Arsenal vs Barcelona - 阿森納兵工廠足球俱樂部 Arsenal Football Club

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Arsenal


Wojciech Szczesny - 8.5
Have Arsenal found the answer to their keeping woes? The Pole was brave and
decisive - nicking the ball off strikers' feet, reacting swiftly to collect
crosses and generally infusing the entire defence with confidence.

Emmanuel Eboue - 7.5
Supported Walcott well on the right and led Arsenal out of many a tight spot.
Suffered from poor decision-making at times but all in all, a very good
replacement for Bacary Sagna.

Laurent Koscielny - 10
What a night for the Frenchman! Absolutely majestic - running all over the
pitch and snuffing out danger before it could become fatal. Nullified Lionel
Messi to a large extent, denying the genius any space whatsoever. Marvellous.

Johan Djourou - 7.5
Was caught out by some raking balls from Xavi but recovered well most of the
time. Great understanding with Koscielny.

Gael Clichy - 7
Looked very shaky on the left as Barca singled him out as the main defensive
weakness in the opening exchanges. Recovered his poise as the game wore on
and redeemed himself with a lovely chip to Robin van Persie that began the
Gunners' comeback.

Alex Song - 5
Blotted his copybook early on with a careless challenge on Messi that
resulted in a yellow. Was very restricted because of that for the rest of the
game and could not go into tackles with his usual relish.

Jack Wilshere - 9.5
Outstanding. Given the stage and the opposition, it was the performance of a
lifetime by Jack Wilshere. Won almost every ball in midfield - defended and
attacked superbly. Look up the thesaurus words for sensational and you'll get
an idea of how well he did.

Cesc Fabregas - 8
Took his time getting into the game and was a little careless with his passes
in the first-half. But really came to life after the break, linking up well
with Wilshere behind and Nasri in front.

Samir Nasri - 7.5
Like his captain, Arsenal's player of the season took his time to get into
the thick of things too. But get back he did, becoming increasingly dangerous
as the game progressed. Made his lethal contribution during Arsenal's second
goal with a calm square ball right through the Barca defence and into
Arshavin's feet. The rest is history.

Theo Walcott - 7
Terrorised Maxwell down the flank and led some great counter-attacks for the
home side. Was somewhat starved of the ball later.

Robin van Persie - 8
It seemed to be an off night for the Dutchman as he missed some good early
chances. But then arrived the one moment of quality that van Persie is
capable of. Superb finish from the tightest of angles.

Subs

Andrei Arshavin (on 68') - 8.5
Mr. Match-winner, take a bow! The Russian's form has been on an up-tick
recently and it showed as he harried the tired Barca defenders and put in a
great shift at the back too. The finish for the winner was cool, calm and
classy.

Nicklas Bendtner (on 77') - n.a


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Barcelona


Victor Valdes - 6
Was called upon in the opening minutes to stop Van Persie's shot, but the
hero soon turned villain as he left a gaping hole at his near post which
allowed Van Persie to squeeze home the equalizer.

Dani Alves - 6.5
His defensive abilities may always be under scrutiny, but Alves managed to
put in a good performance even though he did not make many runs forward.

Eric Abidal - 7
Did well in place of the absent Carles Puyol. Headed away a cross to deny Van
Persie a point blank header which seemed like a definite goal.

Gerard Pique - 6.5
Had a relatively easy game ensuring Arsenal's lone striker could not do much
damage to them.

Maxwell - 6
Resembled a snail when running alongside Walcott, but could relax a little
when it came to Walcott's crossing ability.

Sergio Busquets - 5.5
Why wasn't he running back and tracking the runners from midfield? He was
even spotted in the Arsenal half trying to beat Fabregas, which he failed
miserably at. Stick to your assigned tasks, Sergio.

Andres Iniesta (off 89') - 6.5
A mediocre performance by his high standards.

Xavi - 7
Distributed the ball ever so well and made himself available but surprisingly
lacked creativity and failed to provide the killer pass for his team in this
match.

Pedro - 6
What he lacked in skill, he made up with hard work and enthusiasm.

Lionel Messi - 7
Lovely pass to set up Villa for the goal, but not really his usual self and
his body language suggested he was very uninterested in the game.

David Villa (off 68') - 7
Although it wasn't the most spectacular goal, take nothing away from him as
he took his chances unlike the wasteful Van Persie. No way through and could
not create any chances for himself as Koscielny remained big and strong.

Subs

Seydou Keita (on 68') - 5
A substitution to protect Barcelona's lead went horribly wrong as his team
conceded two goals after his introduction.

Adriano (on 89') - n.a

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