MC Prussian Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 This is great advertisement for the Champions League... Barca pressing at the start, forcing Almunia to make numerous great saves. They go 2-0 ahead and then Arsenal strike back, one red card, Thierry Henry back at the Emirates and an injured Fabregas still playing on over the full stretch, scoring the equalizer by penalty.
FoxyPV Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Peach of a turnaround = sets it up nicely for the second leg. Barca without Pique and the Hunchback of Notre Dame - no central defenders mmmmmmm interesting!
Darkzzz_ Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Fabregas was brilliant to be fair. Barca should still go through. Great game and a nice little earner from bet365 for me on that finishing 2-2.
BoneDog Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Great game of football, what it's all about. Very harsh penalty though, seemed like he just got his foot stuck between Piques legs when he went for the shot. Pique did nothing wrong but he took it like a man!
StanSP Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 All set up for a highly anticipated second leg. Barca will miss both their centre backs; Arsenal will miss Fabregas, and possibly more players. Walcott changed the game totally.
dandannieldanok Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Great comeback, @ Barcelona, how on earth did they not win that.
Tommeh Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Well take that fvcker Matt and any other silly needless Arsneal haters.....What a stonking game that was. Went mad at Fab's penatly, any other English team and I'd have been Barca all the way, strange that. Oh and that is why Theo Walcott could be a huge player in South Africa, certainly taking him is a no brainer.
dandannieldanok Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Went mad at Fab's penatly, any other English team and I'd have been Barca all the way, strange that. You're not alone, I'm the same.
BoneDog Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 I just missed the replays and studio chat, was it a penalty? Didn't look it to me but sure I just heard Davids say it was a penalty. Not sure who I want to win this, love Barca but Arsenal are my favourite top 3 English side.
shen Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Peach of a turnaround = sets it up nicely for the second leg. Barca without Pique and the Hunchback of Notre Dame - no central defenders mmmmmmm interesting! Arsenal without Fabregas and possibly Arshavin + Gallas And Barca don't need central defenders. They've proven that before Why boo Henry? Because of the way he left It's called tongue-in-cheek I believe... Great game of football, what it's all about. Very harsh penalty though, seemed like he just got his foot stuck between Piques legs when he went for the shot. Pique did nothing wrong but he took it like a man! <pedantic> It was Puyol <\pedantic> I think it was a penalty. He puts his leg in front of Fabs' without aiming to get at the ball. It did not look malicious, probably clumsy at worst. And if the ref thinks it was a penalty, he has to show the red as Puyol denied him a clear scoring opportunity
StanSP Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 I just missed the replays and studio chat, was it a penalty? Didn't look it to me but sure I just heard Davids say it was a penalty. Not sure who I want to win this, love Barca but Arsenal are my favourite top 3 English side. It looked a bit harsh on Puyol. He was behind Fabregas, and the latter's foot got caught between Puyol's legs as he was pulling back to shoot. Not much Puyol can do and when any players feels contact like this, they're bound to go down. Jim Beglin's an idiot. Saying it was clumsy from Puyol, when in actual fact, there's not much Puyol could have actually done.
Guest Bilo Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 What an advert for football that was. 60 minutes of a Barcelona masterclass that threatened to leave Arsenal humiliated. No-one would have backed them to get anything from it, and I for one was expecting a 4-0 kicking. Then Walcott came on. Pace, finishing and fantastic touch. The kind of performance that makes me think that Rooney is not going to be the only English superstar in South Africa. As for the second leg, I don't think for a second Arsenal can win in Barcelona without Fabregas. Barca's centre-backs will be missed, especially Puyol, but they'll still have more than enough going forward to severely hurt Arsenal as we saw for the first hour tonight. All in all though, an absolute pleasure to watch tonight.
Joe. Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Don't quite know how Arsenal got anything out of that when they were totally outclassed for 90 minutes. Luck and Manuel Almunia feature highly on my list of reasons. Walcott's finish was incredibly lucky, straight at the goalkeeper but somehow managed to wriggle its way through to find the net. I'm not convinced by the penalty at all either, Fabregas made a hell of a lot out of it. Didn't see much Puyol could have done to stop it to be honest. All in all Barca will feel as though they should have put the game to bed by half-time. It was a mixture of good goalkeeping/ defending and poor finishing from Barca that Arsenal didn't find themselves down at the break, and Barca have only themselves to blame for that. Just one more thing, I hate all the emphasis on Messi when he's playing against an English side. The commentary were all over the idea that he'd been "disappointing" - is it too difficult to realise that sometimes he's just part of the team? It's not always the frigging Messi show...
shen Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Don't quite know how Arsenal got anything out of that when they were totally outclassed for 90 minutes. Luck and Manuel Almunia feature highly on my list of reasons. Walcott's finish was incredibly lucky, straight at the goalkeeper but somehow managed to wriggle its way through to find the net. I'm not convinced by the penalty at all either, Fabregas made a hell of a lot out of it. Didn't see much Puyol could have done to stop it to be honest. Harsh. Barca weren't impressive after their second goal, after which Arsenal took more and more control of the tie. At the end you it looked more like the reverse picture of the first 15 minutes of the match, and Walcott embarrassed Maxwell several times during his short cameo. It might not have been the best finish, but the build-up to both goals were excellent. You could also argue that for all Almunias saves in the first half, he was at fault for Ibra's first. 2-2 possibly flattered Arsenal, but they didn't give up and were rewarded for that.
RowlattsFox Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 I don't always get opportunity to watch Champions League matches so really enjoyed tonight. Barca were awesome first hour, Dani Alves and Maxwell were excellent, Sergio impressed me a lot and for the first time when ive seen him Ibrahimovic looked like the clas player everyone talks about. Walcotts pace frightened the hell out of Maxwell, agree with Joe that is was a lucky finish, Valdes should be saving that. I think it was a penalty, not a lot Puyol could have done but there was contact and I would be crying penalty if it happens in our games. Under the letter of law Puyol had to go but I think that rule needs to be looked at and common sense should be taken into account, if the tackle was delibirate or not. Amazing that that challenge and the Gypes challenge get the same punishment. Barca still massive faves but the game is not over.
StanSP Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 I don't always get opportunity to watch Champions League matches so really enjoyed tonight. Barca were awesome first hour, Dani Alves and Maxwell were excellent, Sergio impressed me a lot and for the first time when ive seen him Ibrahimovic looked like the clas player everyone talks about. Walcotts pace frightened the hell out of Maxwell, agree with Joe that is was a lucky finish, Valdes should be saving that. I think it was a penalty, not a lot Puyol could have done but there was contact and I would be crying penalty if it happens in our games. Under the letter of law Puyol had to go but I think that rule needs to be looked at and common sense should be taken into account, if the tackle was delibirate or not. Amazing that that challenge and the Gypes challenge get the same punishment. Barca still massive faves but the game is not over. Not so much when Walcott tore him to pieces time and time again. Up til then though, the full-backs, especially Dani Alves were quality. Alves was up and down that flank and threatened Arsenal with some good crosses in the first half. Still alot of work for Barca to do in 2nd leg, but home advantage will see them through.
Joe. Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Dani Alves is incredibly fit. The amount of times he's able to get up and down the wings are seemingly endless.
BoneDog Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 <pedantic> It was Puyol <\pedantic> I think it was a penalty. He puts his leg in front of Fabs' without aiming to get at the ball. It did not look malicious, probably clumsy at worst. And if the ref thinks it was a penalty, he has to show the red as Puyol denied him a clear scoring opportunity Don't know why I said Pique cos I could see the curly hair in my head as I typed ! Fair enough then, I only saw it in real time and the quick replay before the pen. Wish we could see football like this down The Walkers every week. Magnificent stuff to watch.
RowlattsFox Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Not so much when Walcott tore him to pieces time and time again. Up til then though, the full-backs, especially Dani Alves were quality. Alves was up and down that flank and threatened Arsenal with some good crosses in the first half. Still alot of work for Barca to do in 2nd leg, but home advantage will see them through. Yeah, I did say for the first hour. Up until Walcotts introduction.
BoneDog Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 It looked a bit harsh on Puyol. He was behind Fabregas, and the latter's foot got caught between Puyol's legs as he was pulling back to shoot. Not much Puyol can do and when any players feels contact like this, they're bound to go down. Jim Beglin's an idiot. Saying it was clumsy from Puyol, when in actual fact, there's not much Puyol could have actually done. Yeah that's how I saw it, thought that the red was a bit harsh and even the pen at first but I not had another look at the incident yet. The first 6 minutes for Barcelona were incredible, Arsenal never saw the ball I don't think. Inch perfect passing from Barca, they can thread the ball through the tiniest gaps and keep it without looking like they feel any pressure even against great players. Tremendo!
Unit Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 If Barca won I won £40 but fair play to arsenal, a comeback bought about by a player who hasn't shown much quality of late, well done Theo.
Mark2308 Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 Great match, roll on the 2nd leg. Love the Barca way of football but find it hard to like them, seem a bit smug or something to me?
Samilktray Posted 31 March 2010 Posted 31 March 2010 I'm fucking livid. Put it on record whilst I was out, avoid Facebook and any texts I had about the game successfully, then I get in switch the tele on and SSN is on, first thing I see is 2-2. Ruined my night, and put me off my Big Mac I'd bought for the special occasion. FML
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