Arsenal Vs. Barcelona 2011: Game Underway At The Emirates, Arsenal With Early Chances

David Villa has kicked us off in London, with Arsenal in their traditional red and white kits while Barcelona strike back with a rather hideous shade of teal. The Emirates Stadium, normally notoriously quiet, is a veritable cauldron of noise - and the home fans will be cheered by the fact that it only took 25 seconds for Barcelona to give the ball away. Granted, the hosts gave it straight back to them with a poor throw-in, but it's been a good start for Arsenal, who were blown off the pitch from the beginning in the equivalent fixture last season.

It's taken less than three minutes for our first minor refereeing controversy - a sloppy pass in the Barcelona half invited Robin Van Persie to intercept and set Cesc Fabregas free down the right, but while the Arsenal captain was dancing into acres of space, the referee, Nicola Rizzoli, pulled the play back for a foul on Van Persie. Samir Nasri sent the free kick into the Barcelona box, where it evaded everyone (Alex Song, who's just picked up a booking for a tackle on Leo Messi should really have made contact) and ended up in Victor Valdez's arms. Shortly afterwards, Theo Walcott showed off his speed but failed to find van Persie with a through ball, while the Dutch striker gave Barcelona a further scare by stinging their goalkeeper's palms after a brilliant chip by Fabregas.