Its a wonder why on earth cesc fabregas switched off his game. He was so bad that Arsene took him off instead of Diaby. Nevermind the back pass that contributed to the first goal, most of the time our captain was no where to be found. I dare not say its probably due to the hamstring problem, but is it just me or is cesc putting too much respect to nou camp?
Again, I wanna say again that Diaby had a really bad game tonight. Yes, I know Arsenal has not much choice in that position. Its either Denilson or Diaby. If I had it my way, I'd rather place Eboue because Diaby probably did nothing to deserve his place. Not only he is leaving Wilshere alone to deputize the mid field, he also slows down the tempo whenever Arsenal is holding the possession. Worst, his terrible control allowed Arsenal to be exposed during the counterattack. If you guys willing to look back at the game, you'll see that in the last dying minute when barca was coming down through the left flank, Diaby simply jog down ALONG with barca. wtf was that?! Arsene was shouting everyone to press the ball up and pry away the ball, but diaby had other plans instead. One thing diaby contributed was to jump highest on corner kicks and block busquet's view that lead to our only goal.

Wilshere and Koschielny were both amazing. They both continued their aggression and spirit even when the other players were down, and that was apparent after RVP send off. I don't know where to begin with the refeering. Yes, they're really easy to give away yellow cards. RVP second yellow wasn't deserving, but the first one was rvp's doing nonetheless. But I too feel that if abidal didn't choke on rvp, he wouldn't have retaliated like that towards alves.

Kudos to barca for consistently playing well and controlling their tempo. They've won the tactical game this time and they've controlled the midfield with ease. Although Song's presence was highly missed, we have to remember that he has one booking from the first leg. If he were to be included, we might see the same 10 vs 11 men happening still. Nasri had a tough time, but he did his best with what he has. Too bad he didn't have any support from midfield at anytime during his offense.

Arshavin's introduction did induce some potency, but it was a little to late for the russian to make any impact. I wouldn't blame bendtner for the big miss. That was like only his second touch in the game and javier mascherano was breathing down his neck like an argentine bull. Seeing how mascherano even pulled a cramp after the tackle, I can see why bendtner can be such a difficult opponent to cover.

To sum it up, we've lost our UCL chance this year. But its not like we're the eventual winners already. After barcelona, it'll take a lot more to fight to the finals. At the moment, arsenal can lift off another burden off their shoulder and concentrate on the league. Yes, its a devastating blow, and it may also effect the team's morale. But in the long run, we avoided any injuries and fatigue drawing up to the finals in wembley. So I say suck it up, Gunners!

With defeat comes maturity and experience. We may lost our chance of winning an european cup, but we're just within reach of the bpl cup 2011. Cheer up lads. The season isn't ending just yet, and you'll still have a chance to prove the critics wrong.

I rarely see Arsenal playing high balls and crossings. Most of the time, its penetrative passes. Barca's game was no different. To whom should the crosses go to? Rvp? He was basically alone up front. If it was chamakh, then the crosses would probably mean something. Personally, I think sagna crosses are much better compared to last season. Granted interception aren't really sagna/clichy's forte, they make it up with speed and quick defending.

On a bad note, it seems our rising gk sczesny is out for the season claiming a ruptured tendon on his fingers. Kudos to almunia for successively blocking barca's countless shots. I think there were three shots on goals that almunia fended off quite bravely. Had it been in, we'd seen the same fate barca did to malaga.

So I suppose almunia is back in radar for our team eh? Yes, he is no world class gk, but I do missed this guy. I hope he still have something left to contribute for Gunners this season. Its probably going to be his last, so I heard.

Yes, its the truth. But then again, I wouldn't wanna be seen as the Gunners fan who jumped-the-bed-and-hit-the-ceiling-happily whenever guardiola is 'stating' facts. Nothing wrong to express dislike after an intense game between two teams does it?

cesc's performance is anybody's guess, but rvp didn't show any fatigue or fitness problem in the game. It was the bloody ref who took rvp out. I'll defend rvp's offside foul till armageddon if you like, because I've seen so many football games, and it takes no genius to see that rvp didn't see/hear the offside whistle/flag. Referee can assume anything, but for a game this big, he should have given the benefit of the doubt, because such decision can tilt the balance of the game entirely. As for rvp's first yellow card, in his defense he didn't get a fair treatment when abidal choked him, but I can accept that its a deserving yellow card nonetheless.

I was so darn sure every other team in UCL was secretly supporting the Gunners to beat Barca. Sorry guys, looks like Arsenal aren't good enough to stop them. Perhaps some other team can do it ya? Preferrably some bogey teams like shanktar or even Sp*rs.
Again, cheer up lads. Be glad that we now have our focus solely on bpl. FA cup is a great bonus, but bpl is where the recognition will last longer. Oh and I do hope Arsene start to put in chamakh into the fray. We seriously have enough depth to last this season. Over dependency to rvp may injure him further.

Er, yea we do. Sczesny.