Barcelona v. Arsenal (UEFA Champions' League, 1st knock-out round, 2nd leg) 3/8/11. Match Thread

exactly. so why were we doing it? stupid....

 

You don't intentionally swipe a guy in the face, get yourself a Yellow and open yourself up for a second yellow to get a RED. Its on Van.

Arsenal were dominated fair and square. That is it.

 

We never made any connection through the MF. Even when we tried to pass it out, the ball was quickly turned over. When you're frustrated, and Barca keeps closing down like ants, you pass backwards. I don't have a big problem with it.

 

I thought our back four played well until the last 10 minutes when everyone was exhausted. That was good to see.

 

What did everyone think of the penalty? He clearly lunged. At first glance, I thought it was soft, but after watching it, I would have been pissed had it not been given to us. I wasn't reading here then. Was there any disagreement? I haven't watched the replay since.

 

Oh yeah, big ups to Manny. Playing behind the backlines he has had to play behind while here, the dude has learned how to be a great shot-stopper and handle shot-or-pass situations...if he could only avoid those big mistakes on silly opportunities.

 

He clearly tripped the player, but i think the ball was already going out of play. Tough call.

 

i had no problem with the penalty.

 

Agreed- on first view, it looked like Kos got the ball, but he didn't.

 

The ref could have given a pen in the first half against Diaby, dont know how he missed it

 

in the first half when nasri was clearly fouled, the referee was pretty sure that if a ball had run beyond a players control, the rules where that the foul should not be called. strange that later in the game when it was a potential infraction for an arsenal player, he should switch his interpretations of the rules. either one interpration would be fair, but not both during the same match applied to suit one side over the other.

 

Drogba's ban was CL only, I imagine he will get at least a few games suspension, which will take effect in the group stages next year.

Nothing more predictable than Barca getting a shady call (or 5) when facing elimination.

 

It looked like Messi was pulling his leg away and going over before Diaby even got there. Good no call in my book. Plus it was right on the edge of the box.

 

via Twitter:

@cesc4official Cesc Fàbregas Soler
Great support from the arsenal fans. I take full blame for the result tonight. One of the worst moments of my life. I apologise.

 

wilshere tweeted:

Arsenal fans great as always! Sorry about the result,good luck to Barca,great team! Oh yeah and the ref was good aswell...

 

The penalty was a good call. There was really no argument from Arsenal about it.

 

Well, he can laugh about it next year when he pulls on the red and blue.

 

Meh...in my perfect world, penalties aren't given for offensive players initiating contact they could avoid. I can accept embellishment of contact, but running into a planted or motionless leg is a bit weak. Alas, we do not live in my perfect world. In the world we live in, that was a PK.

 

IMO that might have been a free kick just outside the box. Not sure that Messi hadn't already started down though.

 

The abidal thing was a yellow at worst, i think the ref handled that situation correctly by giving no cards. Van Persie's first yellow was an obvious yellow, Van Persie knew EXACTLY what he was doing. Look at it again, Van Persie looked for Alves then shoved him in the throat/face area. It was premeditated and it came right after all that mess with both teams going at it, the ref had absolutely no choice of a yellow for Van Persie and it was warranted.

The 2nd yellow for Van Persie was a joke of the highest order, that much is clear. You would have to find a huge barca fan to claim otherwise. However, the penalty awarded to Barca should have resulted in a 2nd yellow for Koscielny anyway, which would have taken Arsenal down to 10 men not too long after van persie was sent off. The only question is, would that penalty situation have happened with Van Persie on the pitch? It is questionable.

Either way, Barca did dominate thoroughly today. I wouldn't have been suprised with a 10-0 scoreline. But, there is no question that IF the Van Persie situation wouldn't have happened, then it changes everything, and despite the domination, Arsenal may have had a better chance than 50/50 of going through.

 

messi was going to get to that ball???? he basically passed it to wilshere.

 

there is no yellow for violent conduct. it's a straight red and nothing else.

 

I feel bad for him, really. He's not the type of player to do that shit. You could so quickly see what he was trying to do, and it just disappeared as quickly. Any other player, and I'd be a lot harder on him. It was just a stupid decision that unfortunately cost us the result, along with other things. His vision is just normally so perfect...

 

We all need a laugh after that debacle. Check out the kid behind Puyol.

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