Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal (4-3); win as a team, lose as a team

Well, it just wasn't meant to be.

Sorry for the late blog, a mix of the sickness and a case of writers block unabled me to write earlier.

There was a huge buzz before the game. News filtering through that van Persie was starting was met with caution and excitement. Tomas Rosicky also started in place of Andrey Arshavin, presumably to offer protection defending.

Defending. Parking the bus. Scrapping for our lives. How often do we say that about Arsenal? That is what impressed me last night. We battled, and never gave up. Superb stuff.

Well, Barca dominated the first half. Surely they made alot of passes, but how many of them were key? Not alot. Bar Adriano hitting the post from a tight angle, they created very little. Our centre backs were awesome, very strong and can be proud of their efforts. Credit also to Manuel Almunia, who replaced Wojciech Szczesny mid way through the first half. He gave an inspirational performance. A true professional.

The first goal came at a nightmare time for us, just before the break. A bizarre backheel from Cesc allowed the ball to be played for Messi who produced an outrageous scoop over Al and bolster home the opening goal. Truly amazing goal. But Cesc Fabregas, never do that again. You are captain, lead by example. Don't play on when you claim to be injured in the 15th minute. Still, he is our captain and we regroup.

We got our opener just after half time. Brilliant play Samir Nasri, who worked tirelessly all game, won us a corner. Nasri whipped the ball in for Busquets to head in. 1-1, and we're through!

What happened next was beyond ridiculous. A clipped ball from Cesc released van Persie who rushed his shot. He was inexplicably shown a second yellow. Now, the time between the whistle and RvP shooting was one second. Now, excuse the language but how the fuck is that time wasting!? A total game changer. I'm not declaring we would win with 11 players, but we were looking comfortably defensively so you never know. With the 10 men brought more applied pressure. Barcelona added to quickfire goals, one from a well worked Xavi goal and the other was a Messi penalty. It is worth noting Barca started turning the screw on us after the van Persie sending off.

We could of grabbed an all important second goal through Bendtner but for a magnificent recovery from Mascherano. It just wasn't to be. The referee ensured that. Wenger and Nasri face fines, and in the week in which snoods have been banned, it's nice to see UEFA have there priorities sorted. Twats.

So we dust ourselves down and turn our attentions to Man United. Barcelona should be an inspiration. A team to emulate. I genuinely believe we are not far off.

Losing to Barcelona is no shame. They are possibly the greatest club side ever. And we ran them close. Never forget that guys.