A review of Barcelona's 2-0 win over Arsenal.
In the build up to the game, both mangers were agreed that there was a clear favourite in this tie. Arsène Wenger described Barça as "super favourites" while Luis Enrique ignored the opportunity to politely decline the tag, admitting that "it was kind of logical".
So it should be if you look at it from a purely statistical view point. Barcelona are treble holders, unbeaten in 32 games and have a front three that have scored 213 goals since its conception. But that's not to say the Gunners were dead and buried before a ball had been kicked. The last time this tie was drawn, it was Arsenal who won the first leg in unlikely circumstances and registered their first ever win against the Catalans.
| Arsenal | Barcelona |
|
| Possession | 34% | 66% |
| Total Shots | 8 | 15 |
| Shots on Target | 3 | 4 |
| Corners | 1 | 7 |
| Fouls | 13 | 14 |
| Offsides | 3 | 1 |
| Yellow Cards | 1 | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
On a brisk London night, the teams ascended from the tunnel. Met with a light show and collage of ARSENAL from the home fans, there was a "European night" buzz around the ground. With a roaring home crowd behind them, Arsenal got the ball rolling.
Wenger's side started brightly. Looking to play a high press and utilise the pace of Alexis Sánchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, they were routinely sending players forward in the opening stages. A long ball forward was well taken down by Aaron Ramsey and after a neat one-two with Mesut Özil, the Welshman managed a shot at goal. The sliding Javier Mascherano prevented it from reaching the goal.
After the initial opening flurry, the game simmered and Barça began to hold the ball. A few passes round the back but going forward they were limited to hitting it long and to the bylines. Neither Lionel Messi nor Neymar could do much with these passes and the Argentine eventually dropped deeper to receive the ball to his feet.
Arsenal were comfortable to let Barça have the ball within their own half, soaking the pressure before looking to hit on the break. This counterattacking style was proving to be effective as ex-Barça academy product Héctor Bellerín sprinted up field. Özil pulled the ball for the right back but Bellerín's shot was blocked and the ricochet fell to Oxlade-Chamberlain. The winger tried to react quickly and steady his feet for the shot. With defenders closing in he did manage to get an effort away but it was straight at Marc-André ter Stegen.
The game had simmered with both teams not willing to go all-out in the fear of being vulnerable to a counterattack. Mascherano and Gerard Piqué were seeing plenty of the ball but the likes of Neymar and Luis Suárez were being kept quiet.
Half time was approaching with Arsenal having the best chance of the game so far through Oxalde-Chamberlain. But with the fourth official readying the signal for stoppage time, Barcelona came to life. The trident was beginning to link up, Neymar found Messi who found Suárez but the Uruguayan's attempt to feed it back to Messi was cut out before it reached its intended recipient.
A couple of minutes later and Suárez was unlucky not to open the scoring. Sergio Busquets picked out a charging Dani Alves on the right flank and the number six crossed well. It looked as if Suárez had done everything right, he'd gotten ahead of his man, rose well and made contact with the ball. But the faintest of touches was too much as he pulled it wide of the far post.
The half time whistle blew with the home side arguably the happier of the two. They'd kept Barça largely at bay without conceding any clear cut chances. However, the visitors could take solace in the fact that Arsenal had already done a lot of running in order to pressurise and that would surely yield tired legs in the second period.
Barcelona started the second half with a higher intensity and within five minutes they forced Petr Čech into his first save of the game. Neymar had got in behind and it required a good save from the Arsenal keeper to keep it level. However his counterpart at the other end was also involved. Olivier Giroud's header required a good save from the ter Stegen.
The game was heading towards an exciting finish with both teams looking to get a result. Arsenal were camped out in Barça's half and had pushed plenty of men forward in the search of a goal that would give them an advantage to take to the Camp Nou. A Piqué tackle fell to the feet of Busquets and in a flash he had given it to Neymar. An opportunity was on, Arsenal had pushed men forward and all three of Messi, Suárez and Neymar were breaking.
Neymar, running through the middle, found Suárez. The Uruguayan brought two defenders over with him to the left flank before giving it back to Neymar. Now the other remaining two of the back four were forced to come across and close down Neymar. The Brazilian ran into the box before looking up to see a free Lionel Messi. Messi received the ball as Čech scampered across the goal line. Messi's touch shifted the ball back in the other direction as the keeper slid to ground. The Argentine placed the ball over Čech and gave Barça the lead.
Having secured the opening goal, Barça were now on top. The front three were combining to get in behind Arsenal and looking to double the advantage. Neymar found Messi who slid in Suárez but the number nine could only find the post.
A second goal was coming and in the 83rd minute we saw the mental fatigue Barça's opposition usually suffer. Per Mertesacker passed in his own box but it was sloppy and allowed Messi to nip in ahead. Having only been on the pitch for a matter of second, Mathieu Flamini slid to reach the ball but clipped Messi and the referee pointed to the spot. Messi stepped up and slotted the ball to the left as Čech dived to the right. It was 2-0 and it was looking like the tie was already over before the half way mark.
There was just time for a Čech save from a Neymar header before the final whistle as the visitors secured a 2-0 win to take back to the Camp Nou.
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