Apr 06
Report & Highlights: Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal
A supreme individual display from Lionel Messi saw him net four goals as Barcelona came from behind to beat Arsenal 4-1 at the Nou Camp and progress to the Champions League semi-finals.
Nicklas Bendtner had given Arsenal a surprise early lead, but after Messi had equalised two minutes later, he netted two more to complete his hat-trick before half-time.
Arsenal did well to halt the Spanish side’s dominance in the second half, but they could not prevent Messi capping the win with a fourth goal two minutes from time to set up a semi-final tie with Inter Milan.
Arsenal’s Starting XI & Subs
Almunia
Sagna – Silvestre – Vermaelen – Clichy
Nasri – Denilson – Diaby
Walcott – Bendtner – Rosicky
Subs: Fabianski, Campbell, Traore, Eastmond, Eboue, Merida, Eduardo.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger dealt with the absences of William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin by bringing in Mikael Silvestre, Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott, while Barcelona boss Pepe Guardiola brought in Bojan for first-leg goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was injured before Barcelona’s weekend match.
The home side began the match on top, and instrumental playmaker Messi forced goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to force his fierce drive from the edge of the box past the post.
Arsenal were attempting to hit the Spanish side on the break without any success, and the Catalan club continued to dominate possession with Pedro Rodriguez and Messi both going close to opening the scoring.
However, a stunning break from Arsenal resulted in them taking a shock lead. Walcott was played clear of the Barcelona defence and although his unselfish pass across to Bendtner was weak, the Danish striker recovered from seeing his first shot saved to get up and tap in the rebound to put his side 3-2 up on aggregate.
That advantage was short-lived as Messi ensured Barcelona regained control of the tie. Silvestre saw his block from a Bojan effort fall straight to the Argentinean maestro, and he wasted no time in firing an unstoppable 20-yard shot into the top corner.
The equaliser enabled Barcelona to restore their early initiative and after Denilson was harshly cautioned for a coming-together with Messi, the forward recovering to dance around Silvestre in the penalty area before shooting into the side-netting from eight yards, but moments later, he put Barcelona ahead.
After Eric Abidal had seen his cross from the left blocked, Pedro produced a neat lay-off into the path of Messi, who calmly placed the ball past the advancing Almunia.
It was imperative that Arsenal did not fall further behind before half-time, but four minutes before the break, it was 3-1 as Messi completed his hat-trick. Seydou Keita headed the ball through to Messi and after sprinting through on goal, he scooped the ball over Almunia to net his seventh Champions League goal of the season and see Barcelona have one foot through to the semi-finals.
Second Half
The second half began with Barcelona again in control, with Messi inches from diverting a cross past Almunia, while Bojan sent a half-volley a yard wide of the post.
But after Arsenal had weathered that initial storm, they coped well with their opponent’s array of talent, and threatened more prominently in the attacking third without causing much concern for Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
They finally created a decent opportunity midway through the half when Diaby escaped the offside trap to hit a fortuitous cross-field ball for the awaiting Tomas Rosicky, but the Czech midfielder blazed the ball over from 20 yards.
A goal for Arsenal would change the complexion of the game, but the Spanish champions nearly sealed the tie on 71 minutes when a quick free-kick found Pedro but after escaping the attentions of the Arsenal defence, he chipped the ball a couple of yards wide of the far post.
The Gunners were struggling to mount any type of sufficient pressure to make the final few minutes interesting, and Barcelona capitalised two minutes from minutes as Messi mesmerised the Arsenal defence and after seeing his initial effort saved by Almunia, he collected the rebound to fire under the Arsenal goalkeeper to cap a fine performance and set up a last four match with Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan.
Well played Messi + 10 others, the ultimate one man team. Take us on with your best player missing + another 5!!
Agree with krustytheklown. I’m not going to be too negative because we were missing half our first team but its sad to see the boys get hammmered so badly.
Give Barca some credit. Yes, Messi was awesome tonight, but in the 1st leg he was quite and they still battered us.
They will defo go on and win the CL this year, probably against man u in the final again
GOOD OF U TO CHANGE THE 4MINUTE CRAP GOONER CHRIS.
No surprise really, but why, oh why do a team of Barcelona’s phenomenal talent have to spoil it all with such dirty acts of cheating? If they want to be remembered as one of the great teams in history, then this will have to stop. Busquets was particularly guilty, and even boy wonder Messi tarnished his reputation in my eyes by rolling around helplessly after Denilson won the ball.
From our point of view, we were still utterly outclassed, but Man Utd and Chelsea would have been, too. I still feel we need a new goalkeeper (how many times tonight did Almunia hoof the ball out of play?) and much better cover than the likes of Silvestre. It might not have made a significant difference, but if we want to win the big trophies we need to sign proper back-up in certain areas. Of course, everybody knows this, I just hope Wenger finally invests this summer. I would like to see Neuer or Lloris in goal, a new centre-back or two (Sakho, Subotic or Hangeland), an experienced central midfielder (don’t know who) and a proven goalscorer (Chamakh would be a good start).
ah poor goon heads another trophyless season
am like depresssed rite now=(,am sooo angry at……………..the broad & wenger.
maybe we should start investin in the team & not money from property=(.
and am sorry but we could of been beaten tonite by any top team.
gallas,campbell,SILVESTRE,eduaurdo,alumina OUT in the summer,
THREE defenders,2 midfielders,1 world claas striker in the summer,if not then we prolly wont win anything for another 5 years.
MR WENGER HAS BEEN SPEAKIN BULLSHIT FOR 6 YEARS NOW.
feeding us lies about mental strengths n hunger.lololol…u need more then that 2 win anything.lolol……
am not saying we should spend 200 million in the summer but crist bring in wat is needed instead of sayin ur gonna buy sum1 when a injured player comes back sayin BS like itz a new player.lolololol
CLICHY,SAGNA,BENDTNER & DIBAY WRE THE ONLY PLAYERS THAT I COULD SAY GAVE EVERYTHING FOR THE TEAM
OVER THE LAST 4 YEARS WE HAVE BECOME SECOND RATE TEAM
WITH THE BALL WRE MAYBE A GOOD TEAM, WITH OUT THE BALL WRE LIKE WOLVES OR BURNLEY….NO JOKE
@Chris Redmond: We dont need to many players, just need to get the team fit and healthy for a season! Agreed we do need a backup striker and a new defender, but thats it! Song has been amazing this year so we dont need a CDM. One thing we need to add it pressure on the ball, like Barca! If we add that to our game we will be an amazing team!
Gents, can I please ask you to spare a thought for Andy Gray. The poor sod is due in hospital tomorrow morning for an operation to have his tongue surgically removed from Messi’s arse!
IF WENGER WAS THE MANAGER OF ANY OTHER TEAM HE WOULD OF GOT THE SACK ALONG LONG TIME AGO.
IN THE RECENT YEARS WE HAVE LOST 4-0 AT MAN U,4-1 AT LIVERPOOOL,3-1 MAN U,3-0 CHELSEA,4-1 BARCA.LOLOLOLOL WRE A JOKE NO 1 IS SURPISED WEN THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPEN.
GREAT PLAYERS LOVE PLAYIN ARSENAL BECAUSE WE CANT DEFEND AT ALL.
ROONEY,DROGBA,MESSI,RONALDO ALL LOVE PLAYIN AGAINST ARSENAL COS WE DEFEND LIKE A BOTTOM TABLE TEAM
Krustytheklown@Krustytheklown: LOLOLOL NICE
ARSENAL B tell me what you think Sir Alex or Ancelotti would do with Wenger’s budget?? If we all played on a level playing field we would piss the league every year. What kind of team would we have if we could piss away £30m on Berbatov?! All I can say is you obviously never watched Arsenal under George Graham!
Chris Redmond…! Spot on man.
WELLL THE SIMPLE FACT IS THE TEAM IS NOWRE AS GOOD AS 95% OF ARSENAL FANS THINK=(((////I TROT THAT IN DECEMBER AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT WHERE GOOIN BACWARDS……………..BUYING SILVESTRE,REALLY?BRINGIN A GUY THAT PLAYED AT NOTTS COUNTY THIS SEASON TO ARSENAL AT THE AGE OF 36.LOLOL…..ARSENAL ARE A JOKE BUT SHIT I STILLL LOVE THEM
@Chris Redmond:
Chelsea and Barca have played against each other a few times and Chelsea have never been really outclassed..
The two sides are very even when It comes to results..
@Krustytheklown: ARSENAL DO HAVE A BUDGET THAT THEY CAN GO OUT & BUY A 30 MILLION POUND PLAYER,AND THE BROAD HAS SAID FOR THE LAST 2 YEARS THAT WE CAN IF WANTED TO GO AND BUY A 30MIL PLAYER ITZ JUST WENGER DOESNT TAKE RISKS ………..WEN IT COMES TO TRANFERS ARSENAL ARE PUSSYS,WE ONLY JUST GOT ARSHAVIN A DAY AFTER THE TRANSFER WINDOW CLOSED,WE MISSED OUT ON RONALDO BY 200,000 POUNDS……..WE COULD OF GOT RIBERY B4 HE WENT TO GERMANY,IT TOOK LIKE 4 MONTHS B4 WE GOT NASRI.
OMG THERE SO MANY MORE.
WE ARE THE 5TH RICHES CLUB ON THIS PLANET,MAKING A PROFIT OF 35 MILLION IN HALF A YEAR?
SUUUUUUUUUUUUURE WE DONT HAVE MONEY.LOLOLOL
IF ARSENAL WRE SERIOUS?THEN GALLAS WOULD OF SIGNED ALREADY,FLAMINI WOULD STILL BE HERE(THANK GOD)..
I KNOW IM RIGHT
AND WE KNOW YOU’RE A BANDWAGONER, moron.
AND THE George Graham TIMES WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO,FOOTBAL HAS CHANGED YOU EITHER BUY THEM WEN THIER YOUNG AND DEVELOP THEM OR BUY THE FINSHED PLAYER AT THE AGES OF 23-29 YEARS OF AGE…
A EXAMPLE OF LETIN GREAT YOUNG PLAYERS SLIP TRU ARE HANDS IS DI MARIA AT BENFICA,WE COULD OF GOT HIM AT 5MIL……….NOW HE’S WORTH 20 MIL.
YAYA TOURE WE COULD OF GOT ALONG ASS TIME BACK BUT MONEY & HE’S PERMIT WAS A FACTOR.
I HOPE WE WIN THE LEAGUE BUT I DONT THINK WE HAVE PLAYED LIKE CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND….ie GETTIN BATTERED BY CHELSEA 3-0,MAN U 3-1,MAN CITY 4-1……..HMM I fiNK THAT WAS LAST SEASON.LOLOL
ARSENAL B :- you are quite clearly a cock who knows nothing about football, we put up a fight against the best team in the world without six of our best players, apart from vermaelen. i wonder how man utd and chelsea would have coped with that amount of injuries, man utd lose rooney and they are fucked.give the lads a bit of credit, they done well tonight and most of them worked their arses off and no team in the world could have stopped messi
so stop moaning or piss off
not the end of the world guys…let us keep the faith….i knew this was coming so i am not so diasspointed about the defeat….better future is ahead of us and am sure arsene will bring back joy and happiness to this great club and to all the fans….always keep the faith and in arsene we trust!!!! up gunners!!!let us forget this and get ready for spurs…
lolololololol……am not talkin about tonights game am talkin about the future of this club and if this club is ran with sucess in mind or is it savin and making money
///////////////////////blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
inter will knock barca out.
we made messi look that good,i mean look at he’s 3rd goal….tooooooooooooooooo easy
Summer Bargain Basement sale at Arsenal FC!
A Diaby
Eduardo
T. Rosicky
P. Senderos
M. Silvestre
M. Alumnia
L. Fabianski
Also for sale:
A. Wenger
Please Real Madrid, buy Wenger at a cut rate price because then he can bring all his f**king French past-it players in which he puts country before his club to your Mob of a club!
Last chance Saloon before we send them off to the Landfill!
Thanks for looking!
in wenger we trust really?…..aload of bullshit.lololol…i love arsenal not wenger,he lies way to much………but fans prolly cant see it.oh wellllll.lolol
if you dont love wenger is ok..but i still believe he is still the right capable manager to put smile back into our face….wenger knows best we dont….many club are really wishing they can have a manager of his calibre…let us cherish and knows the value of what we got now…i know everybody is down and frustrated but we just have to keep believing….better days are coming…..up arsenal 4 life!!!!!!!!!!
if we had beat barca tonight all you plastic fans would all have been praising wenger and his amazing football, but one loss and suddenly half the squad is shit and we need to get rid of the manager…bit extreme aint it?
As i said earlier, we got anally raped by the best team on the planet when we were missing five of our very best players. sort it out and stop moaning for the sake of it, because no other team would be able to do what we did under the circumstances tonight.
arsenal can continue improving without too many signings over the summer from this barcelona slaughter. If arsene can further exploit some of these youngins’ potential and get rid of some of these players ( ahem silvestre), we can actually get ever so closer to winning more silverware in case win do win the epl which i believe arsenal will. CONGRATS TO BARCA p.s. ARSENE PLEASE I MEAN PLEASE SIGN TORRES THIS SEASON!!!!!
penis
Some people over reacting to the max
but still we really do need to invest this summer and pretty heavily… we have 3 cb’s out of contract and let’s face it djourou ain’t up to it. We need better back up players, our first choice 11 would give any team a game but the shadow players are poor. Silvestre, denilson, the backup keepers…and of course the first
choice
keeper are all bad…we can’t win anything with this team.
Playing Silvestre at CB when he could have pushed in Sagna in to CB alongside Vermaelen and played Eboue at RB just convinced me that Wenger is a muppet. Simples. Why did he substitute Silvestre to bring in Eboue later on?
He knew he had got it wrong. Silvestre coming off for Eboue is an iron-clad evidence that Silvestre should never have started. Sagna could have been faster in the box and the first 2 goals Messi scored wouldn’t have happened, at least the way it did.
We scored first FFS but that’s football. Barca are way better than Arsenal and have strength in depth to boot. We fought hard tonight and I’m proud of some of the lads. Well done Arsenal.
Everybody is always going to have there own opinions as supporters & there is nothing anybody can do about it.
The reason most of us are not supprised we lost tonight does kind of state were we truley stand as a club (on footballing terms) for the moment.. Ive been taking my 2 little boys to most of our home games for the past 2 seasons, every season theres a new shirt out that equals 2 new kits for me to buy (with the names & numbers of there fave players)so you can understand ppl like myself are intitled to an opinion.
Ppl will give me stick for saying it again (as i have been for the past 3 yrs) but this team will not win nowt & thats not got anything to do with todays defeat.. you cant compete at the highest level with players that are prone to injury, its not rocket science.. consistency on all parts wins trophies..
the result depends on the 11 players on the pitch for 90 minutes, still, ultimately, its the manager that chooses who plays, where and what to do. the players are there because the manager brought them. its not entirely his fault but the biggest chunk of the blame is on him. we do have money to spend to buy star players and for me, we need to do so because star players have the balls and mental to go into big games like tonight. these crop of players can win trophies but they are not always mentally strong and up to a real fight. they lack communication and trust amongst each other to string passes and make runs for one another and the manager should have known how to gel them together. i always have this feeling that in truth, wenger spoils these players too much. he always gets angry at them but instead of pointing the blame and anger to them, he yells at his assistants. why wont he give the players stick to toughen them up and burn their spirits up.
the difference of barca is only that they work for each other. everywhere you turn, you can count on there is a player waiting for your pass and ready to pass it to another player that is already making runs into spaces. they trust each other to do their part for the team, which is quite the opposite of what is going on at arsenal. here we have cocky players thinking that they are the single best player there is and they can do things on their own. i hope this summer, be it wenger or any other manager that might come in, shake the team thoroughly, sell the has-been and dead-weights, build the teams mental and communication strength and of course, bring in at the very least 4 to 5 ready players for a new arsenal face. its hard to swallow but some of the players we have right now are already stagnant and wont get much better then they already are, which is not enough to be at arsenal football club.
oh well we have the premier league to worry about now..,
this is the team i want wenger to bring in the summer:
Neuer
Sagna Sakho vermaelen clichy
song
nasri fabregas arshavin
chamakh RVP
the key to having less injuries is to rotate players that is why we need bendtner, eduardo, vela, abou diaby, walcott, gallas, denilson and backup for song
that’s how barcelona stays strong and fit because they keep rotating
Oh well theres always next year, unlucky lads. A part of me actually wanted us to finish below 4th this year and get a europa cup place because we could actually win that but like everyone said key players out and lets be honest our league is a lot harder than theirs, some jealous wank would have broke messis leg in the prem ages ago, in all essence they play a protected game in a protected league, just like wenger wishes we could. All season barca have a physically easier time than us, i mean you chuck them in the prem for two years theyd be coughing up blood in distress, after the goal, we should have played a fucking hull city, stoke city, burnley on em, hell surely we could try and emulate the old rory delap throw against barca, catch em right off guard, start defending deep, get overly physical show em that english game. I dont like that sort of play, im a footballist but cmon this is the big fry now kids, take what you’ve learnt from the scum that treat us like shit on the pitch and start playing anti-football on barca, maybe im wrong but im just gutted, all hail messi though and the rest. Over both legs they did deserve to go through and im sure they will go on to win it. One last rant, all our fans going on about wenger this wenger that get these players out get these players in, you get my drift, try and make judgement on clear mind, after a 4-1 walloping after going 1-0 up your bound to be pissed but what just what if we win the league, id take that one more than anything because its the hardest to win in the world. =)
where are these over reactions coming from. we played with half a team. HALF A TEAM. now im disappointed like everybody else at the fact that it looks like another trophy-less season but u have got to take the improvements made this season into consideration. i feel with a striker (probs chamakh) a cantre half or 2 and a goalkeeper then we will win something next season. also we need luck with the wretched injuries we keep getting. but i dont we are two far away and trust me im usually pessimistic.
@Chris Redmond: Messi is a great talent but he is known for diving, that is how he won the under 21 world cup with Argentina, he dived for the two penalties. He usually does this when he can’t play his game, you will probably see it more in the World cup. But I shouldn’t hate! He done well taking those goals, that is the difference of Messi and our players.
@frank: fuckoff
lol @ the 4th goal. thru the legs, man!!!
Almunia kthanksbai
You reap what you sew
This Arsenal team still needs time to reach its full potential. If the team wasn’t trying and Wenger wasn’t trying to motivate them, then everyone would have a right to slag them off. This isn’t the case. If you want a team that’s only in it for the trophies, then ManU and Chelsea would welcome your support. That said, I think the team is closer to trophies then people realise. The one area we are weaker then the other two is squad depth. I’m sure if Wenger rectifies this in the summer we will win a major trophy next year. On top of all that we can still win the league this year. COYG
Guys, I know how much we are all depressed about yesterday’s result. changing topic though Does anyone know why Carlos vela rarely is in the squad?
i love how every time we lose, i go on here and everyone is saying “get wenger out, he’s a dick blah blah blah” grow some fucking backbone…..we lost…away…TO BARCA….with the majority of our staring lineup out injured.
and we didn’t exactly get outplayed from start to finish either, just the likes of messi and xavi were too good, and that would have been the case against any team in the world… CHILL THE FUCK OUT
the fact remains, over the past 4 yours we are getting closer and closer to winning a major trophy, as our players are getting better as they are maturing…meaning wenger’s plan is working, stop being shit ‘we’ll sing when we’re winning’ negative fans… YOU GIVE ARSENAL FANS A BAD NAME..
Don’t know what the longer term reason for Vela’s exclusion is, but I know the reason Wenger gave for the Barca game was ‘competition for places’. He picked Merida over him, which I think is because time wise there’s a more pressing need to convince Fran to sign a new contract.
sum of you need to take a good hard look at yourself and see i8f you really are arsenal supporters we were missing fabregas,song,van persie,gallas,arshavin,campbell and we still managed to go one nil up and had a chance to go 2 nil if diaby had sliped in walcott instead of b52 we would have gone 2 nil up then messi wouldnt have scored his 1-2 pass with silvestre and we wouldnt have lost 4-1 we might still have lost but we would have had a much bigger say in it.
all you people who want a clear out are pathetic however i do agree we need a goalkeeper i like akinfeev from cska.
and y did we sign silvestre selling him for 750,000 was alex fergusons greatest transfer deal. if he aint goog enough for there team then he sure as hell aint good enough for ours.
arsenal 4 life.
OK, all the doom-mongers are out. Nevertheless, we have to put things into perspective, that is, over the two legs Barcelona were the better team and we were without 3/4 of our desired starting team. As much as we don’t like to accept it, football is a business and Real Madrid proved to us that assembling the world’s most expensive players doesn’t guarantee success as thay have not been able to navigate past the ROUND OF 16 for several years now. I admit that we need to improve as some of the players (Almunia, Silvestre & Co.) are just not good enough but let’s regroup and try again. I rather our team is able to compete every year than win a trophy by spending more than we can afford and end up like Leeds and now Portsmouth. I do not agree with some of Arsene’s decisions at times but that doesn’t make him a horrible coach all of a sudden. I’m sure some of the biggest clubs will line up for his signature if he was available. PS – Clichy was awesome yesterday and showed the will that many of his team mates lacked. Gunners4life, whatever happens in the future!!
Oh dear, Man U are out!!
HAHAHAHAHA
OK, we lost against the best team in the world, all of us know that, but it’s clear that we lost confidence after 1st Barca goal…and we couldn’t recover at 2nd half, although Barca give us enough space to play our game. Very good tactical scheme for us yesterday, but it was not enough with such injured players and with all options that Barca have on the bench….
Bendtner, Walcott & Diaby were our best players and undoubtely our defence was disastrous….I cannot even save Vermaelen…
All English teams are out of CL…who will win this year? I hope Inter or Bayern.
Mr. Wenger Please Buy 4 players this summer looks like our squad is too small and Most of the youngsters are not ready for the first team yet……..No need to splash the cash……do the same sensible signings like verminator. (Not just one but 4 will do good:-))
some of u arsenal fans are fuckn cunts u sometimes make me so freakin mad u get all hysterical when we lose talking about Wenger should go he aint did nothing!pshh, what other manager do you know has got such a business sense that has led to the reduction of our debt Man utd is in shit debt and buying world class players isnt everything Berbatov is worth 30 mil but he aint playing shit Ronaldo was sold for Tripple Berbatov’s figure and he aint playing shit either Messi was home grown and he is a fuckn incredible lad Wenger applies the same theory and i am behind him call it what u want but i would not want us having a bench worth 150 mil that cant turn the game when push comes to shove investing in home grown talent is the way forward you just spend when necessary we just need to work on the fitness of our players as we always seem to incur a lot of injuries torwards the climax of the season and i also think buying Campbell was sensible considering we wanted to buy Smalling who i admit is a good player with a bright future but if he had been on that field considering his inexperience and the issue of adopting to a new club thingz could have been worse hey. Flamini left for him he had one great season and he thot he was nw the fuckn best CDM in the world screw him he definitely warming the bench in Milan and Hleb…..lol stop crying over thingz that were or what should have been lets live in the present if the players have ur mentality then we are losing the Tottenham game 4-0 we are out of the CL but so is every other english team DEAL WITH IT FOCUS ON WHATS STILL IN REACH. u guys never have faith in the team yet u coplain everytime when we hit a trophyless season fuck that mann im gona have me a beer