Guest Article – Barcelona vs Arsenal from A Gooners Point of View

Even though I support the Gooners, I couldn’t help but appreciate the beauty and artistry of Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League match. In a wide-open game, both teams had chances but Barcelona created more dangerous opportunities and their lethal finishing ultimately turned the match into an exhibition.

It was fitting that Barcelona’s front trio, Messi, Neymar, and Suarez, scored Barcelona’s three goals. They have scored 104 goals this season and their brilliant finishing was once again on display. One could argue that Arsenal had just as many chances as Barcelona, with Welbeck running onto balls and Ozil making his customary deft passes but Arsenal lacked that superb finishing touch of Barcelona’s deadly trio.

Arsenal, who is accustomed to possessing the ball in their home league, must have felt unsettled to see another team beat them at their own game. Arsenal’s possession looked clumsy compared to Barcelona’s tika-taka football, which intermixed short balls and long ones across the entire field and even around Arsenal’s box.

Messi, this generation’s greatest player, roamed the right side of the pitch, while Neymar patrolled the left, and it was a long ball by Neymar to Messi in the first fifteen minutes which hinted at the danger to come. Messi made a run into the box behind Arsenal’s defense and Neymar lofted a curling ball to the Argentine who brought the ball down with the softest of touches. He shot at point blank range, and Ospina put his hands up and made a lucky save.

Barcelona would score minutes later when Barcelona took advantage of an Arsenal defensive miscue in their defensive third. Barcelona’s midfielder passed the ball across the pitch to Neymar, who took one touch and slid the ball past Ospina.

The first half featured good attacking football from both sides. Arsene Wenger, seemed to have made the right decision by starting Iwobi and Welbeck, two players with pace who could attack Barcelona’s defensive line.

Iwobi, in particular, played fearlessly, darting down the left side of the field and linking up with Welbeck on several occasions. But Arsenal ultimately lacked that lethal touch.

Credit Barcelona for not coming out in the second half and playing defensively in order to protect their 3-1 aggregate lead. Instead, the crowd at Camp Nou could savor two more moments of brilliance by their side.

In the 58th minute Neymar dribbled across Arsenal’s box and passed it to Dani Alves in the corner who crossed it to the back post. Bellarin, Arsenal’s defender, slipped on the wet grass, and Suarez jumped in the air and scissor-kicked the ball, striking it one time in to the net.

Fifteen minutes later, Messi calmly and expertly lifted a ball over Ospina’s head inside the six yard box to finish the scoring and with that Arsenal’s European hopes have been extinguished for another season.