Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1
Arsenal went out of the Champions League as expected, felled by the usual suspects. First Neymar, then Luis Suárez and finally Leo Messi scored a goal each to take Barcelona into the quarter-final. Neymar set them on their way, Suárez produced a superb scissors kick to settle their nerves, and Messi rounded off the night with the kind of goal that he has made his own, the touch impeccable. Arsenal head home, but they may feel that they do not depart entirely empty handed.
Actually going through was always unlikely after the first leg, Wenger describing the tie as “95 per cent over”, yet beyond the result there was value in this visit. There was no victory for them, but there rarely is for Barça’s opponents: 38 games have passed since the last time they lost and this was their tenth consecutive Champions League win at Camp Nou.
Arsenal’s manager said that a good performance would give his side a boost for the league title race that he insists is “more open than people think” and, despite the defeat, he will feel that he got that here. There were chances for his side, moments of good football too, something to cling to. And for all the superb performers in the Barcelona team, Javier Mascherano stood out; his tackles ultimately felt as significant as others’ touches, even though the home side were ahead early.
Barcelona had the lead on 17 minutes. Gabriel’s pass out from deep was loose. Suárez and Messi spotted it and so did Neymar on the left, already setting off in anticipation. The ball dropped between Suárez and Messi; the Argentinian stepped out the way, leaving the Uruguayan to slot a diagonal ball into the path of Neymar who controlled and guided it past David Ospina at the near post.
Neymar had run in behind Héctor Bellerín and the sensation soon became a familiar one. Bellerín is fast but he was faced by two players who might just be faster: Neymar and Jordi Alba. He was prepared to run at them – he and Alba has already taken each other on in a straight sprint up the line – but they were prepared to run at him, too. The game tilted often towards their wing.
For a while, it tilted Barcelona’s way, too. Alba, legs whirring, zipped up the left, the touch at speed, precise. A lovely run won a corner and then, a minute later, he was going at Bellerín again, finding Neymar, whose shot was saved by Ospina. Occasionally Barcelona went to the other side, too – just before the goal, Messi had brilliantly brought down Neymar’s long diagonal and drawn a sharp save from Ospina – and through the middle, where Iniesta’s smooth control was stunning at times. He combined with Messi to provide an opportunity which Neymar could not take.
Arsenal may not have truly thought they had a chance of going through but they did make a game of it. They had started positively, keen to press high, and although Barcelona threatened to take control after the goal, Wenger’s side stepped up once more. A superb sprint up the wing by Bellerín created the best of the chances, his curling cross headed wide by Alexis Sánchez. The chance was a good one and the run and delivery invited a better finish.
That was part of a flurry of opportunities around the half hour. Alex Iwobi, in particular, was active. On the other side, there was a penalty appeal when he went down. Replays suggested that he had tripped himself, but that he might also have been pushed by Mascherano.
Gabriel, certainly, was furious. Iwobi and Danny Welbeck then produced a neat one-two inside the area that ended with Welbeck hitting wide at the near post. All within a 10-minute spell.
Arsenal did not get the goal they sought before the interval but they did soon after. Sánchez, who had gone at his former team a couple of times in the opening 45 minutes, one exceptional touch, turn and dash especially standing out, headed up the right. He pulled the ball back to Mohamed Elneny near the edge of the area, to the right of the D. The first-time finish was superb, the ball curled into the top corner. Arsenal needed two more but there was a hint of nervousness now.
It might have been worse for Barcelona too; for Arsenal, there was hope. Momentarily, at least. Messi drew a sharp save from Ospina but at the other end suddenly Welbeck was in.
Jérémy Mathieu had made a vital sliding block in the opening minutes but now he misjudged a header, leaving Welbeck dashing through. Mascherano was swift and did what Mascherano does: sliding in, he made a challenge that, while not as significant, was reminiscent of the tackle on Niklas Bendtner that changed his career in March 2011.
Soon after, Sergio Busquets had to make a sharp block. Barcelona no longer seemed in control. But then, just when you wondered if there was half a chance of the impossible becoming possible, it was over. Suárez ended it with a fabulous goal. Messi carried forward and found Neymar, who spread the ball wide to the right. There was Dani Alves. He had not bombed up the line as often as Alba but now he was well inside the Arsenal area and his cross curled towards Suárez, alone on the other side.
He leapt, twisted his body and connected with a scissor kick above waist height, sending a volley flying into the top corner for his 42nd goal of the season.
Welbeck hit the near post just after that and the Marc-André Ter Stegen made a superb double save, diving to reach Sánchez’s curling free kick before leaping to his feet to stick out a hand and block the follow up from Olivier Giroud. But it was all over. It had been for a fortnight. And with two minutes to go, Messi lifted the ball gently into the net for their third of the night.
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