Arsenal has been criticized on many counts, mainly not defending, being lazy while off the ball and not creating enough chances against the big teams.
Well, teams don't get bigger than Barca, arguably the best team in the world.
Wenger's men started the game quite brightly, sweeping Guardiola's team away with blistering pace. Unfortunately, Barca found their niche after fifteen minutes and proceeded to dominate most of the first half. They deservedly took the lead courtesy for David Villa and I was on edge, praying for the halftime whistle. Everyone thought that we were finished, that Barca would know crush us and that they would be helped by our seemingly stuttering resolve when it mattered most.
They were wrong.
We played the second half much better and we pressed and pressured Messi, Xavi and Iniesta when they had the ball. As the half progressed, the crowd become more and more boisterous. Our work rate was phenomenal and we looked confident. As we probed for an equalizer, the excellent Koscielny and Szczesny kept the visitors at bay. Van Persie scored from an acute angle and then Arshavin finished off a lightning counter attack involving Wilshere, Cesc and Nasri to put us a goal to the good. By now, the crowd was just raucous and I could hear their perfectly enunciated chants from my living room TV. That's the loudest I've ever heard the Emirates faithful and it sure helped the Gunners.
Everyone knows that Barca are the best at keeping the ball and that it's quite difficult to get it off them and attack. That's why Mourinho opted to sit back and stifle them. Wenger stubbornly refused to adopt that tactic, but to be fair to him, you can't ask a team that plays high tempo attacking football week-in, week-out, to suddenly curb that; it'll be an epic fail. He stuck to his guns and in the end his philosophy prevailed and our counter attacks were productive. We worked very hard off the ball and if the lazy Arshavin could track back and pressure Barcelona, then you can see how committed the team was. Wilshere was quite impressive on the night. He was unfazed by the fact that he was placed in a midfield containing the world's best players and he went about his job in scintillating fashion. Sure, his critics will say that Xavi bettered Wilshere's stats by a mile, but Xavi is Xavi. He's an accomplished 31 year old player, while Jack is 19. He exuded confidence and he played an integral part in the victory. It's a pity he couldn't score, because some of his play was just exquisite, for example, the one two he played with Cesc in Barca's penalty area was destined for a goal if only Abidal hadn't made a last ditch challenge. Szczesny was also brilliant, with a flawless performance. He read the runs of Pedro and Messi and collected every dangerous ball that came his way. This season is the first season since Lehmann left that we look to have a solid and confident keeper between the posts and this only bodes well for the Gunners.
But just because we overturned the great Barcelona in the first leg doesn't mean much, we still have to play at the Camp Nou. It's a crazy atmosphere and we'll have to see if we can cope with that. They have an away goal, which is worrisome and Arsenal need to stifle Barcelona once again and at least score on goal. A draw is an ideal result, but we'll see how it all pans out. For now, we need to concentrate on getting past Leyton Orient in the FA Cup and winning the Carling Cup Final. The Barca win will provide ample confidence and so will the fact that Cesc seemed so fired up and awed by the Arsenal performance and crowd that less people are putting their money on Cesc leaving for the Catalonia and that has got to raise the dressing room a bit higher.
The no longer young Gunners have proved their mettle time and again this season and I hope they can rise to the occasion once more.
In Arsene We Trust.
I just hope he doesn't make the defence play that super high line at the Camp Nou. It gave me mini heart attacks.
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