Not by a long shot. Arsenal went in there like pussies.
I mean, you guys gave 5-0 to Porto, with Porto players actually discussing the game. And then you guys let Barça come in and make 10 (count 'em) freaking goal attempts at the 15 minute mark?
The problem is you are talking about the perfect footballing side, they have done what they did to us to Manchester United in the final, Chelsea in the semis, Inter in the group stages, Real Madrid for the last two years running, all who have come have just denied the inevitable Barcelona victory. We are basically talking about the best football side for the last 20 years here, being able to hold them off to a draw is no small feet. Going in like pussies? Pffffft you have basically called the best clubs in world football a bunch of pussies.
Which against Barcelona, is pretty much the case, the teams that have the best chance against them are the ones who play extremely rough and negative football (Shown by exactly which teams have managed to beat them) which are things Arsenal are not or will ever be under Wenger.
Arsenal was lucky.
Yes and no, how quiet did Vermaelen keep Messi? How brilliant was Song before he had to become centre back, and even then still made some vital stops, how good was Clichy? In the end, Barcelona could not continue their intense game of football and make us pay, the game is about 90 minutes, not 60 minutes. Then when you consider we had three players all carrying knocks (Two of which broke down in the first 30 minutes) certainly, we were not lucky there.
Yes we were lucky in the sense Almunia made some great saves (Cancelled out by two horrible goalkeeping errors) and we were not down 4-0 by half time (This particularly can be said of all teams against Pep's side) but the fact was we started to turn on them as soon as they scored the second goal is a general indication that the team has quality in them.
And why the fuck didn't Walcott starred in the starting line-up? He totally made the difference.
Because Walcott cannot hold onto the ball and has not got the skill to use his pace wisely, only when do teams tire can he start to play good. He has never been good in games he starts, but very good when he is a sub.
And btw, that penalty was a joke.
How? He got in the way of Fabregas' shot which probably would have resulted in a goal anyway knowing how shit Valdes is, therefore, he blocked a goal scoring attempt.
Arsenal managed to stay put and turn the game to a draw (and has merit for that), but that doesn't mean the score at the end was deserved.
I didn't even said we deserved to draw...
I said that this team has potential to be something great, Gallas out, van Persie out, Arshavin out, Song out of position, Fabregas was already half broken, our team was literally falling apart yet they managed to hold Barcelona to a draw. Not many teams can do that, not after going 2-0 down. Not saying we are better than Barca and that we'll beat them at the Nou Camp (Will probably end 4-1) but we taught them a lesson, a lesson that has been taught to us many times before, football is a game of 90 minutes, not 60.
