I’m really not. I’m a fan of both Arsenal and Barcelona and I really did not expect Arsenal to win and go through.
That being said, however, the second yellow card to Robin Van Persie was arguably one of the most thoroughly indefensible yellow cards I have ever seen. Barely a second elapsed between when the whistle blew and when Van Persie kicked the ball. A dreadful, dreadful decision. It was a discretionary card; a judgment call. I hope those who review these things with UEFA think twice before retaining Massimo Busacca again for such an important game. He also blew a penalty call for Barça in the first half.
While it may have impacted the game it was not why Arsenal lost. They lost because they did not put a single shot on target. Koscielny tripping Pedro in the penalty area and Fabregas apparently thinking he was playing for Barcelona – or at least the Spanish team and backheeling the ball to Iniesta didn’t help.
Barcelona rolls on.
Pooh
Agreed. Travesty. Somehow, Barca fans on other forums are convinced that Arsenal STILL had the better of the reffing over 2 legs.
wengler
The Van Persie controversy overshadows the fact that Arsenal were thoroughly dominated. The only thing that kept this game anywhere close was horrible finishing by Barca in the first half.
Gunner fans were only hoping to hold on. Arsenal weren’t the best team on the pitch by a long shot.
Randinho
@wengler:
I’m certainly not arguing with that nor did I in my post, but if they were having a tough time 11 on 11, the sending off made it worse.
That being said, if Bendtner wasn’t so obviously Danish, since he couldn’t finish, the game could have been pulled out for the Gunners in stoppage time. No doubt the best team won.
Jim C
@wengler: Sometimes, all you need to do is hold on. Newcastle had one shot (set-piece headed goal by Carroll) in the Emirates. It was all they needed.
@Pooh:
They’re loonies. But they’re happy loonies, so what can you do?
Me, I was more troubled by the ref’s “handling” of the scrum wherein Abidal tried to hand-fit van Persie for a neckbrace. I’ve given up hope for the season. This was crash-out #3 (yes, Sunderland was crash-out #2 … just watch), with a fourth crash-out to round things out this weekend.
mcd410
Yay! Saturday the FA Cup will be gone and the championship shortly thereafter. Just another year.
The only reason I remember winning the league at Old Trafford is YouTube.
“Being vegan just makes you better than most people.”
mcd410x
Henry, Bergkamp, Wiltord, Kanu
Pires, Ljungberg, Parlour, Vieira, Edu
Lauren, Keown, Campbell, Adams, Cole
Seaman, Wright
This team would kick the 10-11 team in the behind. Hard.
handsmile
Too tired to write a coherent post on this peculiar match; will try to peck out something tomorrow morning. But here’s three bleary thoughts:
1) Just who was it in the Arsenal goal for the last 75 minutes of the game? It certainly looked like Manuel Almunia, but on the evidence of play that’s not possible, right?
2) So now Arsenal’s been eliminated from two of the four trophy competitions. Anybody care to propose reasons to be optimistic that won’t be three of four after Sunday’s FA Cup match against Manchester United?
3) Hey Randinho, was that some kind of Scandinavian pun in your #3 response above: “if Bendtner wasn’t so obviously Danish, since he couldn’t finish (Finnish)? Bendtner, good christ, so fearsome against Leyton Orient, so feeble against any marginally better opposition.
Vince CA
I wasn’t intending to watch the game live, but I caught the penalty card while waiting for my pizza. The transcription at the bottom of the TV was dreadful, but the replay was even worse. Even though I’m for Barça, that wasn’t right. This game desperately needs instant reply a la the NFL.
burnspbesq
Nothing worth saying that hasn’t been said already.
I’m a firm believer in the theory that bad calls even out in the long run, but in the short run Arse got hosed.
burnspbesq
@handsmile:
The same team that didn’t show up against Liverpool could not show up again.
Jim
My two teams are Arsenal and Barcelona (unfortunately in that order as far as the result) and tonight’s game was especially painful due to a horrible ref.
He lost control of the game early and often, and Barca did a great job of combining amazing ball control with relentless cynical diving all over the pitch. My favorite being Alves going down like his shin was broken after Clichy tapped the outside of his shoe.
I think the pace was simply too fast for the ref and fouls/cards started being called nearly at random. I don’t know what the solution is (a 2nd ref like the NHL has adopted?), but the combination of faster play and instant video to show just how bad the last call was is combining to make the game look bad.
mcd410x
And just because: Parlour and Ljungberg (we love you, Freddie). It’s fun to remember when we won stuff. And to hear Martin Tyler’s call.
superfly
Yeah, I’m an Arsenal and Barcelona man myself, own multiple jerseys for both, but am losing respect for Barca with every game against Arsenal.
They constantly foul, but don’t get called for it, and when they do, they whinge like spoiled children. The slightest contact, the player acts as if they’ve been shot and the rest berate the ref like a bunch of little Sir Alexes (Alexi?).
It’s getting a bit tiresome, and this is the second time they have benefitted from absolutely absurd calls in the second leg of a incredibly close tie (see Chelsea, Tom Ovierdo). Even Van Persie’s first card was a joke.
I want Arsenal to play them next year again so bad.
Pooh
@mcd410x: and that’s just Keown. Or, as I liked to call him, Sgt. Barnes
SRW1
The discretionary yellow/red against van Persie was an awful call.
I don’t think I’d ever develop much sympathy for Dani Alves.
Fabregas was largely a no-show in the game, but I’m wondering whether he was really fully fit (though that doesn’t excuse his pass before Barca’s opening score).
Barca’s second goal was a thing of beauty, as was their passing into free space in general.
Arsenal’s equalizer was extremely lucky and they were thoroughly dominated in the game.
All in all, the outcome was OK. Maybe Arsenal could take that frustration out on ManU next Saturday?.
Thlayli
See also: Germany vs England, 2010 World Cup.
To this day, English people whine about the Fat Frank goal-line call, as if the other 89 minutes of Germany wiping the floor with England didn’t happen.
dollared
@mcd410x: Yup. I learned more about geometry from watching Dennis Bergkamp than from any ancient Greek guy. A great, great team.
Attaturk
I’m still trying to figure out how Barca lost the first game, they looked disinterested.
The second card on Van Persie was terrible…although if he wasn’t a moron in picking up his first yellow it would have just be a crappy call, as opposed to a game deciding one.
That being said, it was still a game thoroughly dominated by Barca, unless Chelsea get a second wind (and they may be, though I kind of doubt it) or Real Madrid unlock some bit of magic (or as Ray Hudson would squeak “MAGIC!!!!!!”) I don’t see any team being a threat to them in the Champions League from here on out.
Jamey
“A fan of both.”
Um, okay.
Lab Partner
The crowd and the Barcelona players hounded the Ref more and more as the game went along, and they finally got something for all their work. Even with Arsenal not coming close to the quality performance they put out in the Emirates, the red card was instrumental to Barcelona winning the game.
Speaking of working the Ref, has anybody heard whether or not David Villa has stopped rolling on the ground yet from his “injury”? (I really despise this part of the Barcelona game)
Randy Paul
@handsmile: Precisely.
seeker6079
Which makes them different from pretty much every other team in every other big football match how exactly?
Start handing out red cards for diving and acting and watch the game improve. Simple. Look at hockey: Bill Barber became a more intelligent and subtle player when the refs stopped calling tripping penalties on his ludicrous dives.
Tuttle
As a neutral I’ve got to say that that was, quite simply, a lesson in how to play the exact game Arsene Wenger wishes Arsenal could play on a regular basis. In the first half, before Van Persie got sent off, Arsenal had 45 touches in Barcelona’s half of the field while Barca had 310 in Arsenal’s. Barca had over three-quarters of possession and Arsenal not only didn’t put a shot ON goal, they didn’t put one OFF goal either. Zero shots. ZERO.
Folks, that’s a shellacking. Pure and simple. The ref was rubbish, sure, but you can’t blame this on the ref (he denied a clear-cut penalty against Arsenal in the first half too).
handsmile
The discerning burnspbesq makes the reasonable assertion above (#9) that “Nothing worth saying that hasn’t been said already.” Nevertheless, this is the Intertubes, where compulsion is king, so herewith a few more superfluous observations:
. Another doughty performance by Johan Djorou. I would argue that he has become Arsenal’s most reliable defender this season. Should Thomas Vermalaen ever return competitively to the Emirates Stadium, he and Djorou could comprise a formidable partnership.
. While I’ve resisted agreeing with this evaluation, it does seem sadly evident that Tomas Rosicky no longer helps the cause. Frankly, I’m surprised that Professor Wenger retained him on this season’s roster. He has cast off veterans, e.g., Ljungberg, Pires, Gilberto Silva, who offered the squad far more diverse and robust abilities than the once-talented Rosicky now musters.
. Invoking those names reminds me to chastise mcd410x for unnecessary cruelty for his #6 post above.
. Barcelona is deservedly praised for their kaleidoscopic ball movement and arsenal [sorry] of attacking threats. To these eyes, however, it is their relentless pressure off the ball, the constant harrying of opponents to regain possession, that contributes fundamentally to their success. Arsenal who enjoys a similar reputation in the Premier League (a moniker more ironic with each passing year) was utterly unravelled, reduced to Stoke City-like ball hoofing or isolated sprints down the flanks.
. One answer to my earlier appeal for reasons to be cheerful for my dear Gunners against the Red Devils this weekend: Theo Walcott will still be injured.
mofo
Horrific Red Card. Totally steamed about this (and I’m a Chelsea Fan, but pulling for Gunners yesterday!) but in retrospect Arsenal’s inability to get off a shot, to retain possession through the midfield, or to even construct a viable threat (other than a few—very few— of Nasri’s runs & Bendtner’s lousy first touch in the box on the cusp of extra-time) were an embarrassment.
ABU!
Peter A
Shakhtar Donetsk is better than people think, especially at home. The English especially tend to be dismissive of Eastern European football. They’re going to be in for a shock.
reader
@Tuttle:
Check this: Barca 1 – 0 Inter
Jose’s a genius, but Arsenal got rolled? Come on. For the almost entire first half, Arsenal was going through. Even with Fabregas moment of insanity, it was just 1-0. And then Barca’s lack of fitness and physicality began to show early in the second half, as it did in both games in England in the last two years. Nasri found space and beat his man to the corner. Sent in a lovely corner, Diaby almost headed it home, and the own goal was hardly a fluke. Arsenal not only set to advance, but with a 1-goal cushion giving them extra time/penalties if they conceded.
And then that ridiculous, asinine decision. Barca would have kept coming forward, and chances on the break would come for Nasri and Van Persie. Like they did for the Nasri-Arshavin goal at the Emirates. Instead, Busacca killed a great game.
superfly
@seeker6079:
There is a baseline level of this by all teams, absolutely, what I am talking about are the certain teams that through constant whinging, harassment, non-calls, and winning (only works for winners), there comes a level of entitlement (you know, like all “elites” feel) to every call, every card, which ends up reinforcing itself to the point where referees subconsciously lean toward that team, players never think they commit a foul, and every foul against them is a red card, see Man U in their pomp (seeing some backlash on them now and over the last few years), Real Madrid for years before this period of Barca dominance, the big 3 in Italy, especially Juve before the latest scandal.
Barca are at this point now, I’m not trying to diminish their ability or accomplishments, they truly are one of the best teams ever, possibly the best, but if you are rooting for their opponent in any given game, it can be really fucking annoying to watch any number of fouls ignored, stupid cards handed out for pedestrian fouls against them, etc,, even if appreciate their football.
reader
@superfly: I agree with this. I’m a big Kobe fan, and generally liked Jordan, but I have to admit that they get (and got) a ton of calls. Constantly. Yet they never stopped chewing out refs, insisting that yet more fouls should be called.
It’s about the same here. Barca a great, truly special team, and they play otherworldly football. But they have some players on their team who take self-righteous whining to a new level — Alves in particular. And who can forget the disgraceful eye-peek at the ref from Busquets, rolling in fake agony, in last year’s Champions League.
Paula
Ugh … (not speaking of the people here, btw), I wanted to read some back-and-forth on other soccer forums but was quickly repulsed by the fact that, being the kinds of teams that they are, Arse-lona have some of the most obnoxious fans in the world.
No, RVP’s 2nd yellow was not the only thing separating the Gunners from victory.
No, Arsenal did not get “rolled” simply because they had difficulty getting past the Barca midfield. Inter Milan, beeyatches.
No, Arsenal is not a better team than Barcelona.
No, quit rattling off completed passes stats like that’s what won the game.
Yes, Arsenal did some fouling.
No, they are not a merely a bunch of non-skilled thug players because a few of the Barca players really like to whine.
Per reader‘s comment, entitlement makes you ugly no matter how beautiful your football.
Paula
@Paula:
I meant superfly’s comment, not reader’s.
dollared
@reader:
C’mon, I agree the red card was evil, but if you think an own goal can be called deserved, you must think the play was set intentionally to decoy Busquets into knocking into his own goal. Silly.
Very simply, Arsenal packed 11 back, still gave up a goal, then had to pack 10 back, and gave up two. That’s not football. Whether or not a spot of insane luck, where a world champion footballer playing out of his accustomed position heads a ball into his own goal on one of only two corner kicks he had to defend the entire match, might have let Arsenal through, is irrelevant.
Two huge breaks split one for one team, one for the other. And the better team won.
Randy Paul
@dollared: If you’ll remember my original post before the game it was that they key to Arsenal winning would be to score first and that playing catenaccio would not get them to win.
That being said, Barça is a tough team to beat 11 v 11. 10 v 11 is a lost cause.
Tuttle
Jose’s a genius, but Arsenal got rolled?
Mourinho won. Arsenal lost. So, yes and yes.
I’m not sure Arsenal can play the catanacio like Inter did. Hell, I don’t think Real Madrid can do it either. Special One or not.
dollared
@Randy Paul: I do remember, and I totally agree that the ref ruined what we hoped would be a great game.
It’s a pity Arsenal didn’t just plain go for it and hope for the best. It could have been fabulous soccer.
superfly
@dollared: @dollared:
I think the point was that Arsenal were coming into the game from the beginning of the second half (like the first game) until RVP was sent off, and thus the goal wasn’t completely unwarranted, not that it was inevitable or the result of some genius deception by Arsenal.
Uncle Omar
It could have been a lot worse, referee-wise. Ed Hightower, Ted Valentine, and Jim Burr could have been doing the game. As my father told me more than 50 years ago, “If you aren’t good enought to beat the other team and the referees, you don’t deserve to win.” Got that, Arsene?