Spanish giant Barcelona walked out of the Emirates Stadium in London Wednesday night with away-goal advantage. However, they know the tie is far from over.

You would never believe the gap in?class between Arsenal and Barcelona unless you watched the first 60 minutes of this thrilling game. Yes, you heard me. The first 60 minutes.

The Gunners, widely regarded as the second most attacking-minded team after the Blaugrana, were overwhelmingly outplayed and outclassed by the Spaniards in the first hour of the match.

As a matter of fact, the Gunners should have by lost five or six goals had it not been for some poor shooting from Barca's Ibrahimovic and an inspiring first-half performance from Spanish goalkeeper Almunia.

After Ibrahimovic scored the second goal right on the hour mark, the Blaugrana offense completely shut down and went into cruise control. They kicked the ball around aimlessly, waited for golden opportunities to showcase their skills and witnessed the disappearance of their usually sharp and crisp passes. Even simple passes went astray as they were hoping for Arsenal to thrust ten men forward so that they could hit them on the break. Little did they expect that the Gunners had the spirit and drive to claw their way back.

Wenger, who failed to tackle certain tactical issues in the first half, finally found the problem down the left flank of their opposition and threw Theo Walcott into the game. The substitution paid off immediately when the Englishman ignited the after-burners before side-footing a low shot past Barcelona's goalkeeper, Victor Valdes.

With a glimmer of hope in the air for Arsenal, Fabregas again took the fight to Barca. He will miss the return tie at his boyhood club after picking up his third booking in the competition, although it is doubtful the team captain would have been able to play anyway after ending the match limping on the field.

Fabregas, struggling from a sustained injury at Birmingham, never let up. Having won the penalty in the second half of the game, Fabregas promptly smashed the spot-kick with such venom that he reinjured himself. Putting his all into every second of the game, his display of self-sacrifice inspired the young Gunners.

Barca, with away-goal advantage, will miss their captain Carles Puyol and his fellow center-half Gerard Pique in the second round at Nou Camp. The young Arsenal team, on the other hand, is inspired by their captain's fighting spirit and has a firm belief that Barcelona is not unbeatable.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments