Why Real Madrid thought they could hoist long balls to an out of shape Ronaldo and score is beyond me... I'm a little perplexed to how a "star" striker like Raul can miss a sitter like that. Overall though I counted two chances for them, amazing game from our defense. Eboue, Flamini, and Senderos really stood up and this bodes very well. Henry was great as usual, but the difference to me was in midfield - Fabregas and Hleb were outstanding. OVerall so glad this is over, and really glad we're the only English team left. I really hope we draw Villareal in the next round, but my gut says we'll get one of the two Milan teams.
Does any1 know when they will have some post match reactions? I'd love to see what Wenger and Henry says. Oh, and Fab, this is the reason why you wouldnt wanna go to Madrid.
A tight game in the end, i still think it could have gone either way. What matters is the end result, so congrats for an exciting match, played overall in good spirit, unlike that "other" Spain-England matchup. cheers
disappointed extremely. but cant help but think this was a game between has been stars, and up and coming ones, noone really anywher good enough to beat one of the top teams.
Man of the match: the whole back line (very good in the air and at intercepting RM's thru passes) Thank you , Flamini, Senderos, Toure, Eboue, Lehmann The other man of the match: Hleb. Although we didn't score, he created havoc in RM's own half by turning and dribbling at them. Good possession, good on freeing up space with his dribble, and good at not dribbling too much before relinquishing well placed forward or square passes. If he would just learn to shoot now.
To be completely honest, I was a little frustrated with him in the first half. Too many stray passes. But he came into his own in the second, and became very effective. Still missing a bit in the chemistry department, tho, he failed to read a couple runs by Henry and Freddy correctly.
It's worth staying up for, rick or no rick. Lehman's save after the shot that hit the post is amazing. That one save alone should make him germany's #1 keeper.
What a game that was One of the best 0 - 0 games I have ever seen! Great result for Arsenal! Congrats to all the team and specially Big Phil Henry and Lehman!
Wow. Just Wow. Best Nil-Nil evah (well....perhaps ) Man the atmosphere was mental. Haven't heard Highbury like that for years. And at 2000 reduced capacity too! I wonder how it came across on the TV.
No, The truth is that we are the only English team to beat Madrid at the Beu. The truth is with a bit more luck we could have had a hat full in the first leg. The truth is that if we hadn't been playing a 12 man Madrid side (stoopid ref) and a wee bit of luck we could have had a shed load at Highbury The Truth is Arsenal ARE a so called "big gun". Or have you not been watching for the last ten years. Hell, even this year - all things considered - we can't complain. How many teams with our injury problems would be fighting relegation rather than fighting for CL qualification.
I cannot wait to see this. The soccernet game tracker said it was one of the best 0-0 matches they had seen. Awesome!!! Next round, baby!! And the only flag-bearer for the Premiership!!
What I'm loving about Arsenal right now is that the kids are the backbone of the team. It's great. Our best players are 19, 20, 21 years old. A lot of the older, more expensive guys could walk away right now and arguably improve the club - that has to give Wenger peace of mind.
This game and the Chelsea/Barca match remind you that even if you are a great side, rare exceptions aside, you need one true Genius to get the result............we have one. We can't lose him and expect to continue to compete on this level. One moment of brillance aside, we didn't score a single goal against the worst defense left in the competition.