Easily the most high profile tie of the round, Arsenal will welcome Barcelona back to the Emirates again, eager to erase the memory of Lionel Messi’s 4 goal master class last season, a match which thoroughly humbled the North London side. Barcelona are once again leading the pack in La Liga, and only recently had a 16 match win streak snapped after a goalless draw with Sporting Gijon. This matters little though, as Barca have been flawless once again in the group stages and come to London full of confidence and desire. There is little that isn’t known about the Catalans, so expect Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Villa, and co. to bring all they have to offer. Arsenal however, will be looking at this match quite differently. We all know that Arsene Wenger has been aspiring to create his own version of Barcelona, and with his young troops beginning to mature he is eager to prove to the world that 5 years without cup success has been a worthy trade-off for what is a rapidly improving side. Arsenal sit in 2nd place behind league leaders Manchester United in England and have on occasion looked like a title threat, but they still seem to lack that extra firepower that would be required to out-gun Barcelona. Unless Wenger goes mad and attempts to play defensive football, I really don’t see how Arsenal can get past Barcelona over 2 legs. The 1st leg will be made even more difficult with Samir Nasri, easily on of the Gunner’s best players this season, set to miss out. Arsenal are still not strong enough at the back in my book, and will struggle once again. Also, expect Cesc Fabregas to play out of his skin in order to try and impress Barcelona to spend the money it would require to finally bring him “home”.
Prediction: Arsenal FC 0-2 FC Barcelona
No comments:
Post a Comment