I was extremely impressed by Arsenal in the 2nd half. Fabregas had an amazing match. The matchup between him and Busquets was tremendous but I thought Busi gave the Arsenal skipper too much space. If you go back and watch the match you will notice that he was Xavi-like in his ability to float into the hole between midfield and the back line. His scoop pass to Van Persie early in the match made me giggle like a schoolgirl and I thought that he could have scored later in the half on the through ball played by Walcott. All in all, it was an inspirational performance.
You can say what you want about Messi not finishing, but I think Barcelona fell asleep at the wheel in the second half. Unable to penetrate Arsenal's defense only pumped up the Gunners and encouraged them to press for an equalizer and then a match winner. I did not think Wenger's men were capable of playing such a high back line, but they did so with effectiveness. Well, that is to say, Barcelona did not take advantage of the high back line like they should have. Messi's incredulous miss inside 15 minutes came as a result of poor possession and miscommunication between Koscielny and Djourou. Villa's goal? Also from a lapse in defense between the aforementioned center backs. Wenger clearly recognized this and remedied the situation by playing Wilshire and Song in front of the defense to prevent the deadly through passes.
As suspected, Walcott's speed was a serious problem for the Barcelona defense. I feel that Arsenal reveled in the opportunity to play underdogs. Not expected to attack all-out like they normally have to in the EPL, the London team were able to sit back and hit the Catalans on the break. Walcott was finally able to use his greatest asset: his speed. Running with the ball at the Barcelona defense Pique, Abidal, Maxwel and Dani Alves looked terrified. They had no idea what to do with him and that was evident when they did not step up and force the England winger into making an early decision. Walcott is not Ronaldo people. His speed is special but his ball skills and passing are not. Someone in that back line needs to step up and challenge Theo - then see what he does.
Congrats to Arsenal and their fans. They were the better team for 90 minutes and fully deserved the win. That said, I fully expect Barcelona to be lifted by the Cule (who never lift their cules!) and take care of business at home. At the end of the day, Wenger's team are still weak in the defense and I do not think the Gaul has the gall to "park the buss" a la Jose Mourinho.
Tomorrow I will be over this match - I promise.
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