COULD Arsenal possibly cause a huge Champions League boilover and send holders and red-hot favourites Barcelona crashing at the Round of 16 stage?
No. That is the almost universal answer as the sides prepare to do battle in this evening’s first leg at the Emirates.
And it’s hard to argue. After battling to a 0-0 draw against Championship Hull on Saturday, we just can’t see the Gunners getting the better of their Spanish opponents over two legs.
The latter stages of the competition have not been kind to Arsenal in recent years – six years have passed since they last won a two-leg knockout tie in the Champions League.
Barca may have an off day but it would require two bad performances and Arsenal to play out of their skins for Arsene Wenger’s men to have even a chance.
As the Guardian reports: It has certainly been difficult to find too many imperfections during Barcelona’s 32-match unbeaten streak, a club record that has seen them accumulate 104 goals and concede only 19, and when it comes to Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez the numbers are so mind-boggling it is tempting to think that getting through to the quarter-finals would qualify as one of the finest achievements in Arsenal’s modern era.
The first thing Arsenal must do is keep a clean sheet at home this evening. As Wenger described it, an away goal is “a knife in your heart”. It is not the Frenchman’s way to set up ultra-defensively but there is a necessity to be realistic about the disparity between the teams.
Chasing victory at the Emirates then holding on in Spain might be seen Arsenal’s best hope of advancing but, with Barcelona’s firepower up front, an open, attacking game would suit the visitors and, indeed, could see the tie well and truly out of the Gunners’ reach before the return match.
As Wenger said: “We have to find the right balance between being audacious, which is what you need to be against Barcelona, but also being a strong defensive unit.”
Taking a goalless draw to the Nou Camp wouldn’t be the worst result for Arsenal – the longer they can stay in the tie, the better their chances of pinching it. Against this Barcelona outfit, the Gunners can’t win the tie tonight … but by being too bold and chasing a result they could certainly lose it in 90 minutes at the Emirates.
Arsenal fans, would you take a draw at home or would that leave too much to do in Spain?
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