Match Focus: Arsenal Architects of Own Downfall Despite Troubling Barcelona

For a final result as clear-cut and seemingly conclusive as at the Emirates on Tuesday night, there was still one question: was Barcelona’s 2-0 win primarily down to their brilliance, or Arsenal’s naivety and own errors.

It is probably a mix of both but Arsene Wenger evidently didn’t feel that way. He had no doubt about the answer and, in his clear frustration, revealed a real sense of regret at a wasted opportunity. He blamed his team.

“I think they are the best team in Europe but I felt there was room to beat them tonight. That’s my biggest regret tonight… I think we could have won the game tonight if we had kept the discipline until the end.” Then came the flurry, and Wenger’s own crescendo of precision to match Leo Messi’s.

“Once again,” the Arsenal manager sighed in exasperation, “like against Monaco. Exactly the same. We were caught in exactly the same way.” On the break. Except, it wasn’t quite exactly the same. Monaco’s attack in that 3-1 win didn’t quite produce a move as glorious as Barca’s opening goal in this game.

It is also rather ironic. By the time that Messi had hit the net - and that after the dismissive side-step of Petr Cech that made a mockery of suggestions the goalkeeper might have some kind of psychological hold over him - Barcelona’s front three had put together a move of elusively good cohesion.

It was higher-level integration… yet every individual part of the move was so easy and simple, with the minimalist nature of Messi’s touch the most obvious example. That illustrates their excellence, but it is also some way fitting, because it reflected how easy it was to execute too.

This is the great frustration for Wenger. Barcelona didn’t even have to be as good as they usually are and didn’t really “earn” their goals. Arsenal gifted it to them, with Mathieu Flamini’s rash lunge for the penalty just 47 seconds after coming on the most severe example.

Wenger was asked whether they failed to carry out his instructions in terms of allowing counter-attacks. “They want to do it. It’s just the first pass isn’t right. The first position isn’t right. You lose the ball in a position and suddenly they take advantage of it.”

The other side to that is that the reasons for the defeat actually went beyond allowing such a counter, especially since Arsenal had generally got their tactics right and played quite well.

Applying the contain-and-counter game that worked against Bayern Munich, Wenger’s side had limited Barca as well as anyone can. The Catalans still created good chances, of course, but there are always going to be a few when you have a forward line of that quality. Arsenal did still manage to subdue them. Barcelona’s average shots on target per game this season has been 6.8. In this, it was just four - and two of them were Messi’s goals, with one a penalty.

Much of that looked down to the excellent Nacho Monreal, who was for a long time so impressively focused in regularly impeding the Argentine. He made three key interceptions - the third highest in the game. Laurent Koscielny had the most with six, and one of them left Messi on the ground.

It was a sign of Arsenal’s defensive resilience - but that brought us to the crunch.

Had Wenger come away with a 0-0 draw, it would have been a fine platform for the return game, especially since it would finally have avoided conceding the first-leg away goal that the manager had made such an issue of before the game. That was what cost them in the last three seasons.

What did you make of the first leg between Arsenal and Barcelona and is it game over for the Gunners? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below