After Match Rant.

Arsenal 1 - Barcelona 3.

All has been said, and when Nasri and Wenger officially get charged, all will have been done. I think it was superb to watch Barcelona play at Nou Camp infront of an insidiously dominant crowd and football, and all credit to Barcelona for the way they played (during game time). In between Messi wreaking havoc around the penalty area with pin point passing to Xavi and Iniesta, Arsenal also had the threat of the timed to perfection runs from David Villa and Pedro inside the penalty area. And that's even before you consider Dani Alves and Adriano making diagonal runs inside and taking shots on goal.

In a widened Nou Camp pitch, I still cannot help but ponder how much more advantageous it would have been for Arsenal to have the likes of Theo Walcott in place of Rosicky to take advantage of the comparatively sluggish Adriano/Maxwell. But as we gooners learned, not everything can pan out the way we want. Sure enough, it seemed almost a blessing that Puyol and Pique were unable to play - but what use is that when not a single shot was taken from the Arsenal strikers (or lack there of).

What really pleased me though, was the quality of defending from Arsenal that game, for the first 45 minutes anyway. Tight and well structured (while with a dangerously high line), Koscielny and Djourou continued their understanding and partnership, and surely without their tactical awareness, Barcelona could have easily seen the game out in the first thirty minutes. Big ups to Djourou especially, who has probably been Arsenal's most consistent defender (although that's probably equivalent to praising Berbatov for being Man United's most consistent striker this season). But against a team notorious for possession play and pressing, defending for a full 90 minutes is not a task that is accomplished with ease. Such a feat isn't made any easier when our best Center Defensive Midfielder is out with an injury.

Few things are unforgivable in a match of such magnitude though. A team living in another's shadow, but trying to find it's own rhythm. That's Arsenal. Only annually can such rivals in style be matched up against each other, and it should be a sight to look forward to. But what was witnessed in the second leg of Arsenal vs Barcelona was only a hair short of a travesty.

At the heart of the blame, it seems, was the quality of refereeing in the two sides. Arsenal fans will be spewing for Van Persie's send off, and for all the shit that was let go from the Barcelona scumbags on pitch that night. Barcelona fans will be disgusted at that one foul on Messi that wasn't given a penalty. Certainly though, the quality of refereeing was sub par for the game, and certainly, some of the calls made were bush league.

It's a referee's job to be right, so there's no sense praising a man for doing what he's been told to do, it's rather a privilege for the man to be so close to the action. But when this man makes mistakes, they must be pointed out, and they must be punished with an iron fist.

Diaby's foul on Messi? Straight penalty, no questions asked. The ref was in a prime position to see it, and no penalty was given.
Valdes choking Nasri, ref right next to the action, and no sending off.
Abidal (that fucking scum cunt) choking Nasri and Van Persie, no sending off, ref was right fucking next to it. That's unacceptable by any standard.
Even more unforgivable was Van Persie's sending off. While Robin did seem to break the "Time wasting by kicking the ball a second after whistle was blown", referee's are urged to utilize common sense. The man had one fucking second, infront of a Barcelona Crowd of 95,000. Very weak and despicable sending off.

Ref should be ashamed.

What else?

The post match trash talking. All of it is kind of expected though, Arsenal arrogance from supporters/players met with the same snide remarks from Barcelona players. This breaks all boundaries though.

"Even at 3-1 we only needed one goal and you can’t understand how there can be players that were walking," Almunia

To blast your own team like that. As far as I'm concerned, he's not even part of the fucking team anymore. He's been hapless, hopeless, helpless. The door's fucking open for Almunia now.