Arsenal Vs Barcelona Analysis – Post Match Reaction « Football Blog – Football News

Arsenal V Barcelona Post Match Reaction: HE IS THE WORLD’S BEST

Arsene Wenger was all praise for Lionel Messi after the Argentine forward almost single-handedly demolished Arsenal.

He came, he saw, he conquered. The World Player of The Year 2009 proved just why he is compared to the best ever by putting on an absolutely splendid performance to steer Barcelona safely through to the semis. He scored four goals, all different technically, but fantastic in their own way, to take his goal-tally to an incredible 39 for the season. All this and to think that he’s just 22! Scary, very scary.

Wenger said before the game that there would be many areas in Barca’s game which they would look to exploit, but after 90 minutes, the Frenchman cut a forlorn figure. Nicklas Bendtner gave his side a shock lead after 18 minutes, but it was spectacularly overturned by Messi’s fourth hattrick of 2010. At half-time, it was 3-1. Three for Messi, three for Barcelona, and the game was done and dusted, as if anyone ever doubted it. Messi then added the cherry on his cake, by striking again late on, to join an elite club of only six players to have scored four goals in a Champions League match.

Barcelona had both their centre-backs out, Zlatan Ibrahimovic out and Andres Iniesta on the bench. But who needs them, when you have Messi? Andy Gray, co-commentator for SkySports, remarked after the little Argetinean completed his treble, “They can be without Ibrahimovic, they can be without Iniesta when they have to, but they can’t be without this guy.”

Wenger too was forced to accept that his defence just could not live without Messi.

“The fourth goal he scored, I don’t know many players in the world who can score it. He makes the impossible seem possible. He has several great years ahead of him and, touch wood, if nothing happens, he can reach unbelievable levels.”

Enough said about Barcelona, let’s spare a thought for Arsenal. Where do they go from here? Their title of not having won a title since 2005 looks set to continue. One by one, the Carling Cup, the FA Cup and the Champions League have all gone slipping away.

Mathematically, they are still in the Premier League title race, but with tough trips to Tottenham, Blackburn and Wigan still to go and with leaders Chelsea in rampant form, only a few believe that they will be able to win the league.

They will have to recover quickly from this humiliation, as they travel to White Hart Lane next Tuesday to face an in-from Tottenham side, and anything other than a win there would certainly mean that their title dreams will be over.

Wenger has got injury problems galore, with Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin, William Gallas, Robin Van Persie, Alex Song and Keiran Gibbs all out injured.

The road ahead looks dark, with Barcelona already said to be lining up a 50 million Euro bid for their captain Fabregas.

Another aspect of Arsenal which is disturbing is that they do not seem to have any sort of depth in their squad. With four or five players injured, their so-much talked young bench doesn’t seem to have what it takes to perform in the big games.

Bendtner is nowhere near Van Persie in terms of quality and Eduardo has looked out of sorts ever since he has returned from the horrendous injury he suffered in 2008. Marouane Chamakh, striker at Bordeaux, is said to have agreed to join Arsenal next season, but Wenger will still has to ship in many big names if he wants to win titles.

This season is certainly the closest Arsenal have come to winning the Premier League since they did it in 2004, and the introduction of Chamakh will certainly be a boost for the next campaign. Even then, if Fabregas leaves in the summer to join the Catalan giants, then the Gunners’ long wait for silverware is set to continue.

Source: Arsenal Vs Barcelona Analysis – Post Match Reaction « Football Blog – Football News


Source: Football Blog