[UCL] Arsenal 2 - 2 Barcelona ; Arsenal CL hopes still alive
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Full time
Arsenal 2-2 Barcelona
Inter 1-0 CSKA Moscow
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Barcelona no need to beat Arsenal to go thru, 1-1 or 0-0 they are through. I fear for Arsenal in the return leg at Nou Camp, with no fabregas, who will create for them in midfield? song, denilson, diaby ? Barcelona will not have their 2 centreback in puyol and pique playing, as they are both suspended, but I reckoned its not a big problem for them.
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Originally posted by Rooney9:
Barcelona no need to beat Arsenal to go thru, 1-1 or 0-0 they are through. I fear for Arsenal in the return leg at Nou Camp, with no fabregas, who will create for them in midfield? song, denilson, diaby ? Barcelona will not have their 2 centreback in puyol and pique playing, as they are both suspended, but I reckoned its not a big problem for them.
Who will create for them the answer is bendtner. why? bendtner assit 2 goals 2day. while fabregas is struggling to make impact. i know is very tough to win at Nou Camp but ball is round. without their centerback bendtner will be able to win more header. All Gunners fan can do is believe we can do it. And we hope to get arshvain back for the return leg. And we cant out pass barcelona so in the return i expect more long ball to bendtner and walcott to run forward. We were very lucky 2day to get a draw but i still believe arsenal can do it.
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In my opinion, with this result... United have a better chance of getting through than Arsenal. Reason is Arsenal fail to take any home advantage tonight therefore in the return, their chance of a win in Nou Camp is very slim...
I am predicting gunners to lose by quite a big margin in Spain as they try to get a goal... Maybe 2 or 3 goals cos Barce already have 2 away goals so Arsenal need to come out. And to make matters worse, Andres Iniesta could be back for Barce too...
Personally, even with Fabregas, it wouldn't make much of a difference in the return leg... In reality, I think he might just be a little happy he won't have to go through it... cos it could end up in an embarrassing defeat.
Just my take on this, If United have a 45% - 55% chance, Gunners will only have 5% in Camp Nou. But as the romantics would like to belief in the ball is round, even 5% is a possibility i guess...
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Originally posted by zocoss:
In my opinion, with this result... United have a better chance of getting through than Arsenal. Reason is Arsenal fail to take any home advantage tonight therefore in the return, their chance of a win in Nou Camp is very slim...
I am predicting gunners to lose by quite a big margin in Spain as they try to get a goal... Maybe 2 or 3 goals cos Barce already have 2 away goals so Arsenal need to come out. And to make matters worse, Andres Iniesta could be back for Barce too...
Personally, even with Fabregas, it wouldn't make much of a difference in the return leg... In reality, I think he might just be a little happy he won't have to go through it... cos it could end up in an embarrassing defeat.
Just my take on this, If United have a 45% - 55% chance, Gunners will only have 5% in Camp Nou. But as the romantics would like to belief in the ball is round, even 5% is a possibility i guess...
i agree fully with you.
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Just watch the highlights, seems like its an awesome match!!!
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Originally posted by Y_Shun:
Just watch the highlights, seems like its an awesome match!!!
yes it is. Barcelona taught Arsenal on the art of passing. its like men against boys really. I thought Barcelona were the home team, as they pass and pass the ball so easily and effortlessly. The only team that can match barcelona in passing now has to be the brazilian team. you play an open game against barcelona, that is suicidal man.
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hmm
depends on away goal rule
Barcelona will win
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Originally posted by Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1):
hmm
depends on away goal rule
Barcelona will win if u watch the match this morning, Barcelona really taught Arsenal the fine art of passing. I also dunno how Barcelona only managed to score 2 and not 4 or 5 goals.
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Originally posted by Rooney9:
if u watch the match this morning, Barcelona really taught Arsenal the fine art of passing. I also dunno how Barcelona only managed to score 2 and not 4 or 5 goals.
ya i saw e highlights
passing
and messi/imbrahimovic all shot on to alumunia
but Puyol red card is a bit harsh leh -
At current point.Not many teams in europe could do with Barca's supreme ball game of possession and slick foot work.
Arsenal should fear for their prides as barca will go for the early goal to settle the tie at Camp Nou.After which most probably they will just play their possession football which we have seen,very had to break up.The absence of the 2 first choice centre backs won't have much bearing as Barca are on Home advantage and we must take into consideration that Arsenal are weak travellers.How many in the team had experienced playing in front of such a daunting crowd of let's say 80000 fans?
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Originally posted by Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1):
ya i saw e highlights
passing
and messi/imbrahimovic all shot on to alumunia
but Puyol red card is a bit harsh lehalmunia is a disaster. why doesnt wenger replace him with a top class goalie I wonder? even paul robinson or robert green is so much better than him.
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the way to play barcelona is to stop their midfield from dominating. you need tackler and hassler to harry and harrass them in midfield, to stop them from passing from midfield. if u let barcelona play their passing game, you are dead.
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alumnia did well for the first half, it was almost him who stopped barcelona. arsenal's backline look good as well.
suddenly, 2nd half all went coming down.
arsenal deserve credits for not giving up, fighting with passion and determination till the end.
not to forget, they're a young side.
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this game is like the real evo taking on the fake evo.
maybe, wenger focus too much on lionel/leo messi, which allows zalatan to roam quite alot. imo, yest's match once again prove that eto'o can fit into barce system better than zlatan. and no doubts, i will prefer eto'o to zlatan.
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Arsenal 2 Barcelona 2: Inspired Theo Walcott and hero Cesc Fabregas brave Barca blitz to
keep Gunners alive and kickingFrom Cesc Fabregas came the courage, from Theo Walcott the inspiration, and from both of them the goals that somehow keep Arsenal in this extraordinary Champions League quarter-final.
Outclassed by Barcelona for the first hour, they appeared to be out of the competition for another season when Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the second of his two fine goals.
But then came the moment when Arsene Wenger decided there was nothing else for it. The moment when he dragged off a full back, sent on a super-quick right winger and simply hoped for the best.
On the spot: Cesc Fabregas smashes home Arsenal's equaliser late on
Walcott was terrific, the manner in which he took his 69th-minute goal surely enough to convince Arsenal's manager that the young England international must start in the Nou Camp next Tuesday; that he made a mistake in responding to an injury to Andrey Arshavin by sending on Emmanuel Eboue after only 27 minutes.
The decision to then take off Bacary Sagna and move Eboue into defence turned this contest on its head at the Emirates, and with Barcelona now without their two central defenders - both Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique are suspended - they have to use Walcott in a bid to take advantage.
That Walcott then provided the cross that led to Fabregas's equaliser only strengthened his case. It was a terrific ball, one that Nicklas Bendtner headed down, forcing Puyol to foul Fabregas in a reckless attempt to stop him scoring.
Upended: Fabregas is brought down by Carles Puyol, who was sent off late on
For Fabregas there were echoes of Roy Keane in Turin 11 years ago. He might not have dominated the game in the way Keane did after seeing Juventus take a two-goal lead and receiving the booked that ruled him out of the final, but it was heroic nevertheless.
Having only played after passing a late fitness test, he was a distraught, dejected figure when Massimo Busacca showed him a yellow card for what looked a perfectly good challenge on Sergio Busquets, complaining to the Swiss official as the two men returned to their respective dressing rooms at half-time.
But Fabregas bravely battled on, not just scoring his 85th-minute penalty but limping through the final few minutes. It seems on landing after taking his spot-kick he suffered what looked suspiciously like a stress fracture; the kind of injury that comes as a result of severe shin splints; the kind of injury that might just have ended his season and ruined his chances of representing Spain at this summer's World Cup.
Held back: Lionel Messi battles to get beyond Arsenal's Alex Song
The sight of him suffering only added to the sense of drama and the sense of defiance in Arsenal ranks. But Barcelona will wonder how they allowed Arsenal to battle their way back into this tie, given how superior they were for the opening hour. They were magnificent, mesmerising, every inch the best team in Europe.
MATCH FACTS
ARSENAL (4-3-3): Almunia 8; Sagna 6
(Walcott 66min, 7), Gallas 5 (Denilson 44, 6), Vermaelen 6, Clichy 5; Fabregas 6, Song 5, Diaby 6; Arshavin 5 (Eboue 27, 6), Bendtner 5, Nasri 7.
Booked: Arshavin, Song, Fabregas,
Eboue, Diaby.BARCELONA (4-4-1-1): Valdes 6; Alves 7, Puyol 7, Pique 7, Maxwell 6; Pedro 6,
Busquets 8, Xavi 9, Keita 6; Messi 7
(Milito 86); Ibrahimovic 7 (Henry 77).
Booked: Pique. Sent off: Puyol.Man of the match: Xavi.
Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland).This was not exactly what Wenger had in mind when he said this would be a celebration of football at its finest. It was football at its finest, but only by Barcelona. Only by the side who gave Arsenal a lesson in the finer arts of the beautiful game.
Only by the side that even sprung something of a surprise in switching from the 4-3-3 formation that Wenger so admires to a more orthodox 4-4-2 that they have apparently been practising in training. Arshavin's injury forced Wenger to make a change but he changed his formation to match them too, pushing Fabregas into an even more advanced role behind Bendtner and making his wingers adopt a more defensive approach.
Even then there was little Arsenal could do to contain them, because while the classy Catalans are a side that can pass their opponents to death they can also hit them on the break.
Giving Gunners hope: Theo Walcott scores Arsenal's first goal
Their opening goal, scored 22 seconds into the second half and before Wenger had even returned to his seat, was more Bolton than Barcelona. A long ball forward from the centre half and a lob over the goalkeeper. OK, so Kevin Davies might have struggled to finish with the finesse of Ibrahimovic, but you get the drift.
Lionel Messi was not at his most resplendent but in tandem with the wonderful Xavi Hernandez he had Arsenal chasing shadows. By half-time Barca had enjoyed 71 per cent of the ball and unleashed more than nine shots on targets with none in return, Arsenal's only contribution of note the yellow card for Fabregas and the disappearance of William Gallas on a stretcher with what looked like a recurrence of his calf injury.
Blaming defeat in that Champions League Final four years ago on the dismissal of Jens Lehmann will be wearing a bit thin now, because had it not been for the heroics of Manuel Almunia there would have been no comeback.
On fire: Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores Barcelona's first goal at the Emirates
With the loss of Gallas came a slightly bizarre decision from Wenger. Rather than send on Sol Campbell, he opted for Alex Song as his replacement and sent on Denilson from the bench.
But it was Song who failed to respond to a decent ball forward from Pique by chasing down Ibrahimovic, the Swede using the time and space to beat Almunia with a super chip, and Song who then combined with Gael Clichy to lose the Barcelona striker for a second time. This time Xavi was the provider, Ibrahimovic driving a bullet past Arsenal's goalkeeper.
Delight: Ibrahimovic celebrates with team-mates and management after opening the scoring in north London
From Walcott, however, came the start of a remarkable revival that took advantage of the complacency that had spread through the Catalans. Suddenly Arsenal were playing with more urgency; more fluency too.
It was a super pass from Bendtner but an even more impressive angled run from Walcott that ended with a finish that Victor Valdes proved powerless to stop.
At the double: Ibrahimovic fires home Barcelona's second goal
What then followed was more astonishing still. A moment of madness from Puyol and a moment of pure theatre from Fabregas, once a son of Barcelona but now the adopted son of Arsenal.
Last night he fought to the final whistle for them and gave them a fighting chance, even if it is hard to see beyond Pep Guardiola's side for a place in the semi-finals.
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Arsenal keeper is lousy the 2 goals conceed is 1 to 1 and that show his not up to that standard, bendtner sux too-no speed, hold the ball too long, only have height is not enuff, Diaby can shoot better than him.
Carlos vela should play and he got speed, Wenger plan is getting rusty. Barce got skill and speed, so u need the same to win them-Speed, thats Wacott has. Defence sux big time, offside trap doesn't work and Song need to come back to cover for the 2 conceeded goals.
Never say die spirit is not there until Wacott went in, so what r the rest doing, idling around. Time to bring in young players with speed with determination and fight till the last min. Barce can be beaten if Wenger can bent his rule and stop using primary school standard players.
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aww.. lucky for gunners to get a 2 -2
2nd leg.. messi will score goals.
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Originally posted by T.Ryousuke:
Arsenal keeper is lousy the 2 goals conceed is 1 to 1 and that show his not up to that standard, bendtner sux too-no speed, hold the ball too long, only have height is not enuff, Diaby can shoot better than him.
Carlos vela should play and he got speed, Wenger plan is getting rusty. Barce got skill and speed, so u need the same to win them-Speed, thats Wacott has. Defence sux big time, offside trap doesn't work and Song need to come back to cover for the 2 conceeded goals.
Never say die spirit is not there until Wacott went in, so what r the rest doing, idling around. Time to bring in young players with speed with determination and fight till the last min. Barce can be beaten if Wenger can bent his rule and stop using primary school standard players.
Did u watch how alumnia save all the shot in the first 15 mins of the game? You cant expect him to save all the shots. Bendtner Sux? he assit two goal for arsenal and he almost score one himself. no doubt one of the best player for arsenal during tat game.And song need to come back cover ? Well did u watch the game he was playing centerback not a holding midfield after gallas was injure. is true tat barce outplay arsenal. For first half barce performance is top class i dun tink any team will be able to hold them if barce on form Even their manager admit is their best display since he join barce.
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Originally posted by DemonFox:
Did u watch how alumnia save all the shot in the first 15 mins of the game? You cant expect him to save all the shots. Bendtner Sux? he assit two goal for arsenal and he almost score one himself. no doubt one of the best player for arsenal during tat game.And song need to come back cover ? Well did u watch the game he was playing centerback not a holding midfield after gallas was injure. is true tat barce outplay arsenal. For first half barce performance is top class i dun tink any team will be able to hold them if barce on form Even their manager admit is their best display since he join barce.
Barce shot is mostly direct to Alumnia, his mistake is moving to early away from goal line, and very often he make this mistake.Look at the number of goal conceed in EPL compare to Chelsea and MU. He is good but not the best in the world, to be UCL winner u need a super goal keeper meaning he can think a step ahead of his opponent.
Bendtner is good? 1 to 1 also cannot score! he is not a out and out striker, without a cool mind infront of goal, creativity and pin point accuraccy, very slow, his goal r in some ways luck or he have the height thats all.
His 2 assist in this game is only the plus point, other than that he shouldn't be the lone striker up front.
Song is very good, meaning there other 3 defender plus the DM is not alert to cover those 2 goals which conceed cheaply. That's where strength in depth is not there to go all the way to win the trophy.
The point is Arsenal defence and keeper is not good enuff to collect UCL medal. If those 2 goals r really of quality than I don't think we can fault the defence.
Looking forward to 2nd leg, if Arsenal still conceed this kind of stupid goals, thats is why many pundit and expert can forsee, they only have themself to blame.
As a fan, we want them to put up a good fight and show us what they have, I think they can, Wenger need to push the youngster hard, really hard. Why Henry leave? He can see the limit of gunner, but ofcouse the $ and reward he wanted. It about team, telant and the hunger to win. I din see any of this last nite except Wacott pace and Fab determination, the rest r out gun by Barce one on one.
I never see Gunner playing like a kid since '89. 30-70% WTF.