These two teams are known for the attractive football they play. In their respective leagues, and in all of Europe, they by far are the embodiment of Joga Bonito. While Barcelona spend more to attain their goal, the two sides are quite similar in their approach of building a squad. The Catalan Cantera is world famous for producing players such as Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Messi, Pique and even Arsenal's Fabregas. Arsene Wenger, a shrewd businessman and uncanny evaluator of talent, has built a tremendous youth squad for his London club. With the exception of Barcelona's penchant for buying big name players, these squads are similar both on and off the pitch. That's what makes today's match to delectable.
Because the tie is going to be such a close one, I want to compare the various aspects of each team against one another as well as analyze key matchups we can expect to see on the pitch today.
Formation - Draw
Both sides prefer an open 4-3-3 formation with one centralized striker and two wing players. Both also play Total Football, allowing for flexibility between positions and a more attacking approach. However, Barcelona's brand is a bit more fluid thanks to players like Messi, Iniesta, Pedro and David Villa - all of whom feel comfortable in the center of the pitch or out on the flank. With his return to form, Van Persie will create problems for the Barça defense in all positions, but the supporting cast does not rival that of the Spanish club.
At the end of the day, Wenger could switch to a 4-4-2 to try and win possession in the midfield. He needs to prevent Barcelona from dominating the ball without sacrificing strikers up top.
Goalkeepers - Advantage Barcelona
I began with this one because it will be short. Victor Valdez, a three time Zamora Trophy winner, is Barcelona's most successful keeper of all time. Lukasz Fabianski has not been able to hold down a starting position at Arsenal despite competition from the aging Manuel Almunia and unproven Wojiech Szczesny. Valdez is the type of leader at keeper necessary for teams to succeed in this competition; Fabianski is a liability for his club that his teammates in whom his teammates cannot have tremendous confidence.
Backs - Advantage Barcelona
The major tipping point for the Blaugrana in this category is at center back. True, Dani Alves is the best right back in the world right now, but there is not a huge gulf in class between Alves/Maxwell and Sagna/Clichy.
There is, however, an enormous gulf in class between Barça's central defenders and those playing for Arsene Wenger. Tarzan Puyol will be absent this afternoon because of a knee. Expect Abidal or Milito to play alongside young veteran and current member of FIFA's World XI, Gerard Pique.
Arsenal's youthful pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou will have their hands full with the likes of David Villa and Messi all evening. You can rest assured Barcelona's passing moves will try and draw the inexperienced center backs out of position. Djourou is young but not a newcomer to the Champions League while Koscielny is making his first appearance in the knockout stages of the tournament. Perhaps Wenger will look to Sebastien Squillaci for veteran leadership in the backline; the former Sevilla man played in the Champions League final in 2004 with Monaco.
Midfield - Advantage Barcelona
The quality of the midfield players for both teams is tremendous. Fabregas, Wilshire and Song have their work cut out for them against World Cup trio Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. If Arsenal have a weakness, it is in the youthful exuberance of the 19 year old Jack Wilshire. The recently capped England international can be overzealous at times in the tackle. Watch for him to loose his mind and his temper when Barça's mesmerizing possession wear his patience thin. A lesser blogger might even call Wilshire a punk.
An often overlooked but crucial player for Barcelona is Sergio Busquets. He might be labeled as a "defensive midfielder", but within Johan Cruyff's Total Futbol system, he is the essential "fulcrum". In possession, Busquets always (always) provides an option for Xavi and Iniesta while allowing fullbacks Alves and Abidal to maraud down the wings as he tucks in alongside Pique and Puyol. If Barcelona loose the ball, he is there to win it back smoothly and quickly distribute to one of the playmakers. If Xavi is the motor, Busquets is the fuel. Just look at Spain's victory in South Africa. Busquets started every match for La Furia while Fabregas was on the bench. Today, FCB's # 16 will be responsible for stopping counter-attacks from the man he replaced on the national team squad.
"No es un pivote; es un quitanieves."
Strikers - Advantage Barcelona
Two words. Mucho Messi. Leo has 6 goals in the competition this season and is looking to pad his stats against an Arsenal side that conceded 4 to the Argentine last year at the Camp Nou. This year, with the prolific David Villa and the hard-working Pedro at his side, Barcelona have an untouchable trident. What makes this group so hard to defend, besides their skills with the ball at their feet and great combination play, is that they do not have positional tendencies. Messi does like to start weaving through defenders from the right wing, but he is a left-footed player who readily interchanges with Villa and Pedro. Villa is comfortable playing as a lone striker and Pedro's work rate makes him a threat on either wing. Good luck Arsenal.
The Barcelona defense have no easy task themselves. The return of Samir Nasri will give a boost to Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott. Of the three, Van Persie will occupy the center (instead of that ogre Chamakh) and await service from right-winger Walcott and Nasri, who likes to cut into the middle much like Messi. For me, Walcott is the man who can cause the most damage. He has Bolt-like speed and wreaked havoc as a substitute in this fixture last season. One way Barcelona will attempt to nullify his ability is to play Maxwell or Abidal high up the pitch and force Walcott to defend.
I am quite pumped for this match. As I mentioned before, I'm seriously sipping the Barça Kool-Aid, so it should come as no shock that I have favored them in just about every category. I fully expect them to give Arsenal another real footballing lesson and embarrass the Gunners enough to coax Fabregas back to his rightful club.
Força Barça!!!
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