It’s rare that Arsenal ever go into a game as underdogs to such an extent as they shall tonight. Barcelona (the all-conquering side of 2009 and winners of La Liga last season) are destined to go down in history as one of the greatest sides ever to play the game. With match-winners filling what seems like every single attacking position, it seems inevitable that they shall progress further into the Champions League than the Gunners.
There is some hope for Arsenal though. The Catalan giants were held to a draw at the weekend by minnows Sporting Gijon, and did not train on Monday due to apparent tiredness. Arsenal have to take advantage of these perceived weaknesses, and capitalise upon them. Whilst the North London side are without their first-choice central defender in Thomas Vermaelen, Barcelona are without their iconic and talismanic captain Carles Puyol, who organises their defence more effectively than any other. Therefore that is the area which Arsenal need to attack.
There is no point sitting back and trying to grind out a goalless draw when the opposition are lacking their inspirational leader. Even with Puyol, the defence can be attacked forcefully, given that both full backs bomb forward to such an extent that they lack defensive awareness at times. In my opinion, the form of Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott is going to be absolutely crucial. Van Persie has had an excellent spell since the start of the New Year, whilst Walcott, erratic though he may be, was the one player with whom Barcelona could not cope with last year.
As ever in the Champions League, home form is the key to progress. If a team wins at their home leg, statistics show that there is an 80% likelihood that they shall go on and win the tie. Barcelona have excelled in the last two years in picking up draws away from home. In doing so, the Spanish outfit have turned ties in their favour at the Camp Nou. However, they were unable to do that against Inter last season, and hence crashed out.
Consequently, this first-leg shall be the more important of the two, for it will give a very clear indication as to where the tie is heading. Should Arsenal fail to win the game, and concede an away goal of any sort, they will go into the game away from home in March requiring one of the greatest performances ever produced in the history of the club to overturn the match. Arsenal will not be able to blame fatigue or lack of preparation; injuries have been less abundant this season, and thus the squad has been rotated more kindly.
There are various people who would claim that it’s better that Arsenal drop out of the competition so that they could focus on the league campaign, but that viewpoint is deeply flawed. Confidence is essential in football, and to beat the favourites of the competition would increase Arsenal’s belief tenfold.
With the Champions League final at Wembley, reaching it would be of special significance as well. There is undoubtedly an opportunity for Arsenal to cast away the demons of last year and to ferociously go at Barcelona. The team have to be tactically organised as well as brave, but they should be quietly confident of a positive result, at least at the Emirates.
I hope we can win, but I feel we won’t, they have too many creative players and do so much work off the ball. I know we have creative players but if we stand a chance we have to match them in there work rate.