debosky:
Kini big deal?

We were arguably more impressive than Barcelona in our second round tie, against a far more experienced CL participant like Porto. Even then, we lacked a number of our biggest guns who will hopefully be back for the Q-final games.

It's all about the football played on the match days not on the talk.

Milan was similarly the defending champions when we played them in 2008. . . it finished 2-0 on aggregate to the gunners.

We fear no one and will enjoy playing Barca.

Besides, if you want to WIN the trophy you must be prepared to play the best teams in the competition.

Well you need to talk up your team. An upset is still a possibility that is  football for you. But to be honest if you consider the style of play and effectiveness of the attack line of both teams, sincerely Arsenal hardly stand any chance.

I somehow feel Arsenal will be  able to scrap a 2-1 win in the first leg. Barca has not be really impresive in away ties by my reckoning.

But the question is , how will Arsenal survive Camp Nou especially the first 45 minutes?

na_so:

Well you need to talk up your team. An upset is still a possibility that is  football for you. But to be honest if you consider the style of play and effectiveness of the attack line of both teams, sincerely Arsenal hardly stand any chance.

Style of play and effectiveness?

Barca has played 26 games and scored 64 goals. Arsenal has played 30 games and scored 71 goals. . . . .not much of a difference to me.

But the question is , how will Arsenal survive Camp Nou especially the first 45 minutes?  

We will survive - we have a mole (Agent TH14) in their midst!!

Hmmn.

A lot of hot air from a lot of nonentities that have probably never attended a CL game in their lives.

CL Football is not about reputations, its all about who performs on the day.

Juve
Roma
Milan
Inter
Villareal

Have all been dealt fatal blows when they were favoured to go through.

Arsenal were unfortunate to have Lehmann sent off in the 06 Final (I was there btw) but still gave a good account of themselves with 10 men

Come on ARSENAL[color=#990000][/color] stuff the haters.

MUMU Chelsea is out too!!

debosky:

Barca has played 26 games and scored 64 goals. Arsenal has played 30 games and scored 71 goals. . . . .not much of a difference to me.

Arsenal fans  

Una sabi talk big talk no be small. what has this analysis got to do what the coming contest? What you need to find out is how arsenal performs against top opposition not relating it to an AC  Milan team that we all know was spent even before they were disgraced in 2008. .

How has Arsenal faired against top attacking oppositons even with this goal tally? How has arsenal performed against the big teams whose attack comparatively do not appear as lethal as Barca's?

Arsenal VS  livepool  (2-1 1-0) scored 3 conceeded 1

Arsenal VS man U  (1-2,1-3) scored 2 conceeded 5

Arsenal VS Chelsea (0-3, 0-2) scored 0 conceeded 5

So what are we talking about?

Debola u seem to be talking out of fear.
You are some1 that I feel should be saying the tie
is a 50/50 battle.

Anyways calm down, the truth really is, arsenal can go past Barca
to the next stage, not a 100% assurance though, but a possibility.

Now enjoy ur less rising nerves.

Dayokanu,
Bragging rights at stake
You have longed and begged and craved for it, now you have it
Whoop Man utd or forever hold your peace. . . !

It Seems Y'all Expect Inter To Progress Quite Easily However I On The Hand Beg To Differ .

Y'all hating at the gunners are aware of the fact that the pressure is not on us, it is on barca; so stop wet-dreaming about an arsenal crash-out, because we've gat two doses of soured beef burger to serve dem barca.

debosky:

Style of play and effectiveness?

Barca has played 26 games and scored 64 goals. Arsenal has played 30 games and scored 71 goals. . . . .not much of a difference to me.

We will survive - we have a mole (Agent TH14) in their midst!!

Yesss ooohh! Bros, you talk am welllll!!!!!

Barcelona to win again

debosky:

I can say numerous things as well - Robert Pires, who was our best player apart from Henry wasn't there either.

Cesc wasn't red hot with 14 goals from midfield, neither was there Arshavin and a whole host of others.

Yeah right - with all of Chelski's 'tactical' play, Barca broke them down eventually. That simply tells you that you must match fire for fire. You must try to limit their dominance, but only by dominating yourself and not trying to stifle play.

Regardless of formation there is a risk of suffering badly - that is why this is the last 8 of the best club competition in the world.

What I know for certain is that Barca won't fancy playing us either so there is no need for the overly negative assessments. While it is a tougher draw than we'd have wanted, it is still winnable over 180 minutes.

From an Arsenal point of view - very negative assessment, yes - but honestly ask how ur defence would cope expecially if Arsenal insist on playing all-out, total attacking football. . . . what happens when ur defence is exposed in the face of Barca counter-attacks _{(& we both know it'll come; in waves or trickles, it'll)}!?

I just think its better Arsenal hitting Barca on d break than vice-versa!

No team has been able to win the UCL back-to-back.If my darlin' UTD couldn't do it,no team will.Am happy Barca was paired with Asznal,add that to fierce competition for the La Liga with Real.




***Barca can't win UCL 09/10***

Barca wont make noise,pep has not said anything,he is only concentrating on Real zaragoza's game on sunday!
you all should chill for now,its on the 30th and we will come back here to come and defend our comments.
forza barca!

na_so:

Arsenal fans  

Una sabi talk big talk no be small. what has this analysis got to do what the coming contest? What you need to find out is how arsenal performs against top opposition not relating it to an AC  Milan team that we all know was spent even before they were disgraced in 2008. .

You can denigrate AC Milan all you want, but they were DEFENDING CL CHAMPIONS when we nullified them - how can they be spent when they won the CL less than a year before we beat them?

How has Arsenal faired against top attacking oppositons even with this goal tally? How has arsenal performed against the big teams whose attack comparatively do not appear as lethal as Barca's?

Arsenal VS  livepool  (2-1 1-0) scored 3 conceeded 1

Arsenal VS man U  (1-2,1-3) scored 2 conceeded 5

Arsenal VS Chelsea (0-3, 0-2) scored 0 conceeded 5

So what are we talking about?

More nonsense - how many more teams were better attack wise than Real when they were decimated by us in 06?

I remember beating Utd when they had the Holy Trinity of Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney, We've defeated Chelski too, and we beat Liverpool home and away this season. Apart from Utd and Chelski, which of the so called top sides have we faced since 06 that we haven't been able to beat?

The fact is, except for English opposition we have beaten all comers in Europe over the past 5 years, and only lost to Barca because we played a rusty goalkeeper in the final who wasn't sharp enough.

The same jokers like you would've said the same before 'ordinary' Rubin Kazan beat them in the Camp Nou. If they can do it, why not Arsenal?

If Barca's 3-0 demolition of Stuttgart is making y'all scream, I can boldly say our 5-0 annihilation of Porto which is a far better side than Stuttgart, while lacking our team's spine, is a much more impressive demonstration of intent.

If any side in this competition can match Barca in competitive footie, then it's Arsenal and it will be a great game to behold.

History counts for nothing - Barca has been beaten at Camp Nou this season in this competition and we can do it. We can beat ANYBODY at the Emirates as well so I have no reason to be overly worried.

It will be a challenge, but it is eminently winnable.

Come 30th, we shall see who's the boss.

.

debosky:

More nonsense - how many more teams were better attack wise than Real when they were decimated by us in 06?

Stop the tonfoollery,dude.
In 2006,Barca,Milan (had Sheva)and even Chelsea to mention a few were better than Real Madrid attack-wise in 2006.You couldn't even beat Chelsea or United that season,what are you crowing about?

debosky:

I remember beating Utd when they had the Holy Trinity of Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney, We've defeated Chelski too, and we beat Liverpool home and away this season. Apart from Utd and Chelski, which of the so called top sides have we faced since 06 that we haven't been able to beat?

Check your stats,man.It happened only once,by the odd goal in three.Starting from 2007/8 when Tevez joined United here are the scores:
EPL 2007/8 Arsenal 2 United2 (A game Arsenal virtually escaped with a point with a late goal)
FA Cup 2007/8 United4 Arsenal 0 (Only Rooney played that game for United)
EPL 2007/8 United 2 Arsenal1 (with a volley-ball spike from Adebayor-still waiting on your comments on that one)
EPL 2008/09 Arsenal2 United1 (admittedly your team deserved to win that one)
UCL 2008/9 United1 Arsenal 0 (score coulda been a whole lot more than that)
UCL 2008/9 Arsenal1 United3
EPL 2008/9 United 0 Arsenal 0
Winning one match of 7 especially when that last win was almost 18 months ago shouldn't be brought up as part of your defence.Your recent record against Chelsea is even WORSE.And if beating Liverpool home and away thisseason is what you pride yourself in,it's quite a shame you're clutching at straws.Gathering loose evidence from years gone by instead of pointing to consistent results against these same teams doesn't just cut it.
If you're taking into consideration incidents that occured so long ago as your points of reference,I wish you well.While I still won't stick out my neck to predict a winner in your tie against Barca,since i think it's a bit balanced,and Barca's defence ain't the most inspiring around,I still think that your claims are not as solid as you would want to portray them.

debosky:

The fact is, except for English opposition we have beaten all comers in Europe over the past 5 years, and only lost to Barca because we played a rusty goalkeeper in the final who wasn't sharp enough.

My friend,will you Sharrap dia.
Who kept the clean slate for 10 games that resulted in the shut-out record in the history of the competition?Was it not the same goalkeeper in the same season?
What kind of oral ejaculation is that?
Let's take a walk on history lane to see if your claim about beating all comers in Europe is true.

2001:Lost to Valencia quarter finals
2002:Did not make it beyond the 2nd group stage in a group with Bayer Leverkusen,Deportivo la Coruna and Juventus)
2003:Did not make it beyond the 2nd group stage in a group with Valencia,Ajax and Roma,winning only one game out of 6.
2004:Lost to Chelsea Quarter Finals
2005:Lost to Bayern Munich-Round of 16
2006:Lost to Barca Final
2007:Lost to PSV Round of 16
2008:Lost to Liverpool Quarter Finals
2009:Lost to United semi-finals
I guess the records speak for themselves.I don't know what you mean by all comers:maybe the 5-nil win over Porto is still having you over the moon.You've lost to Europe's elite each season.Everyone bar Chelsea in that list has won the title in some form since 2004.Why should we believe you that you can beat the big teams in Europe judging from the above?

debosky:

If Barca's 3-0 demolition of Stuttgart is making y'all scream, I can boldly say our 5-0 annihilation of[b] Porto which is a far better side than Stuttgart[/b], while lacking our team's spine, is a much more impressive demonstration of intent.

Tell us how you came to the above conclusion.For an on-looker,the results you displayed will show Stuttgart is a better side.

debosky:

History counts for nothing - Barca has been beaten at Camp Nou this season in this competition and we can do it. We can beat ANYBODY at the Emirates as well so I have no reason to be overly worried.

Who exactly of note have you beaten at the Emirates?AZ Alkmaar and the likes?When United and Chelsea came calling where were you?
History tells us that Barca are defending champs and deservedly so.If I were you,I'd pay them a little respect before you start mouthing off.

Eastbay u r 2 much joo! Ur analysis was on point.d fact is Barca r favourites not only 2 beat Arsenal bt 2 win d cup.howeva dis is d UCL so anything can happen.any reasonable form of human analysis of d teams shud point 2 a Barca victory.wat i'v bin waitin 4 on dis forum is indepth analysis of all d 8 teams left and guys givin cogent reasons 4 their predictions BUT guys hav just bin mouthing off!

wow, i guess its only arsenal and barcelona contesting for a place in the semis. football is a funny game, mind you. most of the people here shouting about how barcelona will take arsenal to the cleaners will sing a different tune if it goes the other way round. all the united fans, the bayern fans and the inter fans are busy heaving a sigh of relief they were not paired with barca. if you want to be the best, you have to take out the best. its a game of two legs rmember? btw, barca have not been overly fantastic so far in the ucl, save their last game. lets just stop getting a hard-on too early before the LovePeddler shows.

Eastbay:

In 2006,Barca,Milan (had Sheva)and even Chelsea to mention a few were better than Real Madrid attack-wise in 2006

Even if they were - we beat a very competent Madrid side that went on to win the league the next season - they were no slow pokes and we beat them. Show me any team in recent years that will stop Real from scoring in both legs of a knock out tie.

Winning one match of 7 especially when that last win was almost 18 months ago shouldn't be brought up as part of your defence.Your recent record against Chelsea is even WORSE.And if  beating Liverpool home and away thisseason is what you pride yourself in,it's quite a shame you're clutching at straws.Gathering loose evidence from years gone by instead of pointing to consistent results against these same teams doesn't just cut it.
If you're taking into consideration incidents that occured so long ago as your points of reference,I wish you well.While I still won't stick out my neck to predict a winner in your tie against Barca,since i think it's a bit balanced,and Barca's defence ain't the most inspiring around,I still think that your claims are not as solid as you would want to portray them.My friend,will you Sharrap dia.

The fact is, when we faced Barca at their previous best in the CL, they only won because we were playing our reserve keeper and 10 men. SIMPLE. I don't care that we've lost to English opposition - we can't face any till at best the finals, so for all intents and purposes, that is IRRELEVANT.

If we can't use examples from so long ago (last season) of what relevance is Barca beating us in 2006 ( 5 years ago)?  

Who kept the clean slate for 10 games that resulted in the shut-out record in the history of the competition?Was it not the same goalkeeper in the same season?
What kind of oral expulsion is that?

You must be a consummate simpleton to fail to realise that ALMUNIA played MOST of that game because Lehmann was sent off early in the game. Kindly go re-read your history and wiki downloads before coming to spew rubbish.

Let's take a walk on history lane to see if your claim about beating all comers in Europe is true.

I guess the records speak for themselves.I don't know what you mean by all comers:maybe the 5-nil win over Porto is still having you over the moon.You've lost to Europe's elite each season.Everyone bar Chelsea in that list has won the title in some form since 2004.Why should we believe you that you can beat the big teams in Europe judging from the above?Tell us how you came to the above conclusion.For an on-looker,the results you displayed will show Stuttgart is a better side.Who exactly of note have you beaten at the Emirates?AZ Alkmaar and the likes?When United and Chelsea came calling where were you?

I said we've beaten all comers in the past 5 years with a few exceptions - Barca and English teams, and a freak loss to PSV. if you can't count to realise that 2006 is the start point of a 5 year period then I can't help you.

Chelski has been beaten at the Emirates, Utd has been beaten at the Emirates, Liverpool have been beaten at the Emirates. Even though they were in the league, they've been beaten. If we can beat them we can beat ANYBODY.

We can judge that we can beat the big teams in Europe from our record against Real Madrid, Juventus and AC Milan. Those are the some of the greatest European teams and no one can countenance that. Porto can lso be regarded as a big team, because even the Utd's have struggled against them and been eliminated by them in the past. Whether you agree or not is your problem.

I don't care about English opposition right now - we are facing Barcelona, not Chelski, not Liverpool, not Man Utd.

History tells us that Barca are defending champs and deservedly so.If I were you,I'd pay them a little respect before you start mouthing off.

History tells us Milan were defending champions before we decimated them - they also had Kaka (the best player on the globe) in their ranks. If that doesn't count then Barca being defending champs means diddlysquat.

debosky:

Even if they were - we beat a very competent Madrid side that went on to win the league the next season - they were no slow pokes and we beat them. Show me any team in recent years that will stop Real from scoring in both legs of a knock out tie.

You are a dingbat!
What is so competent about the Madrid team you trounced playing negative football?
Wenger played 4-5-1 Home/Away in that competition throughout.
He sacrificed Arsenal's expansive football to defend with 5 midfielders and 4 defenders.
Who wouldn't beat a Madrid side with Woodgate, Gravesen, Mejia and a spent Roberto Carlos?

The fact is, when we faced Barca at their previous best in the CL, they only won because we were playing our reserve keeper and 10 men. SIMPLE. I don't care that we've lost to English opposition - we can't face any till at best the finals, so for all intents and purposes, that is IRRELEVANT.

The fact is, Barcelona were the better side even before Lehmann got sent off.
Lehmann prevented a goal scoring opportunity. Collina(the number 1 ref) said he woulda allowed the goal and woulda sent Lehmann off.
The referee bottled it disallowing the goal. . . .The 'advantage rule' shoulda taken precedence.

If we can't use examples from so long ago (last season) of what relevance is Barca beating us in 2006 ( 5 years ago)?  

Don't get ahead of yourself.
Barcelona ARE far better than any Arsenal side under Wenger.
History or no history, Arsenal will fade in comparison to Barca.

You must be a consummate simpleton to fail to realise that ALMUNIA played MOST of that game because Lehmann was sent off early in the game. Kindly go re-read your history and wiki downloads before coming to spew rubbish.

Who asked Lehmann to be sent off?
Whose fault was it that you had a useless goalie who couldn't play according to the rules of the game?
Lehmann saw red cos he deserved one.

I said we've beaten all comers in the past 5 years with a few exceptions - Barca and English teams, and a freak loss to PSV. if you can't count to realise that 2006 is the start point of a 5 year period then I can't help you.

Which comers have you beaten?
You will be very silly to compare league games to Champions League ties with qualification to the next stage at stake.

Chelski has been beaten at the Emirates, Utd has been beaten at the Emirates, Liverpool have been beaten at the Emirates. Even though they were in the league, they've been beaten. If we can beat them we can beat ANYBODY.

And yet he exudes more stupidity.

2008/9
Man Utd 1-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-3 Man Utd

2007/8
Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool
Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal

2003/4
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea

In Europe, there's no Arsene Wenger team that can beat any English opposition.

We can judge that we can beat the big teams in Europe from our record against Real Madrid, Juventus and AC Milan. Those are the some of the greatest European teams and no one can countenance that. Porto can lso be regarded as a big team, because even the Utd's have struggled against them and been eliminated by them in the past. Whether you agree or not is your problem.

I agree. . . . . . .
Arsenal can beat any team in the continent bar Barcelona and Inter(especially under Jose Mourinho).
To put it bluntly, Arsenal can NEVER beat Barcelona, Inter, Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea over TWO LEGS in Europe.

I don't care about English opposition right now - we are facing Barcelona, not Chelski, not Liverpool, not Man Utd.

It's a tough task.
Barcelona are the last team anyone wants to face now.

History tells us Milan were defending champions before we decimated them - they also had Kaka (the best player on the globe) in their ranks. If that doesn't count then Barca being defending champs means diddlysquat.

Same history tells us defending Champions struggled to get past the round of 16 until Man Utd broke that jinx only last season.
Everyone expected Milan to be eliminated that season. All the Defending Champions went down the same way in the same round of 16 games and that includes Barcelona(06/07), Liverpool(05/06)  Porto(04/05), Real Madrid(02/03), AC Milan(TWICE--03/04 and 07/08).

I fail to see where this confidence is coming from.  . . . . . Any team that boasts Nicolas Bendtner and Manuel Almunia on their books at any point in their history, ever, for any reason including under duress from Her Majesty's Police and as the Royal Family themselves as well as the MI-5 should really think twice about preaching to the rest about sexy football they intended to deploy to beat Pep Guardiola's team.

See verbal war, i wonder how the real war's going to look like.

It's not the first time i'll hear 'Arsenal can/will/shall never win #@' and it won't be the last time i hear 'hmm, well, Arsenal won because #@@ didn't kick the ball with his left leg'
Shior.

It's not the first time i'll hear 'Arsenal can/will/shall never win #@' and it won't be the last time i hear 'hmm, well, Arsenal won because #@@ didn't kick the ball with his left leg'
Shior.

Sentiments aside. Sauron, you totally outclassed Debola
with your above Analysis, most especially regarding the
2006 UCL. Final.


If Eto slotted that goal in, then the rest would have
been history.

~Sauron~:


Same history tells us defending Champions struggled to get past the round of 16 until Man Utd broke that jinx only last season.
Everyone expected Milan to be eliminated that season. All the Defending Champions went down the same way in the same round of 16 games and that includes Barcelona(06/07), Liverpool(05/06)  Porto(04/05), Real Madrid(02/03), AC Milan(TWICE--03/04 and 07/08).

Hehehehehhehehe. . . the match should have just been "skipped" by UEFA going by your statement.Infact any match that involves the champion of UCL in the 2nd round should have been tagged a formality.

By same token,we can confidently says everyone "expects" Messi not score against Arsenal since he's yet to score against an English opposition at the knock-out stage  

I fail to see where this confidence is coming from.  . . . . . Any team that boasts Nicolas Bendtner and Manuel Almunia on their books at any point in their history, ever, for any reason including under duress from Her Majesty's Police and as the Royal Family themselves as well as the MI-5 should really think twice about preaching to the rest about sexy football they intended to deploy to beat Pep Guardiola's team.

Haven't they been beaten by A.Madrid and held by Almeria already this season in the league?Or didn't Rubin Khazan beat them at Nou Camp?And please don't come with it's a freak "result" response because i am sure if Rubi had met Barca at the KO stage,Barca will be OUT by now 

Plus the difference between Almunia and Valdes is MARGINAL with V.Ice shading it .Valdes in EPL will be conceeding at average of 6 goals per game.

Debo save yourself the hassles,are you arguing to have a "i told you so moment"?Know that no matter what you say or posit,the JOB will ONLY be done by the lads on the pitch then you can come back and have a laugh(i pray we can have one).

Meanwhile,my hope is on agent Henry and his hat-tricks of own goals before he joins the rest of the team in celebration.

@debosky,
I don't blame you.For someone who claims to be as knowledgeable as you are of the game,you sound like a neophyte.But coming from someone who says fat Ronaldo has won the champion's league,I'm not surprised.
If Lehman hadn't gotten sent off,probably Arsenal woulda won,by your logic.Now Almunia is the rusty one.You're talking as if Wenger decided to field Almunia from the start.
You have a way of twisting facts to suit your arguments.

[quote author=akinalabi post=5723095] pls, is it possible to deposits with recharge card..cos ur shop in futa south-gate is not depositing for us agian