The remaining UEFA Champions League last 16 knockout second-leg matches took place this week and it was the meeting of Barcelona and Arsenal that will have caught most spectators’ eyes in the build-up. Heading into this match at the Camp Nou, it was Arsene Wenger’s men who desperately needed the win to keep their continental dream alive, but it was the home side who ran out comfortable 3-1 winners on the night as Neymar Jr., Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi who struck the all-important goals to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
Completing a 5-1 aggregate victory, La Liga’s most in-form team sent out a fresh message to the rest of Europe that they remain top dogs and are on course to become the first team to ever successfully defend their UCL crown.
The Gunners won’t be happy at yet another failure on the big stage, especially considering the amount of chances they spurned over the course of both fixtures, but their misfiring is Barca’s fortune because Luis Enrique’s men didn’t really have to hit top gear for much of the match, such was the apparent ease with which they won.
Fancy seeing how La Blaugrana managed it? Take a read of our in-depth tactical analysis below.
Barca let the ball (and their genius) do the work
Barcelona were definitely not at their best at home, but they never really needed to be so any dissection of the way they allowed Arsenal have so many chances is a little redundant, in all honesty.
Defence has always been their biggest weakness under Enrique which is no real surprise but in attack they were their usually sublime selves when they were in the mood and it was no shock to see Messi, Suarez and Neymar rack up all the goals – something that even saw the Argentine magician net his ninth goal against Arsenal in UCL history, as well as feeding us this little nugget of information:
Unsurprisingly, MSN produced the goods and once again proved just how reliable they can be. Sure, they missed a handful of chances and were denied for large spells by an industrious back-line as well as the spirited David Ospina, but they scored more than their opponents, and at the end of the day that’s the most important aspect.
Of course, it was the elegance and seeming serenity with which they rattled the net each time that really caught the eye, because each strike that they put past the goalkeeper was fantastically extravagant – particularly the final one. Perhaps more predictably they monopolised possession, but it was the way they did it that particularly impressed.
Whenever Wenger’s charges looked to squeeze Barca’s slick passing in the middle and final thirds, Enrique’s men would nearly always find a way to get out of dodge and move the ball, and their men, into free space. It was a joy to watch and it underlined once again just how difficult it is to stop such a proactive unit.
Wenger’s men were creative but not clinical
In many ways, it was the same old story for Arsenal. They came to the big stage, they saw it set and ready to stage a comeback – and they conked.
Loyal supporters will defend their commendable performance and dream about what could have happened against one of the best teams in the world, and while the view of the neutral might border on cynicism, it’s probably a degree more realistic to say that the “Gooners” were very much second best in this match.
Much like the reverse tie at the Emirates, the north Londoners produced plenty of chances and opportunities to rattle the back of the net, but they simply didn’t capitalise on them often enough. There were far more heads held in hands than heads raised high whenever they flooded forward with goal-scoring opportunities at their feet and although that frustration didn’t dampen their enthusiasm or energy, it was certainly a reflection of their lack of ruthlessness, and their absence of a clinical mentality.
Just take a look at this insightful tweet from Michael Caley regarding Arsenal’s toothless attack and the expected goals ratio:
As you can see from that graphic, there were plenty of chances for Arsenal to test Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the Barca goals. Mohamed Elneny had a great effort that flew narrowly wide of the post in the 15th minute, Mathieu Flamini fired a long-range effort at goal mid-way through the opening 45 and Danny Welbeck had a great opportunity in the second half. In many ways, they had nobody to blame but themselves and their detractors will continue to discuss their lack of psychological guile.
Maybe next season?
Inconsistent Gunners played into Barca’s hands
Nobody can press, hassle and pursue their opponents with high intensity for 90 minutes of a match without dropping the level for periods here and there – that’s precisely how the story went during the week as the Premier League outfit failed to maintain their hearty performance against a team skilled in the art of moving the ball fluidly with deadly effect. It would have been hugely unrealistic for their fans to demand non-stop, off-the-ball, work and although they did their best to reach that goal they inevitably fell short.
From the outset, it was Wenger’s plan to get his troops pressing high, deep in Barcelona territory, looking to capitalise on a potential weakness in their opponents’ rearguard. Enrique likes to see his players tap the ball around, and even inside, their own 18-yard box but despite the Gunners’ best efforts they simply couldn’t get near much of the play that happened in that particular area.
Time and again, they ran into the Catalan rearguard when the likes of Ter Stegen, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu had the ball at their feet, but couldn’t really gain anything from it. Of course, there were times when it looked like they would profit from this approach, but then they would let themselves down with a lapse in concentration elsewhere.
They got some real joy down the right flank on a few occasions when Hector Bellerin and Alexis Sanchez used their pace to good effect, as well as using the outlet of the long ball to stretch Barca but they didn’t use these tactics often enough and when they did, they couldn’t make anything from it.
A revealing example offers itself up through the final goal of the 3-1 result as it was a defensive error that saw the ball given carelessly away to Neymar Jr. in a really dangerous position deep inside the Arsenal half before Lionel Messi stole in to dink the ball expertly over the helpless David Ospina. It was a most unfortunate error, but it perfectly summed up Arsenal’s Jekyll & Hyde performance.
Brilliant in some quarters, atrocious in others there was simply no consistency to their play long enough to really give Barca a proper scare.
