Arsenal vs Barcelona Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:45pm(ITV 1)

[Armor for Sleep]

mrs van persie - how did you end up in an executive box?

 

[Gonner_88]

Having watched the game a few times since on replay, we will have to improve to beat them (or draw with them) in their back yard. The wider spaces of the Camp Now will make life even more difficult for our defenders and even harder to get the damn ball off them. However, the team has matured to the point where it has no problem with Barca having more possession, they are just intent on ensuring they limit the scoring chances and ensuring that when we have possession we take some of our chances created. We had more shots on goal than Barca-that says something.

It will require a monumental effort to beat Barca in Barcelona, a monumnetal effort! Thank God Sagna will be back and Nasri should be more match fit. Wenger has got to get his defensive tactics spot on and hope and pray for a little luck. However, the big plus is we know we can beat them and they now know we can beat them!

The experience and knowledge gained form playing them this time will hopefully stand us in good stead on March 8.

Game on.

Cheeky bookies - 3-1 against @ home!! I hope some Gooners amde some do$h!

Yh it's going to take a big big effort from us to beat them or draw with them at the Nou Camp. The wide pitch made our difficult last season and we didn't do ourselves by competing with them for possession. Last weeks game, we looked very good without the ball by pressuring them. I also love what Wenger's done last game by telling the players to play at a high tempo...as it allows our players to manouvre past their closing-down mechanism e.g. the second goal (the pace of our passing was so fast it beat 5 players who surrounded our players and we were able to counter).

We can beat/draw with them at the Nou Camp if we have our best available XI (except TV) and the experience from last week will also help us achieve our aim.

 

[celestis]

Will work to our advantage I think , more room to exploit , its harder for them to press us.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Arsène's game plan at **** Nou last season was spot on, despite the result in the end.
This time he'll probably have the players to execute that plan better, so overall I'm quite confident we can win there (or at least reach the next stage).

 

[Y va marquer]

We're obviously in a much stronger position than we were last year both in terms of the strength of our first choice starting XI and in having a 2-1 advantage to take to the Camp Nou.

They will have been rattled by the result, it was not quite as comprehensive as their loss to Inter but I'd guess it was as big a shock to them.

That plus the fact that they have to play without Pique and possibly Puyol will benefit us.

We don't even have to win the game, score more than 1 goal and stay within a goal of them and we're through.
Pressure is all on them.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Btw, just read page 47 and some posts from the Lobby re that story with mrsvanpersie.
Hilarious stuff

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

I really hope we don't get carried away by that result and enter the pitch at **** Nou with a high level of concentration and motivation.

We're 90mins away from.....making history imo....and we do have it in us to beat them again, or at least knock them out.

 

[TheCMT]

Btw, just read page 47 and some posts from the Lobby re that story with mrsvanpersie.
Hilarious stuff

+1

 

[Y va marquer]

Good on Matty Holland on FF, said that they Barca may have "out statted" us but ultimately it's about putting the ball in the back of the net, the number of times you touch the ball is irrelevant if you don't score.
Damn right!

 

[redanddread]

Good on Matty Holland on FF, said that they Barca may have "out statted" us but ultimately it's about putting the ball in the back of the net, the number of times you touch the ball is irrelevant if you don't score.Damn right!

Don't we know all too well about that particular situation!

 

[Y va marquer]

Yes he also mentioned our out statting but losing to Ipswich..
that wasn't our first choice XI though!

 

[redanddread]

I would love us to learn so much from this experience, learn the lessons that will make this Arsenal team and the footballing side of the club better for the future. I would love our players to learn to play with those work rate levels, that ball control, that movement off the ball. I guess it is what we aspire to but Barca certainly do it better than any other.

There were so many things to admire about their game, so many things that I would like to see us be able to mirror. Whatever the result, we beat a great Barca team-make no one fool you that they didn't play well.

Lads, just learn those lessons and apply them to each and every game until the end of the season and then lets see where we stand. We do that and I am sure we'll have our grubby little paws on some silverware!!

 

[Lord Dula]

I do think that if we don't knock barca out they will win the cup

 

[redanddread]

I do think that if we don't knock barca out they will win the cup

Yup. But then I thought so last year also..

 

[Humble Rex]

All I hope for is that we can go to Camp Nou with the same squad available. If we can do that I think we have a good chance. Not for a clean sheet perhaps, but for a scoring draw or a 3-2 loss.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Good on Matty Holland on FF, said that they Barca may have "out statted" us but ultimately it's about putting the ball in the back of the net, the number of times you touch the ball is irrelevant if you don't score.
Damn right!

It's not just that, though. I realise that Holland is just trying to point out one of the truisms of football, but we didn't scrap this win by being a little bit sharper than them in front of goal. Not even by a long shot. In the second half, for instance, we clearly dictated the game despite having less possession of the ball. We were happy to let them play short passes in midfield as long as we kept them tight and didn't give them any space. I don't know how often people watch Barcelona but I've only seen that happen to them once or twice in the last few years. They usually murder everyone who tries that tactic. The fact that we pulled it off speaks volumes about this current Arsenal side. As did the things we did when we got hold of the ball. We were more imaginative in possession, showed of a wider repertoar and created more chances. We ended the game having taken more shots both on and off target and had a winning goal to show for it. It was a completely fair result any way you look at it. Tactically it was a near-perfect performance.

 

[redanddread]

Good on Matty Holland on FF, said that they Barca may have "out statted" us but ultimately it's about putting the ball in the back of the net, the number of times you touch the ball is irrelevant if you don't score.
Damn right!

It's not just that, though. I realise that Holland is just trying to point out one of the truisms of football, but we didn't scrap this win by being a little bit sharper than them in front of goal. Not even by a long shot. In the second half, for instance, we clearly dictated the game despite having less possession of the ball. We were happy to let them play short passes in midfield as long as we kept them tight and didn't give them any space. I don't know how often people watch Barcelona but I've only seen that happen to them once or twice in the last few years. They usually murder everyone who tries that tactic. The fact that we pulled it off speaks volumes about this current Arsenal side. As did the things we did when we got hold of the ball. We were more imaginative in possession, showed of a wider repertoar and created more chances. We ended the game having taken more shots both on and off target and had a winning goal to show for it. It was a completely fair result any way you look at it. Tactically it was a near-perfect performance.[/quote]


True, the daunting prospect is that we will have to be as near to perfect again in The Camp Nou. However, let me tell you, Barca will be nervous as hell about conceding on the break!

 

[Gonner_88]

Hopefully we see this starting XI (Minus Eboue-Sagna in) again in the Nou Camp.

 

[Clrnc]

Eboue over Sagna? Really?

 

[Klaus Daimler]

True, the daunting prospect is that we will have to be as near to perfect again in The Camp Nou. However, let me tell you, Barca will be nervous as hell about conceding on the break!

Yeah, we rattled them in the first leg. They talked about the important away goal but you could see it in their faces. They were severely disappointed. They know that they don't have it in them to stop us from scoring throughout the ninety. Last year we went to Camp Nou without Robin, Cesc, Arshavin, Song and Gallas and we still took the lead.