Arsenal Vs. Barcelona 2011: Messi Fails To Connect With Riposte

The opening ten minutes were all Arsenal, but Barcelona are starting to adapt to the home team's high defensive line and aggressive press, and they very nearly opened the scoring after David Villa put Lionel Messi one on one against Wojciech Scezney, blowing Arsenal's offside trap wide open. Astonishingly, the Argentine magician failed to convert the golden opportunity, clipping the ball easily over the advancing goalkeeper only to see it roll inches wide of the far post (Laurent Koscielny might have been able to have cleared the ball if it was on target, however). Messi converts those 99 times out of 100 - luck is clearly on Arsenal's side here. Can they make it count?

It they're going to keep making a fight of this, they'll have to be a mite more disciplined in their midfield press. Jack Wilshere's been doing an excellent job applying pressure to Andres Iniesta, but Alex Song and Cesc Fabregas have been a little inconsistent in closing down Sergio Busquets, allowing him too much time on the ball. That needs to be sorted out, or Arsenal are going to have some major issues as the match progresses.