Twenty minutes into the first half, and we have our first possession numbers - Arsenal are at 40%, Barcelona at 60%. You could probably count the number of times Arsenal have been below 50% possession this year on one hand, and the visiting team have just made their superiority show thanks to a pretty finish from Spain striker David Villa. Lionel Messi did the grunt work this time, battling through a host of defenders before springing Arsenal's offside trap to the onrushing Villa, who slotted the ball under Wojciech Scezney and into the net. Suspicions of offside about that one, but the goal stands and it's 1-0 Barcelona.
Arsenal Vs. Barcelona 2011: David Villa Opens The Scoring
Arsenal aren't just rolling over, and they've looked plenty dangerous on the counterattack (Robin van Persie has had some excellent chances and Jack Wilshere's been excellent at directing play), but they very nearly managed to concede again shortly after Villa's goal, with a scramble inside the box almost being tucked home by Pedro inside the six yard box. The combined efforts of three red shirts saw the ball eventually cleared. Speaking of red, I wouldn't be terrible surprised if we saw a sending off tonight - Song is already on his very last warning just 30 minutes into the match, and Samir Nasri has also picked up a booking. Barcelona are dangerous enough when it's 11 vs. 11, and the last thing the home side needs is to go down a man.
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