Messi Magic
It was a game that for 70 minutes was going so well, about as well as Arsenal could possibly have expected. But at 0-0, with less than a quarter of the game to go, Arsenal fell into the trap that they always fall into against big sides. They went for broke, and Barcelona punished them with an absolutely devastating counter attack, as their big three attacked with pace and power, a delightful pass from Suarez releasing Neymar, and as Barcelona charged in on a vulnerable and short of numbers Arsenal defence, Neymar played the ball into the feet of Argentinian magician Lionel Messi, who did the rest.
And then from there it was only one disastrous moment away from game and tie over, and that disaster occurred when Mathieu Flamini came off the bench and in less than a minute, had hacked Messi to the floor in what has to be one of the stupidest tackles I think I've ever seen, and from there the game was over, as Messi coolly finished the spot kick.
And then from there it was only one disastrous moment away from game and tie over, and that disaster occurred when Mathieu Flamini came off the bench and in less than a minute, had hacked Messi to the floor in what has to be one of the stupidest tackles I think I've ever seen, and from there the game was over, as Messi coolly finished the spot kick.
It was one of those games, where on paper, it looks as if Messi was the star of the show, with two late goals to kill the tie. And in some sense, that is true, Messi is the sort of player who doesn't miss the opportunities that were handed to him by Arsenal in this game. But in truth, for 70 minutes, as good as Messi, Neymar and Suarez were, Arsenal were well and truly in the game and although Cech had to be at his best to keep Neymar at bay and Suarez missed some glorious openings in this game, Arsenal could easily have taken the lead themselves; Oxlade-Chamberlain and Giroud both with chances that against teams of Barcelona's caliber, you simply cannot miss.
And that is the painful truth, that Barcelona are simply in a different class to Arsenal. They played them off the park, created the majority of the chances, scored twice, won 2-0 and deservedly so, with both Neymar and Suarez wondering how it wasn't more. And yet we're sat here saying that they weren't, and in truth they weren't, anywhere near their best for the majority of the night and this was nearly a perfect execution of Arsenal's game plan. Which just goes to show the difference between good teams and the very top teams. And Arsenal are a very, very good side. But they aren't a top team. Although to be fair to the Gunners, if Barca are the standard that we're judging by, then nobody is a top team. This was a night when Barcelona were not quite at the races. But here we are. And once again, it looks as if they have swept aside one of the best challenges England has to offer. They are simply unparalleled. They have humbled every major contender in Europe over the last twelve months: Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich have all fallen before them.
But that's not to say Arsenal are blameless. Bringing on Flamini was a catastrophic error as he clearly doesn't have the pace to deal with a game of this magnitude, Welbeck should have come on at least ten minutes earlier than his introduction and Coquelin especially was horribly exposed for the first goal. They had this game and this team right where they wanted it. And that's why Barcelona won. Because in a game of this magnitude, of the two teams on display, they are both the less likely to make big mistakes, and the more likely to punish you if you do.
And for Arsenal now, they need to lick their wounds and focus on the league title. Because they are never in a million years winning by two or more goals at the Camp Nou.*
*Unless by some miracle, at least two of MSN are injured and even then it doesn't look good.
And that is the painful truth, that Barcelona are simply in a different class to Arsenal. They played them off the park, created the majority of the chances, scored twice, won 2-0 and deservedly so, with both Neymar and Suarez wondering how it wasn't more. And yet we're sat here saying that they weren't, and in truth they weren't, anywhere near their best for the majority of the night and this was nearly a perfect execution of Arsenal's game plan. Which just goes to show the difference between good teams and the very top teams. And Arsenal are a very, very good side. But they aren't a top team. Although to be fair to the Gunners, if Barca are the standard that we're judging by, then nobody is a top team. This was a night when Barcelona were not quite at the races. But here we are. And once again, it looks as if they have swept aside one of the best challenges England has to offer. They are simply unparalleled. They have humbled every major contender in Europe over the last twelve months: Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich have all fallen before them.
But that's not to say Arsenal are blameless. Bringing on Flamini was a catastrophic error as he clearly doesn't have the pace to deal with a game of this magnitude, Welbeck should have come on at least ten minutes earlier than his introduction and Coquelin especially was horribly exposed for the first goal. They had this game and this team right where they wanted it. And that's why Barcelona won. Because in a game of this magnitude, of the two teams on display, they are both the less likely to make big mistakes, and the more likely to punish you if you do.
And for Arsenal now, they need to lick their wounds and focus on the league title. Because they are never in a million years winning by two or more goals at the Camp Nou.*
*Unless by some miracle, at least two of MSN are injured and even then it doesn't look good.
Bayern Pegged Back
Pep Guardiola pointed out going into this game that he had approximately zero fit central defenders, so he went into this game against Juventus with a left back and a central midfielder at the heart of his defence, not exactly central defenders. Defenders potentially but defenders whose primary purpose in this Bayern side is arguably not to defend.
So you couldn't blame Bayern for taking an "attack is the best form of defence" approach and for over an hour it worked a dream, with the first half a very one sided affair, which Bayern eventually capped with a goal from Thomas Muller, who finished clinically from the penalty spot after Juve failed to clear a cross from Costa.
And at the start of the second half, things got worse before they got better for the Old Lady, as a trademark Arjen Robben cut in a finish on his wonderful left foot put Bayern 2-0 up and for all the world it looked as if the game, and the tie, was as out of reach for Juventus as it ended up being for Arsenal. But then Bayern's weakness was exposed, as young central midfielder Kimmich, playing at the heart of Bayern's back four in the absence of any defenders, gave the ball away cheaply whilst trying to clear, allowing Mario Mandzukic to expose the Bayern defence and Dybala made a great run in behind to make it 2-1.
From there, it was Juventus who had the momentum, Cuadrado amongst others denied by Neuer and they made the most of it as one substitute Alvaro Morata, headed the ball across the six yard box into the path of another sub, Sturaro, who bundled the ball in to give Juve a real opportunity.
But that said, 2-2 on the night, two away goals to take back to the Allianz, Bayern won't be overly unhappy, although they will certainly be frustrated that they've let Juve back into the tie. But this is arguably two of the best three sides in Europe, the Italian and German Champions who will both fancy themselves to win both their own domestic titles and this competition. We've seen Juve are fighters and they will not go away.
Expect one hell of a game in the return leg.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Leamington made it three wins in a row. Boom.
- F1 testing continues. Lots of new rules.
- Heather Watson lost. Frustrating.
- And City are in action tonight. Annoyed I'll miss it.
No comments:
Post a Comment