegemonic since the '90s and evolved into the 4231 lately. i haven't seen the game i was only awaring you about the origins and the differencies between 442/4231 that are very minimal indeed. i doubt ozil and giroud had the same duties on the pitch yesterday, but if so, that's a 442, if not it's a 4231 (or 4411, it's the same)
@TacticalMastermind2.0- The team sheets handed into the officials before the game formatted Arsenal as 4-2-3-1. That was, presumably, set by the Arsenal management. If you look at the heatmap, not the average player position, on the Arsenal 0-0 Soton page, you'll see the majority of Mesut's positioning was slightly left of centre in the position behind the striker (save for the time spent in the corner) and Olivier's is in the box. It's a 4-2-3-1 where Mesut is given the licence to roam essentially. However, tonight was difficult to pin down because both players were everywhere, looking for the ball because we weren't getting it to them as often as we should've and also to press their midfield, well as much as the 2 slowest non-defenders in our team could.
@SteveHyland In modern football, teams often have different formations when they attack and defend. It is safe to say that Arsenal was in deep 4-4-2 when defending but 4-2-3-1 when attacking with Ozil as a roaming AM.
@DarkArs that's a proper 4231, the defensive phase of 442 and 4231 is the same
@DarkArs- Arsenal under Wenger always done so (even when we were listed as 4-4-2 with Bergkamp in the 10) but formations have generally been listed as their attacking one for as long as I can remember.
Arsenal are lucky suarez had an off day otherwise this could have ended 0-4
@Beastador- These are the things which do you no favours. Chamberlain had the first genuine goal-scoring chance. Had he not had an off day, we'd have gone 1-0 so the rest afterwards would've been re-written. Pretty easy to fit things around a preconceived opinion, that being everything to do with England = bad, pretty hard to find those facts to fit when you look at the game's big events in chronological order.
@SteveHyland What would be rewritten mate? You think Barcelona would be gone after you score a goal? Many teams score against Barcelona...
@blitz- The whole match would've been re-written. I don't mean it would be an Arsenal win just that nothing after 1 event will be the same after that event has been changed so minutes x to y would be different.
Messi again shows up against quality opposition, just a genius! Arsenal for sure gave us a tougher game than Real Madrid, relieved to take the away goals back to the nou camp cos it was a difficult game. I also think Neymar and Sanchez deserve massive credit for gr8 performances!
@MSNism- I don't think he showed us up. He's a fantastic player but he had nobody marking him for the first goal, the best player in the world not being marked seems unfathomable- but it happened. He played well for sure, he always does, but he didn't do much in the first half when we did well.
@SteveHyland Messi statement after the game " We were waiting because we knew Arsenal will not endure in the second half." - Football is more than running like headless chicken for 90 minutes. Messi applies pressure where pressure is needed.
@blitz- What does that have to do with my comment, exactly? Messi didn't get space for the first goal because he completely outwitted our midfield, he got it because nobody was covering him. That's an Arsenal error not a Messi piece of genius.
@SteveHyland Does that statement have a means to an end "XX error not a Messi piece of genius"? Your argument can be applied to every goal every person has ever scored; "Rooney scored a 30 yard whopper because he wasn't pressured fast enough, his ability is irrelevant". Please stop denying a genius when you see one.
Arsenal fan logic before the game : Messi never scored against Cech Barca never won at emirates so Arsenal will win Sigh
Özil was showing up big again as usual... NOT
I'm sure by now true Arsenal fans must be realising they can't reach the next level with wenger in dugout.
Malaga put up a better fight.
@Beastador Malaga knows better spanish football and they play them every season so they know more
@ksaviauk This is not Spanish football. This is Champions League football. Does Barcelona know "TOP CLASS" Premier League football?
2nd in the league to concede the least goals.. 3rd in the league table.. and they say Messi can't shine in EPL?
@mystic34x Well Pique said Barca wouldn't win Premier League at their first season which might signal that Messi wouldn't be that dominant.
@mystic34x SteveHyland?
@John_Wick- Huh, where did I say he wouldn't shine in the prem? I said he wouldn't score as many as he does in La Liga but would still be considered the best player and score the most.
Disappointing 2nd half from Arsenal, much less disciplined performance than the 1st, too many players committed forward in attack. Actually a closer game than the scoreline suggests. I was hoping Welbeck would start on the right, or at least come on for Oxlade-Chamberlain at the start of the second half. We showed, anyway, that we can hurt Barca on the break.
@What4 Of course you think so. You are an idiot now. I can say that out loud finally. What did you expect? Barca to run riot? Re watch Las Palmas - Barcelona. Las Palmas was three times better than Arsenal. And it's not Arsenal who was less disciplined, it was Barcelona who started playing their football. In the first half they didn't even bother going forward that much.
@blitz- Don't talk rubbish. Barcelona were popping long balls about from defence because they were frustrated at getting no space.
@blitz Do you have to insult everyone you respond to who doesn't support the same team? Or can you ever say anything backed by reality? For example, Barca not having a shot on target in the first half, and Oxlade-Chamberlain missing an open net? Barca had no decent attacks until we over-committed in attack and left Monreal on his own at the back
@What4 Only for idiots like you. Yes, I have. Look at the bigger picture. Barcelona deployed a tactic. Barcelona had better chances in the first half too. Suarez alone with the header and Suarez 1v1 vs Chec. That was not an open net you idiot. There were three men on the line including the gk
Can messi do it on cold, wet night at stoke..lol Well, 2-0 up for barca,, it ll be interesting at camp nou
Arsenal, champions league isnt for you.
@John_Wick- If we played in La Liga, we'd finish 2nd or if there was a big European 20-team league, 3rd behind Barca and Bayern in whatever order so the CL is only for the 2 best teams in Europe? Maybe the final but we're better than most teams in the competition at this stage. Just not as good as Barca........ like 99% of teams.
@SteveHyland You are delusional if you think you are better than Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid. Valncia is better than Arsenal for cry not loud.
@blitz- I like how you throw around opinions but back absolutely none of it up with facts. Is that because it would interfere with your everything English = poor mentality.
@John_Wick Why, for losing to one of the best teams in the world? Real Madrid 0 - Barca 4, so is La Liga not for Real Madrid?
@What4 ouch lol
@What4 absolutely Real Madrid has no chance! they looking for next season maybe
let we save more money in our own bankkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!
Wenger，let us save more money in our own bank. Flamini+Metersacker = assist arsenal 3 season out of 16
Let's take a moment and laugh at Arsenal HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
@denisgrad Do you always take a moment before laughing?
was that even classed as a pass attempt from Mertesacker?
@JoeB91 Should be consider error lead to goal though.
Giroud and Coquelin are just awful... For those who were saying that this Barcelona is one of the best team ever, let me laugh ! With a true striker, Barcelona would never deserve to win this game
@Ouftey- Don't disagree we need an upgrade to Giroud but Coquelin has had a couple of games coming back from a serious injury. He did well considering.
@Ouftey Coquelin played ok. His long balls were really stupid though. In particular one. He hit an unsuccessful 40 yard pass in the air, when a player was wide open 10 yards in front of him. Taking him off was a big mistake.
@Ouftey I think Coquelin was excellent tonight, hassled Messi particularly well and in general made it difficult. Plus not all of the chances missed were due to bad finishing, some were because of excellent goalkeeping from Ter Stegen. Also Suarez missed chances does that not make him an excellent striker?
@Ouftey What are you even talking about. Barca is ahead in almost every stats.
@T0ny04 Poor second half from Arsenal, but if they scored the first goal, it would have become a totally different game :)
@Ouftey I am following this Barca for a long time. They kill off the game, opponents always have some chances and their fans always "feel" like something else could've happened.:) It's always like that. However, somehow, they always outclass, outsmart every opponent and then their fans are like MAN IF ONLY THIS OR THAT.. MAN MAN MAN :) Keep imagining.
Lol arsenal is so lucky. Suarez hit the post from 6 yards or so.
I hope they can defend this goal till the end. Not a Barca fan bu I need dem to make some £ for me tonight
If you don't seem the similarity between how arsenal is playing nks vs Barcelona vs how Chelsea played Barcelona in 2012 then god help you...
Barcelona playing with 12 men. This is farcical. Barcelona getting so many cheap free kicks and aren't picking up any bookings either for blatant fouls, diving and the head-butt.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 Refereeing mistakes disadvantaged both sides but butt hurt fans like you always see only 1 side of the medal. Open your eyes.
@T0ny04 Actually I don't like Arsenal usually. I don't support either team. I tend to like Barcelona and like them the most out of any of the realist contenders to win the CL. My view is actually neutral. I think Arsenal fans are the most annoying PL fans.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 UEFA can still reprimand after the fact. But we all know that won't happen. I still can't help but laugh at the fact that they signed 5 players during their transfer ban
@khonda They haven't. They signed them before the ban. Just a few thoughts for a morons like you: Barca is pampered and supported by UEFA, you say? Why would they ban them in the first place? Hmm... So they can let them buy? :D And it wasn't UEFA who banned him you imbecile, it was FIFA:
Alba should be OFF. Yellow card for simulation. Straight red for head-butting Giroud in the nose. I thought the days of Uefalona were over. But they seem to be back here.
@TacticalMastermind2.0 Still better than that monkey alves
@John_Wick Is that necessary?
@TacticalMastermind2.0 he barely touched him with that headbutt, yes he should have been booked for simulation but if that's a sending off then football is just a game for pussy's
@JoeB91 It's a red card by the law. If an Arsenal player did that he'd be off. The reason it's a red card, and isn't allowed, is because of doing that is legal then all gave players would be doing annoying stuff like that and the game would turn in to a farce.
@JoeB91 Which is exactly what Alba is. But well, not like Alves is much better.
It is definitely not 4-2-3-1 by the way. It's a nailed on 4-4-2. Koeman has also just said that at half time after I posted. This is nothing like 4-2-3-1. The midfield is a clear flat 4. And I can't call it 4-4-1-1 either as Ozil and Giroud tend to be level most of the game. Ozil roaming like a second striker is causing Barcelona as sorts of problems. It's also a nuisance for Barcelona when he or Giroud decide to defend. It surprises Barcelona that the extra man drops into midfield. Hence me and Koeman referring to it as 4-4-2.
The best chance of the first half fell to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who basically had an open net, but hit it straight at ter Stegen on the ground.
Arsenal are definitely playing 4-4-2. Two clear banks of 4 with Ozil and Giroud together in front. Occasionally one drops a bit deeper. Ozil's movement is causing Barcelona a headache with and without the ball. He sometimes decides to drop back further (as does Giroud). This is creating a blockade similar to the 4-4-2 masters Atletico Madrid. It is a shame for Arsenal that Oxlade-Chamberlain blew the chance and they didn't score from one of the other openings they created. Arsenal are the better team at half time for me. The problem with Barcelona is all their outfield players are fantastic on the ball. I can't call this parking the bus from Arsenal. It's more keeping it tight and wanting to counter. They aren't just looking to survive, they are trying to win the leg. The main thing Arsenal need is for Sanchez to defend better. The referee has been favouring Barcelona so far which I don't like at all. Barcelona are already very difficult to beat, without the officials helping them.
Hope Suarez bites someone again and gets banned for a lifetime
@denisgrad Why dont you kill yourself? Thats shitty attitude u got
having to watch it on mute because of the awful commentary
Playing Mertesacker in this tie, which Arsene will most likely do, concerns me, as it does all Gooners. The big German is a big aerial presence against tall strikers and physical sides and has plenty of experience, but with the way Barca play and their fearsome attack, his lack of pace and towering height against Messi, Suarez and Neymar is a recipe for disaster.It’s no disrespect against the German – he was magnificent against Lewandowski. But the type of small, fast and creative players Barca have is just a complete mismatch. Gabriel and Koscielny are a combative and strong pairing which would give us a decent chance against them. If the Brazilian is unfit, I would even rather see Chambers come in than Per after a composed performance against Leicester.
4/0 ...barca
gorgeous trio will scoff at Arsenal
Spain's finest vs England's finest
2-0
Chokers.
Arsenal just take this L before the game starts
Barca win 3-0 and Suarez first goalscorer.
1-5
Obviously Barca are the favourites for the tie, and one of the favourites for the Champions League, no one seriously denies that. Both teams have improved since their last meeting, Barca now have probably the greatest front three ever assembled, but the quality of their midfield has declined, in 2011 they had Xavi and Iniesta at their peak. Today Iniesta is past his peak although still a top player, and Rakitic, Roberto, Turan and Rafinha are not quite at that level. Arsenal have improved immensely too. In 2011 we had a very young midfield with Wilshere, Nasri, Fabregas, Song, Walcott with Djourou and Eboue in defence and an even younger Szczesny in goal. If you go back further in time it was even more of a mess. Those were the days we were suffering from the stadium debt, something many still refuse to acknowledge. Today we have a world class keeper, a much better defence, the under-rated Mertesacker included (thanks for Bellerin, by the way)...
[Cont.]...but the biggest improvement is in midfield. It's a pity so many of our midfielders are ither injured or not at their best, you can put all of the following in those categories: Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Sanchez, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky and possibly Welbeck. If our midfield was anywhere near full strength, it would be more than a match for Barca's. Someone below mentioned Cazorla's ability to beat any press, Coquelin is about as good as any DM, Ramsey at his best is one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world, Oxlade-Chamberlain is a great dribbler and tore Bayern apart the season before last I think it was...I could go on and on. It's a pity our midfield is not at it's best right now, or this would have been a great contest. People often say Arsenal like to have possession and play a similar style to Barca. Well, that's partly true, actually, many teams like to give us the ball, and then we play a Barca-ish sort of way...
[Cont.2]...but sometimes we actually sit deep, concede possession and hit teams on the break, for example when we beat Man City 2-0 away from home last season, where we had 33% possession. Obviously we will look to do something similar here. I reckon our fullbacks will give Barca's wingers a better test than they've had in a while, but of course it will still be very difficult to keep MSN quiet. I'm guessing we'll play Giroud and Welbeck and try to use them on the counter, Giroud winning the aerial balls, and Welbeck using his pace to try to run at the defence or get in behind with balls over the top. But, with our midfield not at it's best, our counters may not be so great.
@What4 And Suarez, we managed to keep him quiet in the Premier League ;)
Arsenal - Barca Win2/Win2 2.55 Juventus Fc - FC Bayern Munich 1st Half Asian handicap 2 (0) 1.57
Either Arsenal will get a draw or Barca will dominate gunners. I hope, defence will work well, Cech on good form, hopefully, Ozil and Giroud ready to rock
1 - 4 Barcelona Win.
Barcelona will win in high score
@Pattrict why because they beat crap like Las Palmas 2-1?
ARSENAL 2 VS BARCELONA 4
2-3
everyone is expecting Barcelona to win based obviously on history and current form. Bayern was exactly in same spot and were heavy favorites to beat Arsenal at Emirates! I recall the game Arsenal in fact had more shots on targets and Arsenal created more chances throughout the game and scored 2 goals that completely put Bayern out of the game! The second goal was devastating, it happened so fast nobody believed Arsenal actually scored until the linesman had seen the ball cross the line! Arsenal were beaten heavily by same Bayern squad in Germany but Arsenal had 5 key players injured and paid the price! I want to be cheeky and go against all odds. Arsenal to win this tie 2:1
@albgunn You forget one important thing mate: Bayern is no Barcelona. MSN baby! "I recall the game Arsenal in fact had more shots on targets and Arsenal created more chances throughout the game and scored 2 goals that completely put Bayern out of the game!" None of that is true. Ball possession: Arsenal 30% Bayern 70% Corners: Arsenal 5 Bayern 11 Shots on target: Arsenal 7 Bayern 9 It was a small miracle that Arsenal won that night. Take a look under general game stats chart. It was a small miracle that Arsenal won that game.
@albgunn i seem to agree with u, there cud be a huge upset waiting.
Its clear, arsenal wont make it past round of 16 for the sixth time.
Ozil left palace to live in a hut. Arsenal cant win CL in atleast next 10 years.
Dont forget we humiliated juventus who had a much better defense.
@asinko Juve do have a good defense but Chiellini didn't play that match. And they weren't as dangerous in in counter attacks as Arsenal are now, they didn't even have Cuardado back then. Barca seem to play even better as usual when it matters (4-0 against Real this season), but that doesn't mean they are not vulnerable against teams with skillful players. For example, Barca are "very weak" at defending counter attacks according to WS.
@Castle Beating a team like Real 4-0 at bernabeu is something that makes you firm favourites for the title.
@John_Wick Yes their performances against top sides are outstanding but a team that is committed to a good game plan can still come out on top against them, at least in a single match. I'm not sure if Real's players were fully behind Benitez in that match, although that doesn't take anything away from Barcelona.
Lionel messi red card .. Arsenal win 2 - 1
@nenggo fu ck your metersacker red card
No MSN No Party!
May God help us
Barcelona has been the most consistent, the team playing the best football, the most attacking football, have the squad with the best individual top class players and at the same time the best team. Suarez and Neymar have given Barcelona the directness they lacked in previous years and now they do not just play tiki-taka, they actually are capable of creating chances out of nowhere and from any of the wings or the middle. Arsenal on the other side, having made three star transfers in the names of Ozil,Alexis and Cech have managed to produce better performances overall compared to previous years. They still lack the consistency needed to win trophies on a regular basis but i expect them to get better in the next couple of years if Wenger splashes some more cash and brings in a couple more top class players. As for this game, i expect a game filled with fast attacks from both sides, lots of crosses and chances. Barcelona most probably has a slight advantage due to MSN.
No white flags only red flags, we will win tonight I bet my support for them on it. Rambo! I Can FEEL IT
Gabriel will start instead of Mertesacker, this one can be quite boring, reverse just the opposite in Barcelona. Smell 2-1
@koziol.mutant If Gabriel starts, it allows Arsenal to push up their back line when having a ball and space behind Arsenal's defense could lead to more fast break opportunities for Barca and therefore more intensive and entertaining game. However, I expect Mertesacker to start here forcing Arsenal defense to stay a little deeper. This doesn't necessary mean a boring game but it could cause the game to be less open and Barca to see more of the ball.
Arséne Wenger declared that they will try to defend a 0-0 or 1-0. this is imposible but i think that barcelona will not score more than 2 goals
C1 is not the best competition for Arséne Wenger.. When you loose against Monaco how can you beat Barcelone? Will be not a good moment for Gunners. MSN will send a message directly inside the cage.The 15' first minutes for Arsenal, and if they don't score .. will be for Barcelone with many goals.
@splash That's like saying if Barca can't beat Villanovense in the Copa how can they beat Arsenal.
Arsenal 1-3 Barca. Suarez having a great time, expect him to score. Score or Assist, i think Neymar will show up big.
The time for battle is approaching, let's go Arsenal, let's go boys, be brave, I hug y'all and may the god be with you. And remember, if Sir Francis Drake belived the invincible spanish armada is really invincible, he would never had won. So players, clean your canons, fans on the stands, prepare your photo canons to mark this moment of glory. We are the gunners !!
0-1
(PART 1)I am really wondering how Wenger is going to approach this match, given in my mind the two fold way a positive result can be reached for Arsenal. Barcelona everyone knows has a really good form and seem to have the edge in every situation they might face, defensive-attacking-possession teams. But we saw already this season Barcelona having two terrible games with Celta and Bilbao away, even teams like Las Palmas and Malaga have posed a threat to them. In attack everything seems to go right, eventually finishing,vision and decisions can guarantee a winner. The times though defense is exposed are many this season and that is the key that Arsenal should exploit. What I would like to see from Wenger is deploying a high defensive line with a really compact midfield and instructions for players to launch immediate attacks when possession is won back, despite Arsenal's usual game. Wellbeck upfront with Sanchez can and should exploit that space.
(PART 2)Even if Giroud is deployed as a forward which seems also good as a plan, since Barcelona's lack of height and aggressive midfielders are a good indicator that many crosses and long balls will be won. Those two tactics are in my opinion the ones I saw most successfully used against Barcelona this season in combination or separately. Barcelona is a side that rarely reacts to opponent tactics, call it because Enrique is lacking tactical wisdom or actually there is no need to change their game the result is the same, they might be caught by surprise. To conclude,a deterioration from a typical Arsenal game plan is a must and I hope to see it , instead of an Arsenal team trying to hold possession and wait Barcelona to return in defensive shape a much faster paced and more aggressive line of play should be used. Also pressing the opposition defenders is a way to counter Barcelona but they seem to play around it fairly easily and maybe to their advantage.
(PART2) and they very rarely play with 100% intensity. They are aware that in order to win every three days they need to preserve their energy. In Champions League games like these, experience is vital and no team is more experienced than this Barcelona. I simply don't see how can Ozil outplay Busquets and Rakitic in the midfield because he will often be isolated. They will have to commit players to the defence because otherwise there will be no contest. Arsenal is a good team, but it's quite obvious they cannot beat Barcelona in Barcelona style. They need to be ULTRA careful, very aggressive, very compact and also very sharp and use every chance they get because they won't have that many. I don't see how Barcelona can be beaten over two legs, but this is football and anything can happen.
@blitz You are absolutely right. Enrique's Barca don't just rely to their possession, just look at their matches against Real and Bayern in last couple of seasons. Arsenal could find themselves keeping the ball for 2-3 mins from time to time and even get it to scoring opportunities through their passing combinations. However, MSN have a huge counter attacking potential, and with Iniesta and Rakitic sending them forward it could be just as likely Barca to score from fast break as from their usual long attack.
@McKonidas Enrique tactical knowledge has been on display for two years in the most brilliant of ways. Whether he pulls his talisman Messi back so he can have an extra midfielder or he changes the formation completely to 3 5 2 at times, he showed that Barcelona adapted to playing both possession based and counter-attack based football at times. Just because you haven't seen Barcelona games enough, doesn't mean Barcelona has one and only tactic. It is absolutely impossible to win so much with only one plan. Tata Martino knows a thing or two about that. Now, you say Barcelona midfielders are not aggressive? Please show me a more aggressive pressing team than Barcelona. When they lose the ball, they will be all over Arsenal players double teaming and even triple teaming them at times. Barcelona played badly in games you mentioned, but it doesn't mean anything. First of all, Barcelona is a very experienced team and they like to play in their own pace. They don't rush things in lesser games
@blitz PS4: I attribute the change of style by Enrique as you say to the demise of the collective unit that Guardiola has created and the natural emergence of the natural talent of Neymar and Suarez since these are the newest players joining the squad along Rakitic. As a team I can hardly say I see something new, they just diverged their playstyle which is not something I see as positive but rather a downfall from what they used to excel in.
@blitz (PART 3)100% intensity with teams like Malaga or Las Palmas, I am pretty sure they run the same amount of kms as they do with teams like Real Madrid if not more.If you mean by intensity the willingness to risk an injury in order to gain an advantage then that is a different thing and all teams are employing that in order to preserve their roster in a healthy state in minor matches.PS1: I do not think your arbitrary claim about me not watching enough Barcelona games makes your points more valid by self-reinforcing your belief that this is indeed the case, since you must be right about them although you cannot possibly know what I do. PS2: Athletic Bilbao is pressing more PS3: I do not think Arsenal will win today but of course Barcelona can be beaten under the right circumstances.
@blitz adapting their game according to the spontaneous circumstances. Also I find it meaningless to speak about formations for such a fluid side while a primary 433 is turned into a 352 by allowing the wing-backs to stay in the midfield which rather happens often with Alba and Alves. I do not think Barcelona has changed as a unit after Guardiola but rather individual's have rather or evolved or joined the side to create this unique team again. The principles remain the same though and i do not mean tiki-taka only ofc. I used the word midfielders and not midfield to account of the lack of aggressiveness. As a unit in midfield they are pressing aggressively but as individuals they are not aggressive players, I could hardly see Iniesta and Busquets how they can be compared to aggressiveness with players like Naingolan or Vidal. By aggressiveness I meant how willing is a player to dive into a tackle or have physical contact despite a chance of injury etc. Why you believe they are not play
@blitz First of all Messi running back to midfield and Barcelona playing possession football is not something new and I do not think it should be credited to Enrique. I also believe Messi is as mentally gifted as technically he is in this game that any specific role attribution from a manager is meaningless for his calibre. By counter-attacking football you mean 8-9 players sitting behind the ball waiting for the opponent to advance and then try and interrupt the ball in order to storm forward towards goal, which I can hardly see Barcelona employing so far. If in the other hand you mean counter-attack as a fast attack after you have interrupted the ball in your half then all teams in the world are employing this tactic. Maybe they have used this tactic but can hardly see how can Barcelona would like to invite pressure from any team while they can do that easily to their opponents.A spell of 5-10 minutes doing that also does not mean its a counter-attacking tactic but rather they are
@McKonidas (PART 2.4) PS3 Yes, Athletic does it sometimes, but not always. Watch tonight's game and compare how Barcelona does it on the highest level. PS4 Of course Barcelona can be beaten, no team is invincible. That doesn't prove a thing. It's a pretty normal thing. However, to win against Barcelona when they are playing their football is very difficult and I don't see a team that can beat them chest to chest playing attacking football and trying to outplay them. I have seen some Spanish sides like Las Palmas almost succeeding in that, but when Barca is motivated 100%, it's almost impossible. I think Arsenal might even win today, that's not the point. However, they'll need to be very sharp and lucky.
@McKonidas (PART 2.3) won't see him running like a headless chicken. The bottom line is, that's not necessary. They do what is necessary. When I say that Barcelona doesn't play with the full intensity, that means that they won't go out and run their hearts out every game. They will sit, wait and once they get the lead they will enjoy themselves and take it easy. They are not out there competing for everything all the game. They run, but they distribute the responsibility. They are very compact and they know what players around them need. For example, one game you'll see Messi running like crazy and Neymar taking it easy, next one it's different and so on. They distribute the burden. PS1 It's not an arbitrary claim, it's rather based on your statement that undermining Lucho's influence in this team. No person who watches Barcelona and has basic knowledge can state such a thing. Maybe you watch Barcelona, but then you definitely don't understand the dynamics of their game
@McKonidas (PART 2.2) a full match. Barcelona's primary games style is possession based because it is the most effective and the best of all, but in cases when they are temporarily unable to execute it, they have different tactics. Even if a tactic lasts for 10 minutes, it's still a part of the overall plan. You are talking about sitting in the back, or bus tactics which requires people in the back. Counter attack's meaning is in its name obviously. You counter the attack of your opponent. Nothing more, nothing less. This Barcelona is very swift in transition. When it comes to Barca's midfield players, again it's an illusion. Naingolan does seem more aggressive, he is more aggressive, but in Barcelona, football is played with your mind, not with your calfs. Busquets is like a wall and he's one of the slowest players you'll ever find. Why? Because he reads the game almost perfectly. I say almost, because there's no such thing as being perfect. Iniesta is also very aggressive, but you wo
@McKonidas Messi has always done that, but Enrique completely changed the mentality of the team in those situations. I agree that their game is fluid, but that's absolutely not an accident like you claim or only because of players. In Barcelona, there are no accidents. They practice and agree on every single detail and that's one of the things that makes them great. I don't think bashing Enrique or labelling him as meaningless is anywhere near the truth. His influence is obvious in every aspect of the game. He brought players he needs and then put them together in a compact unit which he imagined in the first place. I don't think good players play well together for no reason. Look at Real Madrid, for example. World Class players, but nowhere near Barcelona. And it's not only because of Enrique. It's his amazing team of great experts. Just because they don't employ the counter attacking tactic for full 90 minutes doesn't mean anything. I guess you think "tactic" is something you do for
@blitz (PART 1)I think we both agree on many points but we differ on the way we interpret them. You are seeing them as something positive that Enrique should be credited for ,I see them as a drawback from the style I would like to see from Barcelona. Surely Barcelona's playstyle has changed a lot and is more wide with long balls,crosses, fast transitions etc but those are not new tactics and many clubs use them to succeed. My club Olympiakos scored a goal in champion's league when the central defender (Siovas) hit a long pass directly to the open space behind Dinamo Zagreb's defense only for Ideye to score a one on one goal against the goalkeeper. This tactic can be very effective and I saw Barca trying those long balls, imagine if Olympiakos can score that way what can Barcelona do. But my point is that Barcelona had already a distinctive way of play that excelled and tactics like this although effective only undermine the real strength of the squad.
@blitz (PART2)Given though the amazing skill of their squad everything can be effective the matter is for how long after Messi is gone or others this will be effective. Individual brilliance is huge and Barcelona is more and more relying on it on difficult moments, obviously still a great collective unit, but I can see that in expense of some mature build-up directly from Guardiola's era. That's my main problem with Enrique and previous coaches that instead of taking Guardiola's Barcelona into a new level have opted for ready things and some minor tweaks that still work though but do not seem promising.I can see what Enrique is doing but I think is more of a patch into the current situation, credit for him that it is working so far. I have seen quite some matches this year that Barcelona was stalled at half time only to return with some brilliant individual goal or some slip up in opposition's tactical positioning, in both cases Enrique did nothing to overturn that stall.
@blitz For example Mourinho used to tell to his defender's to attack in 5 minute intervals while on Chelsea, is this a tactic, yes it is. Is this a distinctive way of playing, no. Barcelona does not need that kind of tricks but needs a coach like Wenger (let me explain) who has an ideal way a team should play and when the right players appear make that unit the most marauding thing history of football has witnessed like Guardiola did. When I said Barcelona does not change tactics I mean it that way that Barcelona is what we know from Guardiola era with some minor additions and changes according to circumstances but nothing really new or innovative. Well you can argue that you cannot reinvent football every 5 years but my expectations might be really high and I want to believe that for the future. I never said by the way that Barcelona needs Naingolan, I just mentioned the lack of aggressiveness of Barcelona's midfielders which Arsenal should exploit tonight with Coquelin,Ramsey and Gir
@blitz (PART4)I think it is very subjective the matter we are discussing and I hope I prove myself wrong in the future but I do not see Barcelona going any better than what their immense skill players can offer which unarguably will be top level for many years to come. Should we say a team makes the players or players make the team. In Barcelona and Arsenal the two foreign teams I support is the first case and that's what I want to see in the future as well.
To be honest I hope for a draw in this match and a victory of Barcelona in Camp Nou
I think this is a very tight contest. Barca are succeeding with flying colors tho which is why we expect them to pull through this time around. If we are 100% honest we all know deep down that the Arsenal defence has slowly been deteriorating ever since that 4-0 loss to Southampton. Arsenal are gonna need the aging Mertesacker to be in tip top shape. He is a smart defender but his body is starting to show its age for instance in the red card he conceded to Diego Costa in the match several weeks ago. Arsenal should not be counted out of this cracker of a match as they have shown us even this season that they are not a team to be meddled with for instance 2-1 win against Man City.
@abdelakl98 So conceding an average of 0.6 goals per game since, with 6 clean sheets in 11 matches is a defensive deterioration... ok!
Arsenal need Cazorla bad. In a win against Bayern he was the best player on the pitch because of his ability to hold the ball in small space. When Bayern lost the ball Cazorla wasn't afraid to keep it a while even in hard press, buying time for his team mates to get forward. Barca will also try to win the ball back as quickly as possible, and I don't think Ramsey is a player who can challenge three players in his own half and play the ball forward. He could turn out to be pretty useless if Barca put pressure on him. So it will be hard for Arsenal to attack in numbers. Our best chance would be quick counter attacks (and set pieces) but I'm afraid Sanchez hasn't found his best form yet, his just trying too hard at the moment. It will be hard for us to win this game, not to mention whole tie. But who knows, if we defend as a unit like we did in the first match against Bayern we might be able to hang on, even Barca aren't unbeatable after all.
@Castle I agree but at the same time, Ozil can't mark Busquets successfully. Ramsey is our only hope of matching up with him if Coquelin is going to shield the defenders. Even if Cazorla were healthy, we might be caught between a rock and a hard place here.
@Bellerin Good defending is least what is expected of Ramsey, but I don't think he's asked to take Busquets out. Instead he and Özil might both play quite deep without the ball trying to prevent Barca creating chances from the middle (rather than Özil staying higher up with Giroud as usual). Against Barca it's important to get the ball to their own third and keep it there a while, it's impossible to defend 90 mins because of the fatigue at least. Ramsey can make runs without the ball but he's not the guy to take ball forward. We need good opening passes from Koscielny, Özil and Sanchez plus runs from Ox and Bellerin. If Giroud starts he needs to be able to keep the ball and take his team mates into game.
Petr Cech MOTM :))
@watfordAlbert messi MOTM :))
The game will be won from midfield and not upfront! the MSN hardly drop back throughout 90 minutes. Busquets is the linchpin Wenger must do everything to nullify. He's the most unpopular name in the Barcelona XI but he's the most important player. He's the one that transitions the ball from back to front and dictates the tempo of the game. He's unbeatable on the ball and his reading of the game is extraordinary. No wonder Pep said he's the most important player in Barcelona but looks like the worst player because he doesnt score goals when even the full backs manage to score. His job is to control the game and with Iniesta and Rakitic on the wings looking to receive the ball and thats when the MSN's movement becomes impossible to contain! Arsenal can beat Barcelona with a bit of luck and with players such as Ramsey, Sanchez upping their current game Wenger opting for Walcott who can really cause problems with his movement upfront! Start Walcott and bring Giroud as a sub!
ARSEnal to get rekt here
Barcelona will destroy them gunners.
I think Barcelona is going to give away a football show. One like the night in Madrid, remember the 0-4? Last year they did the same thing in the CL against Manchester City and PSG. In those matches they also gave away a demonstration, although the scoreling didn't fallout that high. I'm agree with the 1-3 prediction.
3-0 for Arsenal
Arsenal are a very good side and Barcelona are the holding Champions of the Competition and boast the best players on the planet. Barcelona are coming in as favorites but anything can happen in football
I hope all these optimistic Gooners won't hate on Mesut and Alexis too hard because both of them are in for two quite, quite games. There's no way Ozil can compete with Barca's midfield and Alexis Sanchez? I am still baffled that people consider him top class. He's good, but he lacks intelligence to be a top player. This is definitely one of easier ties for Barcelona. Chelsea would be three times more difficult. Arsenal has absolutely no chance. And I am not even arrogant, it's simple as that. How can Arsenal beat Barcelona over two legs, are you all insane? Barca would have to have two worst days in their career, I think, in order for Arsenal to have a chance. Let's talk again tomorrow. I say either 1:2 or 0:3 depending on if Barcelona plays with 80% or 90% of their power. I am absolutely positive they won't play with 100%.
@blitz enrique is smart he won't play with maximum intensity because of the match against sevilla...they will be a bigger challenge
Reading through the comments from the mule league fans is hilarious. Mule league fans say the league is setup for Barca and real. It isn't, Real is 3rd and drew yesterday against a side who are 12th in the table. Mule league fans say la liga is easy because everyone is trash in it. In reply la liga fans say if everyone is trash in spain how come we dominate the ucl and europa league? Then, mule fans say its because english teams don't care about the europa league. But thats not true, LVG said he wants to win the europa league. Mule fans than say they can't win the ucl because the premier league is so hard. But if the premier league is so damn hard, how on earth is LEICESTER CITY top of the league??? How can a team who were fighting relegation last season, be top next season?? I'll tell you how, its because the rest of the teams are so damn bad in the prem. Now mule fans say the premier league is the most competitive. It isn't, the indian league is.
@Beastador what i mean by the last part, is that mule fans say the prem is the most competitive because any team can beat anyone. They say that anybody can win the league. The same goes for the indian league.
@Beastador By your own impeccable logic, the Indian league is a million times more competitive than the Spanish league, you do realise that? Because in Spain only Barca and Real Madrid can win, and about once a decade someone else wins it, like Atletico recently. So by your own definition of "competitiveness", the Spanish league is one of the least competitive in the world. Over to you Beastador.
@What4 Mule fans say the prem is the best because it is competitive. I never said la liga is the most competitive league in the world. Also you only replied to my weakest point.
@Beastador Agreed, the competitiveness notion is in respect with another major league, in between the league is just pointless. As far as competitiveness between premier league and a league like La Liga is concerned it is evident by in between battles and general success that the average "teamability" (allow me to use this just crafted word to describe a hypothetical ideal rating system of teams skill and ability) is just higher in La Liga even if the top two teams were excluded.
2-3
Barca is Win to Easyli ha ha ha
Barca is Win to Easyli ha ha ha
please Alexis Sanchez rise in this game and please Wenger for once get the tactics right for an European game because we have seen many red cards especially against Barcelona, 3 in the last 5 games inc 2006 CL final! COYG!
Incredible fact: in the last 5 games Arsenal vs Barcelona inc 2006 CL final Arsenal have had in 3 games On my way! Players sent off during early stages of the match and subsequently lost the game even though Arsenal has scored in these games regardless. Also Arsenal is also one of the teams that play less aggressive football in Europe yet they have had had red cards in every other game with Barcelona. I do hope the referee doesn't ruin this game. Barcelona obviously coming in as favourites but it would be foolish to write down Arsenal who is favourites for EPL and have lately shown that they don't succumb to pressure! Barcelona have an average goalie and average defence. Midfield and attack is obviously untouchable but should Arsenal be able to get near their defence then I see no reason why Arsenal won't score! Is personally play Walcott as a number 9 and leave Giroud as a sub! Walcott really will cause problems with his movement upfront! COYG!
Yes, yes. The refs fault is because didn't register a shot on target. Never forget - 3:1 score (19-0) shots on target 19 - 0 with 70% posession. The only game Arsenal can play is Barcelona type of football, but how can they beat Barca in their own game? There's absolutely no chance for Arsenal unless Barcelona has a really bad day. Still, Barca is getting away with this, but I honestly don't see a way Arsenal can win this game. There is no space, nothing practically. Alexis Sanchez was lost in Barcelona and anyone who watched Barcelona frequently knows that. I remember seeing Neymar and Messi looking at him in wonder like "What the fuck are you doing mate?" - He's a good player, but is he a caliber that can bring Barca down over two legs? Absolutely fucking not. And be prepared for an invisible Mesut Ozil. That's a certainty.
This ll b fiercely fought game..i hope MSN delivers in this game. Dont understimate arsenal n especially playing at emirates stadium... Visca barca..
On paper, Barcelona does look the favorite of this match however, we shouldn't take Arsenal easy at all... If we are to beat Arsenal then we must be performing at our best. Arsenal's defense is great on its day and that counter attacks can easily give them few goals considering the fact that Barca is pretty poor defending counter attacks. Barca will have to take this game seriously. However, I do trust in Enrique. He doesn't take any game easily and he will surely not take this game as well. Nevertheless, we will have one damn entertaining game to watch
I like the football Barca play, actually, probably everyone except fans of Real Madrid do too. It's just most of the rest about Barca I don't like. And yes, Barca are probably the best team in the world (maybe Bayern run them close). The arrogance of La Liga fans is just unnecessary. They should understand that it's a fact that the Premier League is the most competitive in the world, which means players are more fatigued; more injuries, so key players are missing or trying to get their form back (Sanchez, Welbeck, Cazorla etc.); and having to rotate more, which affects team cohesion. It is also a fact that La Liga is biased in favour of Barca and Real Madrid. Yes Barca are clear favourites in this tie, but there are reasons for Barca fans to be a bit more modest, and Arsenal are not as much inferior to them as they believe.
@What4 2-0 on your ground. We are waiting at Camp Nou. I really hope you enjoyed seeing us "walking" during the game, more like walking over you.
@What4 completely biased opinion kiddo
@What4 that real and barca are favours in la liga doesnt mean anything becouse other teams put up a great fight against them. do you think that their hard work for domination isnt making them fatigued?
@What4 Also it is good to mention that LaLiga is dominating entire Europe. Just look UCL & Europa League. So to say that it is only Barcelona and Madrid then this is clear bias towards the weak league of England. . Peace
@smb26 Premier League teams don't take the Europa League seriously.
@What4 sorry to disagree with you brother but Barcelona is the team with most games played in Top 5 leagues, yet the team is still fighting on every competition. We are at the Cup final (Copa D Rey), we are almost securing the league and we are in the Champions League R16. We played the European Super Cup (and won it), We played the Club World Cup (and won it) we played the Spanish Super Cup (We lost it), we had a transfer ban that prohibited us from having Turan and Vidal from playing till January. No Team in the Premier League played more games than us. Luis Enrique is good in rotating squad. This is very funny that a coach of Enrique's age is more expert than Wenger who has been a coach in the Premier League since I don't know when!!! Yet you Premier League fans keep on whining about heavy game schedule, if Barcelona Can make it through all of this then you should consider what is wrong in your team and the problems of your league
@smb26 Ignore What4 he is just the most dillusional arsenal fan ever.
@smb26 And Barca players can walk through half the games in La Liga and still win. Players who come to England from big Spanish say it all the time, many games you just have to turn up to win, but in the Premier League you have to play well every game.
@What4 You should watch La Liga sometimes mate. You would see how teams play against Barcelona especially at their home ground. Put Barcelona in Premier League, they would run much less. Who can give them a fight? West Brom? Swansea? Newcastle? Everton? Manchester City? United? Arsenal? Chelsea? Leicester. None of English clubs would finish La Liga season in top 5. None of them.
@blitz None of the EPL teams in the Top 5 of La Liga is a very laughable statement.
@smb26 Enrique is current. Wenger certainly influenced modern tactics though he is no longer at the forefront. Enrique is. Don't go telling yourself that Taylor Swift is better than the Beatles because she is currently selling more albums. Enrique is a better manager in 2016, don't confuse that with being more expert. Did Enrique build this team? No. He innovated on what Pep built there. For better or worse, Wenger built modern Arsenal. Spain has superior managing culture to England without a doubt. You have lots of games against garbage teams in Spain. You can start your B team and win. Of the top 20 players on whoscored in minutes played, 9 are from Ligue 1, 8 are EPL, 3 are from Serie A. Arsenal have 4 players who have more than 2000 minutes this season, Barça has 1. That's Suarez. He's tied with Bellerin who is fourth on our team in minutes played. Haddadi has 555 minutes. Nobody that garbage could get those minutes on Arsenal without a subsequent loss to Middlesborough or Hull.
@Bellerin Do you honestly think Arsenal as a team would have a chance to finish top 5 in La Liga? I would like to see Arsenal play some of La Liga teams away, the games that you clearly don't watch. Most of La Liga's bottom teams are techincally much more advanced than EPL top teams. Not to mention tactically. Arsenal is the only team that is like 6-7 place caliber of technical football for La Liga. They would get eaten in Away games in La Liga especially. Your excuses are quite pathetic. Even if Barcelona players are that good to run over teams, they still play the most games and put Arsenal in the same place of Barcelona. What would happen? Would Arsenal do the same? Come on man. Be realistic for a bit. I know you love EPL, Arsenal and all that commercial bullshit, but how can you talk about La Liga when I am sure you watch only a few games. La Liga teams are top top class and they prove that every time in Europe. Are you sure City, Arsenal and Ferguson's United were ALWAYS tired?
@blitz You are deluded. I watched Villarreal play Atletico Madrid recently and I can tell you Everton has more technical quality than both of them, and Everton are in 11th place. Stones, Jagielka, Coleman, Baines, Barkley, Mirallas, Deulofeu and Lukaku would get into any La Liga team other than Real Madrid and Barca.
@blitz Yes, Arsenal Would be about where Real Madrid are this year in the table. We are better than Sevilla. We'll play better at the Camp Nou than Real Madrid did. I don't love the EPL. I have the same problems with it that I have with La Liga- foolish management that will go into massive debt and spend money they don't have. It's disgusting in an era when many governments (Spain included) are barely solvent. Just because the prem has a better TV deal doesn't make it more commercial. Are we more commercial because we have fortune 500 companies on our kits instead of corrupt governments?
@What4 For sure. We are much better than when we lost 2-1 in past years. Better than when we beat them too. I like Barça. I love their history against Franco and their regional pride. They are a beautiful club. The people without modesty are almost certainly glory seeking fans. I agree that the Prem is underrated. Maybe we don't have a Barça, Bayern or Atleti right now, but La Liga doesn't have to go to Stoke. No 'Aaron Ramsey walks with a limp" from the bottom half of their table. Also, I think the Championship is the best second division in Europe. That makes early stages of the FA Cup more challenging than any other. Not a reason to say England is the toughest place to win a championship or cup, just so say that it translates directly to a stronger bottom of the 1st division table.
@Bellerin Yep, the bottom part of La Liga is nowhere near as strong as the bottom part of the Premier League. And look at the teams that got promoted into the Premier League this season, all of them surviving, it is in fact established teams that are struggling. That just tells you about the quality of the Championship.
@Bellerin Tougher according to who, obviously the top half of the division. You can either translate it as you mention or as that the top half is weak enough to consider the bottom half as strong teams and maybe concede points to them, you made your pick though. You mention physicality as well, as a measure of toughness of oppositions which is very true for epl teams wasting technically gifted players and tactically intelligent for the shake of physical game. Why play a through-ball when you can always cross the ball to the angry upcoming midfielders. That certainly does not build team cohesion nor tactical awareness of the game called football. I do not know how much the physical aspect of football is contributing into team success but the evidence I get is that it is not much. Premier league seems a tough league because teams are competing into the ability to run without the ball,cross it and other minor elements of football which do not provide the expected edge to tactically --->
@McKonidas I would argue that the "physical" English footballing culture hurts our league. If you want to criticize that, doing it to Arsenal supporters is preaching to the choir. I would much rather play a tactical mastermind everytime we go down to the number 16 team than get midfielder's legs broken and face park the bus, set piece football. As @what4 points out though, the talent from out mid table outpaces any league in the world. Serie A, not La Liga is probably the closest talent to talent comparison throughout the table. Wellington Silva came from Almeria to the Championship this and is having similar performance results. Also not a first team regular in the UK. As an Arsenal supporter, I know firsthand the danger of thinking "we lost but we sure looked better. We really outplayed them." That's what I hear from La Liga people anytime there is a disparity in results and performance.
@Bellerin --->and technically gifted squads as in other leagues. Only Arsenal is trying to advance in that matter but the progression is half-hearted and a weird mix of both.
3-2 for arsenal and 4-1 for barca in camp nou
cunning wenger will set the tactics so that the ball is transfered quicly to Oz, and he will with his killer passes play it through the awful barca defence to the fast arsenal wings, and I have the filling it could be the ex-barca sanchez; for that arsenal players must be agressive last 10 minutes when barcelonas pressure weakens
Barca's pressure is always as it should be. If you think Barca's defence is bad, you clearly don't know much about football. It sometimes seems bad, because Barca is an ultra-attacking side and numbers are always committed forward. That's why most of opposition attacks are 2v2 or 3v2. How many goals Barca concedes? Well, not much. Also, in order for Arsenal to do some damage, they will need to have the ball in their feet. Barca will take it at least 65% and if Wenger tries to take it and compete with Barca in that way, Barca will let them have it and then crush them on the counter like they did to Bayern. Wenger is smarter than that, he will wait back. And then, how do you expect Arsenal's defence to defend the best attacking formation of all time when they never do that usually? They are not used to defending. Barca plays short through balls and 1-2s all the time. There's no way to defend that brilliance for 90 minutes. Especially because MSN will be fired up.
Barca's forward line and midfield is immense but their defence is shite.
@Overmars Hardly. Mascherano and Pique are world class. It looks shite sometimes as I mentioned before becuase they commit numbers forward. Also, Ter Stegen is already a brilliant goal keeper.
Barça is the best in Europe. Almost without question. That said, we're damn good on our day and if the Catalans play like they did against Las Palmas, they'll lose. You can denigrate the Premier league or Arsenal all you want, you may have a point here or there. Barça played poorly against Las Palmas and not just because there was no Busquets or Pique. Arsenal have a CB that's won the world Cup and Koscielny is better than the BFG. Sanchez won the champions league and Ozil has won the UCL and World Cup. Cech has won the UCL. Our fullbacks are good. Our forwards are big and better in the air than anyone Barça has. Maybe we can't burn Alves and Alba, But if they get caught out of position they won't catch Walcott, Welbeck or Chambo. This isn't to say we're better than Barça. Again, I think they're the best team in Europe. But for these people on here saying that Arsenal will get destroyed? Maybe. But if you come to the Emirates with what you brought to Las Palmas, you'll get fucked up.
@Bellerin You are basing your argument on that game? Barca was playing with about 10% of their powers. You do realize, Messi will come out at Emirates gliding with Iniesta and Neymar on all sides? Barcelona is so experienced that they won't play 100% against Arsenal. They know they'll score and they'll take their time to frustrate Arsenal. You'll see. All it takes is one early go to batter Arsenal. You base your optimism on Las Palmas game, yet Barca is undefeat in 34 games plus they are European, Spanish and World Champion and MSN scored more goals than Arsenal this season?
@blitz fucking typos, those who LACK the will to hope. I do wonder how many of the Barça shit talkers are actually Catalans. I suspect very few. The tone here frequently reflects the tone of the glory seeker. Anyone can root for the biggest teams and talk shit before and after games. That isn't what being a supporter is about.
@blitz In Nietzschean sense, those who pack the will to hope have given up on life. A bit of realistic optimism is healthy. We'll do to Barça what we did at home to Bayern. Maybe we'll win or maybe we won't. I don't see us being frustrated though. Saying that Barca can't play away against us like they did away 4 days earlier isn't irrational optimism, it's just a fact. I picked Arsenal to draw 2-2 at the Emirates. We'll lose 3-1 at Camp Nou.
@Bellerin I am pretty sure that Nietzsche himself would admire Barcelona's will to overcome football boundaries, if he himself was a football fan, which I am sure he wouldn't be. However, I am glad people are optimistic, but let's see what happens shall we? Seems like both teams are fired up. Let's see.
@Bellerin Both very decent predictions
@Bellerin I agree on most points, but Özil hasn't won the UCL.
@Milann you're right. I don't know what I was thinking.
@Bellerin He started the season with Real Madrid that year, it can be confusing if you still have pictures in your head of of Mesut with the 2013 Madrid kit :) (even thought they are pretty much all the same to me :D)
@Bellerin that's right, I share the same thaughts
Gunners are healthier now than when they beat Bayern at home. Barcelona is a good squad without doubt and I don't think you can ever take them lightly, but they also haven't truly been tested for a while. I think Arsenal at least pulls out a draw in this one. I'll take them with the hook.
@HandofGod Okay, I guess Arsenal is a bigger test than Real Madrid at Bernabeu or Atletico Madrid. Keep telling yourself that mate.
@blitz @blitz RM game was 3 months ago and Atletico was down two players for nearly 30 min-- they still only lost by 1 goal. Of recent, Barca has also only won by a goal to Las Palmas and Malaga in La Liga. Not exactly impressive and Arsenal is not the mediocre squad they've been in the past. If you think Gunners stand no chance for a draw you are straight bonkers. By all means though, place your money on a -137 moneyline and tell me how that goes for you.
I also fancy Sanchez as anytime goal scorer.
@HandofGod Normally, yes. But Alexis is out of form.
@Overmars That's precisely why I think he'll net. I'm contrarian because that's where the good odds lie.
@HandofGod I also fancy Messi, Suarez, and Neymar as anytime goalscorers
Yeah, except I didn't pick three players. Get outta here kid...
This Arsenal team is very well suited for the counter-attack, Ozil+Sanchez and Chamberlain running like crazy, Ramsey the surprise factor....i mean, i really see them scoring, but their center back couple is weak, Mertesacker is slow, so Suarez or Neymar could make a mess there.
@widmotion Don't you love these ignorant idiots. Especially when they show they are Messi haters :)
It doesn't even matter if Arsenal beat Barca by 2 goals margin because they are going to be thrashed in Camp Nou.
this was the tie barca were most happy with this tie. They dreaded both juve and psg tie. Barca to win this for sure.
@Ffaris Out of the three teams, Juve would have been ideal in my opinion. Barca has more quality than Juve without doubt.
@Ffaris How does that even make sense? Juventus, PSG AND Arsenal are all in excellent form. Barcelona have had positive results against all three teams in the last 3 years; where PSG has failed to qualify past Barcelona on two occasions and beat Juventus in the finals last year. PSG is there preferred opponent if we were to compare the three.
@Skibba Arsenal is in excellent form?
So many people expecting a trashing by barca...wont be surprised if arsenal make it very tough.they definitely have a chance of going to the next round
All i know is this is going to be the most talked game of the last 16.. Either MSN dictates the show or a spirited Gunners...To some its Liga vs EPL.. But Messi on his day will be the huge difference between these teams..
@Lapulga Given the otherworldyness of the Messi, that statement about his day is just about always true, ok World cup finals aside. But should be a great game
It will be interesting to see the new methods the refs will invent to put Arsenal at a disadvantage this time around.
@What4 Tell us how the refs helped FCB beat man city last year?
@Beastador And anyway, I just remembered Clichy's soft sending off in the first round. Try to think of a better example.
@Beastador I said nothing about Barca, I was talking about Arsenal. Interesting Freudian slip.
@What4 You are clearly a typical EPL lover who can't see past his own nose. EPL is below bundesliga and La Liga, face it. Barca will beat Arsenal fair and square and you will make up any excuse to justify it other than pure skill. I pity people like you.
@Skibba Exactly
@Skibba We will never forget the 'pressure' Barca put on the refs to get RVP sent off. A yellow card for shooting after the whistle? Ridiculous.
Any major errors from Arsenal could cost the tie for them.
@CirdomAkul Even minor hiccup is going to be game changer here.. It ll b a v competitive match keeping final score aside
Arsenal might win this game with a one goal margin only to get beaten 4-0 or 5-1 at camp nou
Just had a look at the last line ups, an eternity agaon in 2011. Arsenal were so different. Past results cant be compared. My goodness, Bendtner was a sub against Barca. Sorry to knock the Danish nutter, but the striking options for the Gunners look one helluvu lot better now. Also, Arshavin, the strange ghost of potential, scored that famous goal. Again no offence to the Russian, but where does he even play now?
@Khanya And now you have Giroud? Real Madrid reject Mesut Ozil and Barcelona reject Alexis Sanchez against Messi, Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta, Busquets, Alba, Alves, Pique, Mascherano. Experience is by far on Barca's side, quality obviously...
Spanish might will overcome this pathetic over inflated mule league club.
@Beastador Yes, a league where all the money goes to the top two teams, child-trafficking met with a slap on the wrist, and various covert government help for the top two, making it very easy for those top two clubs to prepare for cup games, leaving a bunch of mechanics and hair-dressers to fill up the teams in the bottom half of the league, dodgy refereeing in favour of the top two in domestic and European games, such a league is a shining example of all that is best in football. On the other hand, those "mules" in the PL have a fairly even distribution of money and talent throughout the league, making it the most popular and competitive in the world, and refereeing that is so uniformly rubbish that just about everyone is put at a disadvantage, they must be deluded, those fools making up the most popular and richest league in the world.
@What4 So much ignorance in one comment and so much bias. You are probably the biggest idiot here. Disgusting. Watch some La Liga games and see how "mechanics" and "hairdressers" play you fat bastard.
@What4 I had to collect a mouthful of half-digested food in my mouth and grudgingly swallow it as soon as I read "the most popular and competitive [league] in the world". Do some research on Spanish vs. English teams in the champion/europa league. I wish I could see the look on your face after finding out your favourite league is far more than inferior. On top of your audacious attempt at berating less popular Spanish teams, you criticise management and football economics as a PL fan. Two of your major teams are owned by Russian and middle eastern oil money. I won't even begin to list the other countries that have their share of the English football wealth.
@Skibba I said, most popular and competitive *league*, not has the strongest top two teams, which was my entire point. Thanks for missing the point entirely, this has been a great conversation.
@What4 EPL is marketing and good management, by footballing wise personally I think that all that money is killing football in England.
@What4 what curious is that the so called weak teams of La Ligiga also beat the top team of EPL. Bilbao knocked a strong United out of Europe, Ferguson was still manager. The Spanish teams (top 4) dominates UCL and the next 3 dominate EL regardless of who is representing. EPL is more competitive as a competition bcoz most of the teams tho not exceptional are at the same level. In Spain there is class football from all the teams tho only 3 have a realistic chance of winning the League. Spainish teams generally do well in Europe because their football is quality. since year 2000 the EL have been won 7 times by a Spanish team and that wasn't Real Madrid or Barcelona
@Truthful04 If you're talking about individual results, obviously anything is possible. And what Spanish top 4? You mean top 2. And no one in the Premier League cares about the EL, sad to say, because there is more money in the league. You're another one that has entirely missed every single point I made about the competitiveness of the *entire* league, not just the top two, and how the whole structure of Spanish football is bent and twisted to support the top two at the expense of the league and all the other teams. Half the games in La Liga have half empty stadiums, something which would never happen in the Premier League, where all the games are well supported, whether in the stadium or on television. Why? Because the Spanish league is a joke except for the top 6 or 8 teams, and it is massively skewed in favour of the top two. You all need to put on your reading specs and actually address the points I made in the first comment.
@What4 You say the epl is the most popular and most competitive league. It depends on who you ask regarding most popular. Now the epl is NOT the most competitive league in the world. A quick look around on the internet shows the indian I league is more competitive than the epl. The epl is an over inflated, low quality football league with many big name players but no big top tier teams. All teams are of low standard in comparison to la liga. Heck the only difference between the indian league and the epl is money. So will you start watching the chinese super league if it is rich like the epl?
@Beastador What? Are you high? DId you actually say the I-league is more competitive than the epl? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH How could anyone take what you say seriously?! hahahahaha. Come off it and join the real world.
@Beastador That's an interesting definition of "competitive" you've got there. You think Indian teams can compete with Premier League ones?
@What4 I believe mule league fans say the prem is competitive because anybody can win, the same goes for the indian league.
@Beastador Um, no, we say that because of the strength of the teams in the league, which as a result means the title race is more competitive. You do realise that by your reasoning the Indian league is a million times more competitive than the Spanish league?
@What4 bpl might be competitive but its sure as hell isnt the strongest. its so overrated that its laughable. they dont care of EL becouse they are after money not glory. the real glory is what you achieve out of your home league. but English teams cant offer that becouse they are too stuck in their own league and talk only about that
@What4 Your premise is that the EPL is more competitive than La Liga because any team has a shot at winning the title. Is a league competitive because all the teams are good, or just equally bad? Barca and RM dominate Europe, so obviously they would also in Spain. If more money makes teams better, than why is MUFC, equally wealthy to Barcelona, so bad? Anyone who criticizes the lack of quality in Spain's league does not watch the games.
@LLCAN if you put Barcelone and/or Madrid in Premier League i'm not sure they will have the same points at the end. Degree of difficulties seams to be higher in England, or difference of superiority lower than Spain IMO.
1-3
A draw here and a win for Barcelona at camp nou
@glenbayern Arsenal to win at Emirates and beaten at Nou Camp. Away goals to be a big decider in this feature.
The last encounter was actually close considering that Arsenal only needed to score 1 more goal to go through. but this time it wont be close. The MSN will blast the Gunners away
It's funny how Arsenal performs well when you don't expect them to and perform badly when you expect otherwise. I wouldn't say it's impossible for Arsenal to win this one by a small margin just to get trashed at Camp Nou.
@felipe9525 You are transposing the results against Bayern here. I think its a possibility, it depends which version of both teams turn up. After some of the results this season, and yesterday afternoon, I think the "cant handle the pressure of big games" tag that the Gunners have had round their necks can be dropped. I do agree that they need to be consistent against the smaller teams. A lot also depends on Alexis getting his mojo back. Wellbeck's return is a boost.
@Khanya Are Arsenal fans really saying Lord Welbeck is a boost against Barcelona. Can someone get me a chair please..
One can be hopeful...
@6seconds Come on, Barca dont need that kind of support?
2/0 for barcaaaaaaaa
Man city to arsenal: "it's your turn"