Arsenal and Barcelona get taste of own medicine

Arsenal and Barcelona each got a taste of their own medicine on Wednesday but it was the Londoners who recovered from what looked a terminal condition to register a remarkable 2-1 comeback win in the Champions League last-16 first leg.

The obituaries had been written all around the Emirates Press box as Barcelona handed the hosts, the best passing team in England, a lesson in how it really should be done.

Statistics can be misleading

Statistics in football can be misleading, as Wednesday’s result clearly showed, but Barcelona’s total of 629 passes was more than double their opponents, with Xavi stroking 109 on his own at an 88 percent completion rate.

As the ball fizzed mesmerically around the perfect playing surface, Arsenal’s players were left chasing shadows and their fans were bemused. “Isn’t that what we do to other teams?,” they were thinking as the likes of Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas and Jack Wilshere battled for a toe-hold against a midfield of World Cup winners.

Amid the myriad quick-fire exchanges there were deadly through balls, one of which by Lionel Messi sent David Villa through for the opening goal after 26 minutes.

Barca could have had more but, just as last year when they allowed a 2-0 lead to slip to a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the teams’ quarter-final meeting, they gradually lost momentum and the passes became more lateral.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had been expecting just that pattern in the last-16 first-leg match.

“We had prepared mentally to live with that domination.

Usually we have the ball more than our opponent but we were prepared for them to have it 60 percent tonight,” he said. “We were exposed many times by their possession but we stayed strong and I hoped they would drop off.

“Then we had to take the gamble, we needed to score two goals, but it could have backfired.”

Wenger sent on Andrei Arshavin for Alex Song after 68 minutes and Nicklas Bendtner for Theo Walcott but the game still looked to be heading only one way.

Tiniest gap

Robin van Persie changed everything, however, when, from a position of little obvious danger, he lashed in the 78th-minute equaliser through the tiniest gap at Victor Valdes’s near-post.

Barcelona, unfazed, continued to press but five minutes later Arsenal broke from their own box. A terrific ball by Fabregas sent Nasri free down the right and Arshavin arrived to sweep in his pull-back and turn the game on its head.

“I’m very proud for Arsenal tonight because everybody urged us to play differently to our nature,” Wenger said.

It was a special night

“We can be proud of the result but more than pride it can strengthen the belief in our philosophy.

“It was a special night and absolutely fulfilled the promise of two attacking football teams. We are a young team, we averaged 23 tonight, and this will give them a special lift.”

A year ago Arsenal travelled to the Nou Camp on the back of their 2-2 home draw and took the lead before four goals by Messi sent the Spaniards through 6-3 on aggregate.

Buoyed by the way they absorbed the best they had to offer on Wednesday before handing them a rare defeat, Wenger said they will travel this time with even greater belief.

LONDON, Thursday, Reuters