Arsenal – Barcelona Preview

By: Martin | February 14th, 2011

Apparently there’s some sort of match tomorrow. Weird — you would have thought you would have heard something about it in the media.

This is, obviously, a match that doesn’t need any hype. Barcelona are almost universally acknowledged as the best team in the world at the moment, and frankly, it’s hard to argue with that assessment. They are the favorites to win the Champions League at the moment, and have destroyed pretty much everything that has stood in their path. They feature 3 of the world’s 5 or so best players, and play a very entertaining, exciting style.

On the flip side, Arsenal are looking like this might finally be the season that the future (of “Wenger is building a team for the future” fame) is now — within striking distance of Manchester United for the league in what is looking increasingly like a two-horse race, in the final of the Carling Cup, and a draw against a lower-division side to get into the quarterfinal of the FA Cup. At this point, I think not winning a trophy would be a massive, massive disappointment for Arsenal fans.

And, of course, there is some past between the sides. Several Arsenal players have gone on to Barcelona — most notably Thierry Henry, of course, but also Aleksander Hleb, Giovanni von Bronckhorst, and others. In recent years, Arsenal have poached several young players from Barcelona’s youth set-up — Cesc Fabregas, obviously, but also Fran Merida and Ignasi Miquel. Of course, we also played in the Champions League last season, where we were outplayed as badly as I can ever remember Arsenal being outplayed in the first half of the first leg, but somehow were only down 2-0 when Theo Walcott came on and turned the match on its head and we somehow salvaged a 2-2 draw. But in the second leg, after Bendtner’s striker put us up 3-2 on aggregate and gave us a glorious couple of minutes of hope, Barca absolutely pinned us down and took care of business, winning that leg 4-1 and winning 6-3 on aggregate. It was no less than they deserved, and while Arsenal fans were certainly disappointed by it, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t say it was absolutely a riveting 180 minutes of football.

And, of course, there’s that other thing. The Cesc thing. But I honestly don’t really want to talk about it. While I believe the way Barca and many of its players handled things last summer were pretty awful, it’s over. And you have to say that Barca generally have shut up about it since then — you didn’t really hear a peep about it in January.

And it’s a weird irony that now it seems to be Arsenal fans who are the ones who keep bringing it up. There was a movement on Twitter yesterday started by a particular prominent Arsenal blog to get Arsenal fans at the match tomorrow to change the chant “We’ve got Cesc Fabregas” to “Hands off Cesc Fabregas.” It was widely embraced by the Arsenal twitterati and everyone was spreading it, and all I could think was “Really? We’re playing a two-legged tie against the best, most entertaining side in the world in the Champions League, and THIS is what we want to be chanting/singing about?” Not a song about Arsenal, not a song about how good any of our players are, not a song about how we’re going to win, but a song about Barca trying to get Cesc Fabregas? Obviously it’s been a big story before, and obviously it will be a big story again, but I don’t know about you, but the reason I love this sport and this team is just events like this — playing against the best, fantastic European nights, etc. And that’s enough to get me through the stuff I can’t stand, like endless transfer speculation. So it seems very weird to me that we have this opportunity to watch two fantastic, entertaining sides play such an important match, some people are going out of their way to drag the storyline back to the Cesc thing, and wallow in the part of this game that I like the least. But that’s just me.

Having said that, let’s move on to the match. Barcelona. These guys are good. Really good. There’s probably not much I can tell you that you don’t already know. And frankly, you guys know I don’t watch many matches from outside of England, so I’m hardly an authoritative expert. I do know that Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta are all tremendous players, among the world’s best. David Villa is a world-class striker. They’ve got excellent holding mids in guys like “peek-a”-Busquets and Mascherano.

And while it’s their attacking players that get all the credit, Barcelona do have the best defensive record of any club in a top European league, with only 12 goals conceded in 23 matches (the only other team that comes close to Borussia Dortmund, who has conceded 13 goals in 22 matches in the Bundesliga). Valdes has become one of the world’s top keepers, Alves and Abidal are world-class fullbacks, and they have great center backs in Pique and Puyol. The good news for us is that Puyol will miss this one with injury, which is a big boon for us, because he is in many ways the heart of the team — I read a stat somewhere the other day that all of Barcelona’s losses this season have come when Puyol is injured. Let’s hope that trend continues tomorrow.

From what the players have said, Arsenal’s strategy for this match is quite clear — to play them like we played against Chelsea, which means to just swarm them and press them high up the pitch. Last year we let them hold possession in their own end, and they used that time and space to pick us apart. We’ll see how that works — historically, the teams that have been successful against Barca and Spain have not employed this strategy, but precisely the opposite — laying back, packing the box, and trying to hit them on the counter. But we can’t play this way, so we’ve got to roll the dice and hope they don’t take advantage of our high line and take advantage of the space between our backline and midfield.

We can reassure ourselves that our team is much stronger this year than last year. In the second leg last year, Disastre started at center back, and Traore, Eastmond, Merida, Slo, Eboue, and Eduardo were on the bench. Yeesh. In team news for us, this team is bound to be much stronger than that. The big question is Nasri. Wenger has teased that he might be available, but I continue to think that at best, he will be on the bench. Diaby is also out, having picked up some kind of mystery injury; which, despite the invective I have directed in his direction lately, is a loss for us, because when he has played and has refrained from doing something incredibly stupid, he’s been quite good. The long-termers — Fabianski, Vermaelen, and Frimpong — are out. Sagna is out suspended due to yellow cards picked up in the group stage, which is a big blow.

Here’s my best guess at a lineup:

Wojo

Eboue-Koscielny-Djourou-Clichy

Wilshere-Song

Theo-Cesc-Arshavin

van Persie

Bench: Almunia, Gibbs, Squillaci, Denilson, Nasri, Chamakh, Bendtner

Wojo is penciled in, despite Almunia’s heroics in this fixture last season. We cross our fingers, pray, and throw Eboue into the breach on the right, and I’m not even going to front, the idea of him trying to defend some of Barca’s attackers scares the hell out of me. Clichy is on the left. And then we have Koscielny and Djourou, whose record together has been nothing short of excellent, at the back. A lot of Barca fans and casual fans have been saying here in the comments section and on Twitter all week that Arsenal’s defense and goalkeeper is weak, and I’ve been saying that anyone who’s saying that hasn’t been watching Arsenal. Here’s their chance to prove me right….

In midfield, the guys tasked with shielding the backline will be Song and Wilshere. I’m on record as saying that if we have any chance of getting past Barca, Song is the key player — his absence was keenly felt against Barca last season. He’s so good at anticipating the play, getting in position, and taking the ball cleanly off guys, and if he’s on top of his game, he can keep us from getting overrun. One thing to watch for is that, although he’s been MUCH better about this lately, he still does have that tendency to pick up stupid fouls and yellows sometimes. With UEFA refs much more liberal about handing out yellows than English refs, if he picks up a yellow early, that could force him to sit back a little and make him much less effective. And Jack really seems up for it — no one on the team has a better attitude and spirit than he does. This will be the biggest test of his young career. Cesc will obviously get the start in the advanced role, and you know he’ll be looking to show his skill against all his buddies (let’s just hope they don’t start in with that irritating “moc moc moc” shit they do on Twitter all the time…)

And the up-front lineup pretty much writes itself. Theo showed last year how his pace creates problems for a team like Barca playing such a high-line, and he can keep Abidal pinned back a bit. van Persie is obviously undroppable — we won’t be able to create that many chances against Barca, so converting the chances we do create will be key, and that weight will fall on van Persie as much as anyone. On the left, I think it has to be Arshavin, who has played quite well lately, and you know he would love to break out of his scoring slump on such a huge stage. One concern there, obviously, is that even though he’s been better lately, Arshavin’s defending high up the pitch will be key to protect Clichy, who can be shaky.

I’ll have to watch the match tape-delayed b/c I’m stranded at work tomorrow, so the recap will be up later in the evening. I will put a match thread post up so those of you who are discussing the match as it happens can have a forum to talk about the events as they happen if you so choose. TV info — in the USA, match is live on FSC and Fox Deportes; in Canada, match is live on Setanta Sports; in the UK, on ITV1.

And that’s it, really. I’m not sure what else to say. When this draw was made, it seemed like doom and gloom was the order of the day — seemed like everywhere you looked, Gooners were claiming that we should just write off the Champions League. I was the one who was saying, “hey, these guys aren’t unbeatable, why not us?” Now, it seems like the pendulum has swung all the way over in the other direction, and Gooners are irrationally optimistic — yesterday people were saying things like “draw is the worst-case scenario” and “I feel positive we will win,” and I’m the one saying, “well, these guys are pretty damn good, let’s not get carried away.” Maybe I’m just a cranky, contrarian dick, but now I’m feeling more pessimistic than a lot of people about this one. I don’t make predictions, I’ll just say that if we play like we did against Chelsea, like we did in the first-half of the Tottenham & Newcastle matches, we’re the equal of any team. It would be a tremendous accomplishment for the club if we could do that. And I’m just excited to watch this one and see what will happen, because matches like these are what being a fan is all about. Take it away, Kurt…

This is our time. Come on Arsenal.

**************

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Category: Arsenal News, Champions League, Fixtures, Preview

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Sol

What you need from Wojo tonight is a Gomez-like performance. It would have been 2-0 for Milan if it weren't for him yesterday (no counterspace for Lennon with that scoreline). Sorry if you've already read this comment from me on the Dutch blog.

There will be shots and/or headers on goal that reporters would call "certain goals", the type of goal that if Wojo doesn't save it, everyone will correctly say it wasn't his fault. The same as the 2 goals Gomez prevented yesterday. There's a difference between a 'good' save and an 'impossible' save. :) Ask Yepes who was rewarded with a negative review because of it (only 6.0 rating on goal.com, lots of complaints from Milan fans on their blog, unbelievable, normally you get at least an 8.0 for scoring 2 headers like that, make it 7.5 for failing to foul Lennon on the brake and taking the red card, like anyone else would have been able to stop him, sssuure...).
ak

you know, i support arsenal with all my heart in the premier league but i just can't do that against barca...
Nigelp

I’m reminded of a few lines from Roky 6 with this juggernaut of a match upon us:

Duke: You know all there is to know about fighting, so there’s no sense us going down that same old road again. To beat this guy, you need speed – you don’t have it. And your knees can’t take the pounding, so hard running is out. And you got arthritis in your neck, and you’ve got calcium deposits on most of your joints, so sparring is out.
Paulie: I had that problem.
Duke: So, what we’ll be calling on is good ol’ fashion blunt force trauma. Horsepower. Heavy-duty, cast-iron, piledriving punches that will have to hurt so much they’ll rattle his ancestors. Every time you hit him with a shot, it’s gotta feel like he tried kissing the express train. Yeah! Let’s start building some hurtin’ bombs!
Eklavya (barca fan)

Great preview, Martin!
I remember I came here last year to find very good and honest reviews after both matches.

This preview is pretty interesting for someone who doesn't follow Arsenal. I'm interesting in seeing Wishlere in a big game and I hope he does well. When we played Real Madrid this season (5-0), Ozil and Di Maria were playing the biggest games of their career and went invisible...

I think as long as we can contain Walcott, we should be OK. Van Persie wasn't playing last year though...
Also, playing Nasri when he isn't fit may not be such a good idea. Last year, Cesc was half injured and Nasri was supposed to be your most dangerous player but Milito gave him a hard tackle early on which kept him out of the game.

I just hope its an entraining match without controversy (and no cesc nonsense). I think if this matches somehow ends 0-0 there will be a massive outrage from both teams (maybe less from Arsenal's side).
wamweah

dan whispered to me spurs would win.
Martin

Who is dan? And did he whisper anything about today's game?
phunky

Barca fan here, should be a cracking match. Arsenal are playing much better this time than the last and I have to admit I'm nervous. Best of luck.
Homey_Mills

Martin,
It's been a while since we've had an airing of grievances regarding Disqus. Anyway, I see today they switched to putting the time next to each comment, rather than how long ago the comment was made. This makes it doubly difficult to log in and just read the most recent comments. I keep seeing a time that I think is recent, only to look closer and see that it's AM or whatever. It's very vexing. If I could just check for comments within the last hour or whatever, I can at least find recent comments fairly quickly.
Ok, end of rant.
Kari

I AM A BFB WRITER/TROLL. I WRITE EVERYTHING IN CAPS LOCK BECAUSE EVERYTHING I SAY IS INFORMED AND IMPORTANT AND YOU HAVE TO READ IT.

--ARSENAL IS JUST BARCA-LITE.

--VAN PERSIE IS OVERRATED. HE'S ONLY SCORED 9 GOALS IN 5 GAMES AND BROKEN A EPL RECORD.

--WILSHERE? WE HAVE BOJAN! AND HE'S CUTER!

--DJOUROU HAS NOTHING ON THE GRAND MASTER XAVI!

--WALCOTT HAS NO FOOTBALL BRAIN BECAUSE A PUNDIT SAID SO.

--BUSI COULD TAKE EBOUE TO SCHOOL AND BACK!

--WE BEAT MADRID 5-0 BECAUSE THAT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.

--BY THE WAY, MY MOM IS BETTER THAN YOUR MOM.
JG

No, Wilshere is cuter!
Guest

Its unfortunate that Arsenal can not field their strongest 11 on the pitch against Barca... Without Nasri and Sagna it's going to be tough... Diaby's size could have been effective against Barca as well...
Sairax

Some stats from the UEFA Press Kit anyone? http://en.uefa.com/printoutfil...

- We've met Barcelona 5 times in CL. Drawn 2, lost 3. We've scored 7 against their 13
- No team from outside England have won in the 27 UEFA Champions League games, including qualifiers, staged at the Emirates Stadium
- Arsenal are taking part in their 13th UEFA Champions League campaign and this is the 11th successive time they have progressed beyond the initial group stage. In the last three years they have made it to the quarter-finals or better.
- Prior to Manchester United FC's victory in the 2008/09 semi-finals, Wenger's men boasted a 5 year unbeaten home run in the competition, bridging their 2 grounds
- This season they won their group for the 4th successive year and have now qualified from the initial group stage in the last 9 campaigns in which they have taken part
- Barcelona have lost just one of their last 15 away games
- This is the Gunners' 200th match in UEFA competition.
- Arsenal have scored 195 UEFA Champions League goals and conceded 196 in UEFA competition
- (no one responded to my earlier comment, so I double checked this one and it was a red, not yellows accumulated) Bacary Sagna serves a one-game ban following his red card on Matchday 6
-Emmanuel Eboué will incur a suspension with his next booking
- Arsenal scored 18 goals in the group stage, the joint-highest total
- Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Martin

Spurs win 1-0 in Milan. Balls. Sounds like they deserved it, though. And apparently Flamini should have been sent off for a really bad tackle that hurt Corluka, and Gattuso picked a fight with Spurs' 59 year-old assistant coach. I'm kind of sorry I missed it.

But that's a massive result for them, and it's hard to see them not advancing into the quarterfinal round at this point. If there's any silver lining, it's that this will add 2 fixtures to their calendar (preferably around the time they play us). And, if we can get past Barca, there's a chance of a North London derby CL tie, which would be pretty epic.
Gigi_man

Horrible: Spurs hit Milan as visitors..if they go through and we dont I will puke
Perry S.

Gigi -- Really makes no difference though. If they go through and we don't, they will die off in the next round rather easily.
Kari

Well the moderator(s) here take my comment out of moderation, you can watch Arsenal 2-2 Barca from last year.
Kari

Cule here and I come to wreak only mild havoc and disorientation. And maybe some fist-shaking.

If you're sick of the pre-match hype like I am and just want to get to the football? Want to see how much both teams have improved in a year's time? Then read no further (actually, yes, read further). What better way to do all of the above than to watch last year's first leg again?

Arsenal 2-2 Barca from March 30, 2010. Language: English (ITV)

FIRST HALF

Part 1: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Part 2: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Part 3: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Part 4: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Part 5: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Part 6: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

SECOND HALF

Part 1: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Part 2: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Part 3: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Part 4: *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Both team are WAY different now than they were then. You've probably know who much we've improved (if you haven't, I hope that rock you were under was comfortable :D ). We've got our best "signing" Iniesta (he was injured for much of last season), Villa for Ibra, a matured Pedro!! and Busi, and an even better Messi. And you guys have a fit and on-form Van Persie, Silvestre gone, relatively solid CB pairing of Djourou and Koscielny, and a blue-print from last year on how to play us amongst other things.

Should be a cracker.
Martin

Thanks, Kari. Enjoy your work over at BFB, thanks for stopping by.

But I'll pass on rewatching that one -- it damn near gave me a heart attack the first time around, so I have no particular desire to re-live that. On the flipside, I was literally standing up and pacing the last half-hour, and I exploded when Cesc converted that penalty. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Kari

Why thank you, Martin. Considering 90% of my "articles" are pretty much nonsense and/or bullsh*t, that's quite the compliment XD. Especially coming from an experienced blogger.

Blogger butt-kissing aside, I watched this game in a quiet, solitary room by myself so as not to kill anyone after the game. God, that "defending" (hats off for the comeback but it still makes my blood boil to see us switch off like that). I prefer the game more than the 'This is what Arsenal must do to defeat the Mighty Barca", "Arsenal should use team X's strategy while utilizing Team Y's formation--it's the only way", etc. pre-match hype. Can only take so much...

In any case, hopefully tomorrow's another classic. And be glad Flamini isn't an Arsenal player anymore.
Gigi_man

Forgot to mention: better and more mature Cesc/ More mature and better at using his talent Theo/ more mature and better at using his talent and less afraid Nasri/ awaking Arshavin/ Newly re discovered this season with talent Song/ better goalkeeping/

On the other hand, I am exhausted as said before, too much talking and too many expert opinions
Kari

Knew it. The asterisks were useless after all.
Gigi_man

By that not saying that we will beat you, actually I am quite convinced that you will knock us out, but jkust saying some facts from Arsenal as well.
Kari

Oh, of course! There are plenty of things to add for both sides (but I'm sure they have been talked about/analysed to death already). I was just keeping it short and sweet.
Gigi_man

Hey ask your team to keep the advantage short and sweet :P :))))
Perry S.

Hey Martin, not to make you feel bad or anything, but did you hear Ronaldo's retirement speech? He said something along the lines of "for all those people who call me fat, I hope you understand I have a disease that has to do with my metabolism."

Just saying, maybe calling him "Fat" Ronaldo isn't so good ;)
Martin

I know, I know, I'm a terrible human being who should be drawn and quartered... never realized using a common nickname for someone would cause so much strife among the readership. Especially when everything I said about him was glowing.
Peevish

Yea totally. Plus, you forgot 'goofy'.
Perry S.

Heh no worries, just giving you a hard time. Also, only the negative things you say stick out in my mind :D
Ramzi

Regarding Injuries Arsenal Vs Barcelona:

No doubt that EPL is more physical than Liga (Without getting into the bigger better argument). That, beside EPL players recklessness plays a role in increasing injuries rate. Though, one can also point out that if the fields in England are better than Spain, then players in Spain are under a higher threat to get injured. Not a big factor in the equation, but it all counts.

However, I do believe the main reasons go beyond that. Barcelona suffered catastrophic rate of injuries before Guardiola's era. When the new coaches staff arrived they radically changed the training methods, nutrition and players habits related to their professional commitments to the silliest detail. Training sessions are planned by the manager assistant for the whole season and they decide the month the team will reach the peak fitness (weighing the form cycle of a sportsman along the season -I think they learned it in USA BTW). To give an idea, after the team was knocked out of Copa del rey last season the coaches changed the training sessions completely. One week later, the players started to fall like leaves: Iniesta, Keita, Abidal, Alves all got injured and everyone pointed toward the change of training sessions. Beside, there are specific training methods planned for specific players like Messi, Bojan, Iniesta. This season Abidal started a new individual program of 3 sessions per week beside the team training schedule (Puyol had that program before euro tournament).

Finally, the most important factor IMO is the type of players the clubs sign. When Barcelona signs Milito, they pay for it as he spends more time on the treatment table than the field, same with Edmilson before and marquez to some extend. Some of the players Arsenal signed were already known for being injury prone since before they joined the club. Players like Rosidski and van Persie would have cost 3 times or more based on their natural talent, but their injury proneness was the reason why they were this cheap.
Andylowe14

i agreed with everything you said up until the point about how much we paid for rosicky and van persie.. feyenord wants £5million for rvp and we paid 2.75 for a 20 year old. There was no indication of injury proneness at that stage. besides i just think he's been unlucky and rosicky has only had 1 bad injury. In my opinion fabregas is more injury prone than rosicky but barca still wanted him
Gigi_man

well, Spurs just smashed Milan as visitors. I hate them but that proves that there is another level, a better one, at EPL.
I watch a lot of Spanish football, because I live in LAtin America, and I always watch English, and frnakly, there is no comparison. La Liga has two outstanding teams, EPL can at any given Sunday have an outstanding team
Ramzi

I still won't comment on that:) I was talking about injuries and the reasoning behind it.
SJGgumby

I think I've raised this before, but still struggling with it - do we root for or against Sp*rs today. On the one hand, if they win it helps the EPL's coefficient and distracts them from the league competition (though we've got a decent gap on them). On the other hand, they're Sp*rs.
Gigi_man

well point granted to you, as just said before: they won as visitors, it makes me sick but it proves the fact that EPL level is higher.
Patoux21

Wouldn't it be great to face the Spurs in the CL later on if we manage somehow to win against Barca?
Gigi_man

Yeah, well, I am kind of pessimist today, if it happens as I am thinking they will be in the next round and we wont....oohhh I feel sick
Martin

Our coefficient is fine -- it only matters if we fall out of the top 3 leagues, which we won't. And if they make it farther than us in the CL, we'd never live it down. And I don't think they're really a threat to catch us in the league this year.

Absolutely rooting against them, and I hope Milan (not my favorite team, either) batters them.
Gigi_man

Yeah usually I root for Juve and maybe Inter, never Milan, but today that I decided to root for them..they lose..
SJGgumby

Of course, you have to say that, or else the gallery will get on you about being a Spurs enthusiast (which I expect will happen anyway)...

I'm with you though at this point, since they look less threatening to our league position.

On your point about Milan, its funny how we each form certain affinities for teams that I at least rarely get to see play. Inter > Milan, Barca (Cesc-gate notwithstanding) > Madrid, Lazio > Roma, etc.
JG

I suspect Martin is jeered as a Spurs fan because he doesn't make public his irrational and over-the-top hate for them.
Gigi_man

Hey I am not crazy its just Disquso there that does not post my answers as such but as comemnts for the 1st time...soorrryy
Gigi_man

Let me explain, since I hate his guts so many times.
He lacks stability, he makes horrible decisions in the heat of the moment, and those calls make us pay as a team.
On the other hand, as subjective as I am, I love all gunners and hate everyone else, (refs, ManUs, Chelseas, etc), :)))
Gigi_man

Hi there,
I am one of the preachers of EPL level being above the Liga one (BTW Thx for your elegance in pointing that out hehe).
Maybe, now that I read you, I can come up with a reason of the physical strenght and it would be the reason why theres a gap between Bza and Real and the rest. Meaning that they struggle less than us throughout the year...? anyone..?

As per the facts. I also make a living out of facts, thats why I get completely emotional and random when it comes to my passion team :) it just gets me out of my everyday make-a-living activity. But if facts are there, yes the odds beat us in a blink of an eye. On the other hand, we always seem to get the most amazing surprises in favour of others (Newcastle, Leeds) and we definitley have to show that we know how to eat with silverspoons...so I say we are exactly random..? anyone...?
Westline79

I've watched close to 100% of our games this season and I've watched every single one of Barca's league games so there should be some factual basis behind the following blabbering:

1. Homey asked about injuries. As pointed out, the requirements for a yellow are a lot more sane in Spain than in England so you can't really go all Shawcross around there (the referees in Spain are worse though, as in more inconsistent/make more incorrect calls). The 2nd part of the equation is just variance, Arsenal's been unlucky with regards to injuries in the past.

2. As for Barcelona as a team, you just have to admire their quality. They just finished a 16 game win streak which was certainly deserved. People like to point out that the overall quality of La Liga is not the same as the Premier League which is certainly true, but the top team is also a lot better than any other team in the world right now, further increasing the gap. It's not just the fact that their attack is deadly but equally importantly they're the best pressing team in the world at the moment. Their players also seem to have this incredible desire to win; in a recent game versus Atletico Madrid, Messi of all people tracked down Aguero deep into Barcelona's own half to steal the ball back which really demonstrates their commitment to més que un club - it's all for the team down there.

3. Since I make a living by being objective and trying to see the underlining factors that lead up to an event instead of focusing on the eventual outcome, all this talk about "we're gonna win/lose, the team that wants it more will win blablabla" bs can be fairly annoying (because of this it's very hard for me to read any sports related news without wanting to hit something). Understanding of basic logic and variance doesn't seem to suit most people (luckily there are exceptions, eg this blog's, arseblog's and zonal marking's writers are brilliant). If you just want the cold hard facts, more often than not you can rely on checking what people are putting their money on. For this tie, our odds of advancing seem to be slightly higher than 20% which seems fair enough.

One time...
Martin

Ack -- my facts below were incorrect. Schalke is also a bigger underdog playing at Valencia than Arsenal is.
Martin

Wow -- very flattered to be put into the same category as Arseblog and ZM, thanks so much, that made my day. It's a tricky thing, but I do try to be Arsenal-centric and make it clear that I love and root for Arsenal while still not just stating things the way I wish they were, which is quite common, I think.

But yeah, I agree with all your points. And as for betting (which I agree is generally the best indicator), it's not great for us -- only Copenhagen (playing Chelsea) is a bigger underdog in the first leg of these ties than we are.
Martin

Apparently Arsenal are putting red and white flags on every seat tomorrow in hopes that fans will wave them. I'm of two minds about this.

On the one hand, it seems that we used to make fun of Chelsea for doing this, saying things like they had to manufacture atmosphere since they didn't have any of their own, and that it was a cheap, synthetic substitute for actualy fan passion and songs/chants.

On the other hand, atmosphere is a problem at the Emirates, and maybe we should stop denying it and try to do something about it. And I do think it looks cool. So I guess at the end of the day I'm in favor of whatever helps us create a better match atmosphere, and if it comes through something kind of tacky like handing fans flags to wave, I suppose I'm okay with that.
brenton

It's pretty standard in pro-hockey, and no one I've known has ever questioned it.
Homey_Mills

As long as we're not waving just the white flags, then I guess it's ok. :-|
Sairax

It only worries me because the last time I remember us bringing out the flags was the thumping we got from ManUtd in the CL semi a couple seasons back, and you know how I am with jinxes!
Martin

Yeah. I spend more time than I'd care to admit thinking about that match. It should have gone so differently. The beginning of that match was the best atmosphere I think we've ever had at the Emirates, and we played brilliantly at the beginning. We were on the front foot, pushing Manchester United around, and there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to make the final.

And then . . . Gibbs slipped. That freak goal took the wind out of our sails, gave them enough of a lead on aggregate that they could just keep everyone behind the ball and defend, and we couldn't find a way back in it.
Sairax

Yes. Well. Thank you for that description and making me relive that game just now.
Perry S.

Yikes, Eboue & Clichy starting in a match of this caliber? I'd rather have Gibbs in place of Clichy at the least.
TJ

I dont get the Clichy hate.
Perry S.

I don't hate him, but I firmly believe he doesn't have the skill set to be part of this squad for a match like this. He's so prone to mistakes in pressure situations, so I wouldn't think for a second that Barca's game plan does not involve exposing him like Pee-Wee Herman in a movie theatre.
PhilTheDrill

Typically I'd agree with you, but Clichy played very well against them last season. Maybe he plays up to his competition.
Sairax

Article with Opta stats: http://www.itv.com/sport/footb...

Article from Zonal Marking: http://www.itv.com/sport/footb...

I'll just add that playing a high line could bite us if we are not careful. Madrid tried the same thing this season and, well, we saw what happened there.
Darren_V

I still maintain posession will be key. If Barca hold the ball for 65-70% of the game like they do most games, I can't see Arsenal winning, simply because our defense is not good enough to sustain that kind of pressure. Especially without Sagna.
Yes, hitting them on the break with Walcott will be a big factor. But that is only if Cesc, Jack and Song have the time to turn and hit him with a outlet pass, something that is extremely difficult vs Barca's pressing.
Being wasteful with the ball in this tie will kill Arsenal imo.
Homey_Mills

Looking at those pictures from last year, I miss the very classy white away jersey with the pinstripes. I wish we could stick with that shirt.
Darren_V

ugh really? I hate that jersey. Makes us way to Sp*d like.
Homey_Mills

So you prefer the pukey yellow of this year?
Darren_V

Completely
Martin

I definitely do -- I still think our away shirt this year is fine when we wear it with the maroon shorts, it's just pairing it with the yellow shorts that is really fugly.

But I guess I'm a traditionalist -- as far as I'm concerned, Arsenal's home shirt should always be red with white sleeves, and Arsenal's away shirt should always be yellow in some form. Although I admit I did like the blue pinstriped away kits from last season. (the white ones pictured were actually our "third" kit)
brenton

I have an RvP in the blue pinstripes. It's class.
Martin

Nice -- yeah, I've got an Alex Song blue away shirt from last year, I like it a lot.
Homey_Mills

Yes, I loved the blue pinstripes too. And another thing to Darren... I dunno why a white shirt should remind you of Spurs, when our red shirts don't remind you of Man Utd or Liverpool. You know? I don't see why one team should have one color locked up to themselves. Except maybe that Italian team that wears pink... they can have pink all to themselves.
brenton

Palermo. And Juventus at times.
Martin

And Everton and Barcelona in past years (although I guess Barca's was more of a weird orangish-salmon color than outright pink).
brenton

Barca's was horrible, but strictly speaking not pink.

Toronto had a pink shirt for Breast Cancer Awareness Day, didn't they?
Sairax

Indeed we did. MLS also had a theme for Breast Cancer Awareness month where GKs wore pink gloves and managers wore pink scarves. I think players wore pink wrist warmer things too.
Martin

I think it's just down to tradition more than anything. Arsenal have worn red forever, so we can claim that as ours as much as United or Liverpool can.

Whereas with white, we just associate that with our arch-rivals. Although, interestingly, according to one of my favorite random Arsenal sites on the web:

http://www.historicalkits.co.u...

Arsenal did actually wear white away shirts for most of their history, up until the late 60s, but then stopped, and didn't resurrect the white shirt until 2007-2008. Whereas we didn't really have a tradition of wearing yellow until the late 60s/early 70s. But I think that the 1971 team is pretty iconic, and so many of the famous Arsenal images from the 1971 FA Cup final, the Michael Thomas goal in 1989, etc., are of Arsenal in yellow, that that has become the default "traditional" away shirt. We've had most yellow, and failing yellow, blue, away kits, since then.
Darren_V

Well as Martin pointed out, The Arsenal red should always come with white sleeves. That is why it doesn't remind me of other clubs.
Homey_Mills

I'll admit from the outset that I don't really follow Barca too closely. However, I do wonder something. Why is it that their team always seems so healthy? As Arsenal fans, we're very happy that we're "only" missing Vermaelen, Flaps, and maybe Nasri. We consider that quite healthy. Whereas Barca is missing Puyol, and it's a terrible thing. I dunno... last year they seemed to go the whole year with all their players, and this year the same thing. Is it because La Liga isn't as physical? Because I'd have to think the lower teams in that league would want to just foul and play dirty as a way of keeping up.
Anyway, maybe a Barca fan can help answer that one. Just doesn't seem fair when other teams are so healthy and we always have guys out injured.
Martin

Following up on what I just said below, it really is the single biggest difference for me between English and Spanish football -- Spanish defenders so rarely leave their feet. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but they avoid conceding fouls and are always in position to get forward on the counter. If you watch the Barca guys tomorrow it will be really noticeable.
Homey_Mills

I'm sure that's completely correct about the difference between the leagues. However, there's got to be some additional bad luck or coincidence or something. Because guys like RvP, Walcott, and Vermaelen have been injured in international play. And I know their guys play the same internationals, yet don't seem to get injured.
Martin

I think that even if those teams wanted to do that, the referees wouldn't let them get away with it. I used to watch a fair amount of La Liga (well, by "watch" I mean "would put it on while I cleaned or puttered around just to hear what Ray Hudson would come up with," and they give out yellow cards like nobody's business. The difference between what constitutes a reckless tackle in England and what constitutes a reckless tackle in Spain is very stark -- honestly, in Spain, if you go to ground and don't win the ball completely cleanly, it seems that you're more likely than not to get a yellow for that, whereas in England you only have to get the ball before getting the player, and even if you miss the ball, it either has to be from behind or particularly egregious to earn a yellow.
Casimir

Exactly. Its a different game in Spain. I remember when Ebi Smolarek moved from Borussia Dortmund to Racing Santander in La Liga, and within the first two minutes of his debut he received a straight red for sliding and winning a ball, however the tackle came at a 90 degree angle of the player. In England that wouldn't be close to a yellow, maybe a foul since there was some contact but even though, most likely not.
Sairax

I think readers around here know how nervous I get on regular matches, so a game like tomorrow has me off the charts terrified at the moment.

I know there was sublime football played last season, but all I saw was my team getting hammered, so I felt absolutely horrible. Barcelona could be the greatest team I've ever seen play, and watching them destroy Madrid earlier this season was perfection. It's quite depressing really. They don't even have a B team. Anyone they put out is strong enough to put away any team.

Anyway, looking at us, I think Martin, you've said most of it already. I hope our players can rise to the occasion and make us proud, even if they don't win. Some stats from Orbinho:

*There have been red cards in three of the five matches between Barcelona and Arsenal.
*No team from continental Europe has won away at Arsenal in the Champions League since Inter beat the Gunners 3-0 in September 2003.
*In the five meetings between Arsenal and Barcelona, neither side has yet kept a clean sheet.

I think I heard a stat somewhere that Djourou and Kos have let 8 shots on target in the last 8 games or something, which is excellent if true. Come on you Gunners.
Gigi_man

Oh I so much feel the same way! I am so nervous I have barely wrote anything here or elsewhere, I havent talked to anyone about it. I think I am looking away because of the nerves.. :S
Sairax

Glad I have some company :)
Martin

In his pre-match press conference this afternoon, Wenger confirmed that Nasri will be in the squad to face Barca, but stressed that he "will take no medical risk" on Nasri. I'm not quite sure what to make of that, really -- seems like he's either fit to play or it would be a medical risk to play him, in which case he shouldn't be in the team. But I still say this seems to me like Nasri will start on the bench and maybe come on for Arshavin after 70 or so minutes. Good news that he's progressing -- so long as he gets through this one without reaggravating the injury, he should be fully fit and ready to start again against Stoke next week.
Patoux21

Even if Nasri has fully recovered from his injury I don't think he's fit enough to start the game since he's been out for 3 weeks and I agree with you that he will probably come out of the bench for Arshavin if we are still behind
Sairax

I believe Sagna is out because he picked up a straight red v Partizan for a 'last man' foul
Chicago Gunner

Eboue is going to get absolutely lit up.
Perry S.

Lets pray he doesn't for the sake of the team, but statistically speaking, yes. If there is anyone who is going to be exposed tomorrow, its Eboue and Clichy.
Sol

And if there is anyone who can solve that problem for Arsenal, it's Wojo. The question that will be answered tonight, is he that top 10 world class keeper Arsenal deserves based on their reputation and the quality of the other players they have.

I have faith, but I'm perhaps not as sure about it as some of you are. He is probably still the better choice between a returning no match-rythm Almunia and him. And keepers have to brake through at some point in their careers, why not tonight? :)
Perry S.

100% agree with you that Wojo is the correct choice for this evening. There is no doubt in my mind about that. To me, Almunia is just deadweight on the bench. Pray to your god (if you have one), run through your superstitions (if you are superstitious), and knock on a fine wood today in hopes that Wojo remains healthy and the entire team is safe from harm.
sandra350

"I read a stat somewhere the other day that all of Barcelona’s losses this season have come when Puyol is injured." - actually, Martin, the statistic is that Barca have failed to win this season (3 times) when Puyol AND Busquets have not played. Those 2 players are key. That was the case on Saturday. Guardiola kept Busquets and Pedro out so they could be fresh for Wednesday - except that he had to put Pedro on later in the game because they were struggling to win. Puyol is injured. Busquets will be playing on Wed.

Also - Barca's away record in the CL isn't great lately. Mostly draws, 1 or 2 losses.

Like many I had no hope at all when we first drew Barca - but we're a different team now and, unlike last year, we have most of our first XI available. I think we can win tomorrow, but will most likely draw. (The idea of Eboue v. Messi is scaring the crap out of me, tho). I honestly don't think we'll lose - barring a sending off or injury to a key player.

Martin, I'm VERY glad to read your proper respect for Barca, incl. their defenders. I'm sick to death of idiot gooners (who hardly ever watch them) dismiss Barca as "all about Messi" and having a crap defense yadayadayada. Most of these idiots are from England and football fans in England don't watch a lot of games outside the PL.

I don't expect much from the game at the Nou Camp and I still expect Barca to go thru. But unlike a few months ago (when we were losing to crap teams at home), I do expect our team to at least put on a good performance and give Barca a tough game. For us it's a win-win situation -- advance, and we've eliminated the world's best team. Go out and we have less fixture congestion, players have more rest time.

It's hilarious to hear Barca fans go on about our goalkeeping issues - we've greatly improved this season on that score. Guess they're not watching us very often. And anyone who's been watching us regularly knows that Kos and Djourou are an excellent CB pairing.
Martin

Cheers for that Puyol/Busquets stat. I think the stat I saw was just Puyol, but it's possible I misread it. Either way, yours is probably more informative, although that doesn't help us tomorrow since Busquets will play.

Yeah, there seems to be a lot of misinformation out there on both sides, which I guess is to be expected on some level. I, too, have been amazed by how many Barca fans think our defense/goalkeeping situation is worse this season than last (they also, presumably based just on that one admittedly excellent performance, persist in thinking Almunia should be playing at keeper for us). And also a bit disappointed in how many Gooners are slagging off Barca's defense and saying we're not going to have any trouble scoring, when a bit of research shows that Barca are very hard to score against this season (if for no other reason than other teams can't get the ball).

I'm nervous but excited about this one -- I definitely hope you're right.
Andylowe14

to be fair, over the two legs last time we were at a big disadvantage and i know nobody ever reports results in this way but i think we really do need to remember that we had a shockingly weakened team for the second leg, and even then we ook the lead and eventually lost because they had messi on top form playing against silvestre and sol campbell. that is not barcelona vs arsenal, that is the best player in the world against our reserve defenders. Also we could have won the fors leg but cesc was injured at the end so it was effectively 10 vs 11, and he was also nowhere near fully fit for the second leg. We didnt have van persie at all and although they had a couple of defensive changes they pretty much had all their key players for both maches... so i think to make the comparison based on the two legs last year without mentioning these things is not that helpful. The conclusion has to be that what we have now is the proper arsenal, barca also seem to have a strong team (puyol injured, like vermaelen, both clubs best CB's) - we might not start nasri but apart from that we have our proper team this time, with good subs on the bench. Fabregas is as good as iniesta, song is as good as busquetts, wilshere can match xavi on his day. van persie is as good if not better than david villa. theyre all worried about theo walcott. so what are we worried about??? ...oh yeah messi

but the teams both full strength is much closer than last years result suggests, we can beat anyone!!
Martin

A couple of things:

(1) Sol actually didn't play in the second leg -- it was Vermaelen and Silvestre at the back. So it wasn't against two of our reserve center backs, it was against our best CB and our worst CB.

(2) Saying Cesc wasn't fully fit for the second leg is a bit of an understatement. He had a broken leg. And he had picked up a yellow card in the first leg so wouldn't have been able to play anyway. This strengthens your case for why the Arsenal team fielded in the second leg was so ineffective.

(3) I like the optimism, but I'm still not quite convinced. Just going position by position, making a best XI of the two sides, I think you'd end up with Valdes-Abidal-Puyol-Pique-Sagna-Song-Busquets-Iniesta-Xavi-Messi-van Persie. I'm sure there will be disagreements about that, but I'd have a hard time justifying putting any more Arsenal players in there than that, and all 3 Arsenal players might be debatable.

That being said, it's not the players, but the teams, and I do agree that when Arsenal are on our game, we can play with anyone, Barca-included. And as Sandra pointed out above, Barca's away record in the CL lately has been pretty underwhelming. So while I'm not optimistic, I do think I'm pretty hopeful that we can do something great tomorrow. And I do think that the general consensus is that Arsenal have no chance, which, as far as I'm concerned, is a great place to be, because it means all the pressure and expectations for this tie are on Barcelona.
Andylowe14

wait you'd play song and busquetts together.. 4-4-2 ?? its not really fair to do a 'best XI' with the two teams because we have strengths in the same areas, for example fabregas and nasri not being included is not really showing arsenal in the best light, despite them probably being our best players. I think its also a lot to do with the opposition you see these players against week in week out, of course busquetts is going to look good playing in the spanish league playing the holding role for a team who always have possession because theyre playing some small town spanish club who dont have a chance of fielding a competitive side against them and never will. 17 of their la liga games will be a complete formality and thats not just because barca are great, its because the opposition is weak. so their players will look better and have better scoring rates etc than arsenal players, who are braving the epl, the hardest league in the world
Martin

Well, I was thinking 4-2-3-1, with Song and Busquets the "2", and midfield line of Iniesta-Xavi-Messi, and van Persie up top.
Bertrand

More like, Wojo-Clichy-Puyol-Pique-Alves-Song-Xavi-Fabregas-Messi-Villa-Van Persie...

Iniesta...what a wildy overrated player.
Martin

Wow. Wojo over Valdes? Clichy over Abidal?
sonneveld

A key thing to add, I read (I think from a Barcelona blog) that when Puyol is gone they move Abidal to centre back and Maxwell to left back. The thought is in these positions both could be exposed, especially Maxwell by Walcott.
Gigi_man

If thats so I dont think Pep would be that naive, imo he would put a wall in front of Theo better thatn to switch.
brenton

I was going to point that out as well. Theo will hopefully keep Maxwell pinned back, not Abidal. Abidal is a better left back than centre back, and I'm hoping that RvP will be able to exploit that weakness.
Martin

Yeah, I agree -- something we definitely need to take advantage of if we are to move on. Theo on Maxwell may be our best match-up problem.
Brittany

Actually, I think people confuse defending with possession. Barca have good defenders, but I don't think that's the reason they haven't conceded so many goals. It's possession. Your opponent can't score if they don't have the ball. It was understandable in the Sporting Gijon game when the defense (Pique) was caught out of position and they scored. He looked dire and desperate trying to defend when they lost the ball and Gijon counter-attacked. They have a good defense, but with Cesc, Robin, and most importantly Theo, I think we can exploit it. Especially if we maintain possession more.