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Arsenal seek moral victory in Barcelona

By on March 15, 2016

In the build-up to Arsenal’s Champions League Round of 16 second leg matchup with Barcelona tomorrow, Arsene Wenger has been unusually chipper.  In his pre-match press conference, he was less moody, less brooding than in recent weeks, the pursed lips and foreboding sense of nostalgia replaced by a determined optimism.

Now that they’re facing a daunting 2-0 deficit heading into the second leg against a Barcelona side that are undefeated at home for over a year, the pressure is off.  Perhaps that means Wenger can finally start getting back to work and dream again.  It’s their only hope left in both the tie and Premier League season.

“We have gone through a disappointing spell. It is important to stay calm and strong,” said Wenger, per The Guardian. “We have to deliver something special. It would be a big boost for us to have a great game. We will fight, of course, to win trophies. We are not favorites [in the Premier League] but the competition is quite open, much more than people think it is and here we have a very small chance. Let’s give our best tomorrow. Who knows?”

Year over disappointing year, they’ve lost their grit and always seem to crack when the pressure heats up.  Right when they had clawed their way into the Premier League title race this season, Wenger’s men went into a meltdown.  In the first leg against Barca, they fought valiantly but gave away two late goals and Wenger himself conceded that the tie was “95%” decided heading into Barcelona.

In the case of the first leg, however, Arsenal only lost because they were inferior when Barca turned up the heat.

Whether home or away, with Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi up front, Barca are the clear favorites.  Arsenal are banking on the fact that their hosts will lay off the gas, concede an early goal and then get nervous, although a single goal for Luis Enrique’s men would effectively turn the tie into a damage limitation exercise for Arsenal.

The problem is that it’s almost impossible to get a touch at the Nou Camp.  At Barca’s pre-match training session today, three young boys climbed under a fence and were welcomed by their heroes like long-lost teammates.  They joined in a famous game of Barca Rondo, but matter how hard the boys ran in the middle, they couldn’t get a touch.

Arsenal are looking to avoid the same fate tomorrow.

“We are in a position where we need to score two or three goals,” said Wenger, per the BBC. “That demands a very [clear charge].

“We know that we need to attack and take the game to them.

“I felt that our approach [in the first leg] was not so bad. We lost our balance a bit just after half-time.

“We got caught on the counter-attack at a moment where we looked to be on top of the game, so we are in a position where I don’t think we have to think too much.

Laurent Koscielny will return from injury for the match, but the Gunners will need to be firing on all cylinders to have even a slim chance in Catalonia.  Alexis Sánchez will have to pull out something special at his old home and Mesut Özil will need to revive the fiery passion of the El Clasico derbies he competed at the venue in his Real Madrid days.

It would be very much in Arsenal’s DNA, though, to win tomorrow by a goal and still lose the tie.

For Barcelona, the matchup seems like a matter of keep-away, much like the round of Rondo with their small fans earlier today.

“As of today the results are very good, but everything has to be confirmed,” said Enrique, via Barca’s official website. “Being where we are brings us closer to our overall objective of winning the same titles as last season, but to do it you have to be humble and have the capacity to improve in those aspects that influence the game.”

Homepage photo credit: Ronnie Macdonald, via Flickr

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.