Champions League knockout stage draw

Originally Posted by The Black James Bond

I agree with the sentiment that Puyol impeded Fabregas, but a red card? I don't think so.
Yeah the more I look at it, the more it looks like a foul. He was sort of running towards him. And I guess it's one of those "if you call the foul, you have to give the red" decisions. 
 
That was in no way at all a penalty, just like last year with Fletcher. I know a lot of you guys on here have a hard on for Barca but they played like complete ##$@ for 35 mins at the end
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What a match! Great way to come back and not give up by the Gunners.
We've got alot of players our/hurt so the second leg should be interesting but as you saw in the final 20-30mins anything can happen.

My man Theo.
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 He always shows just enough promise for Wenger to continue to keep his faith in him. I guess the same goes for Almunia aswell.

Hopefully we come out blazing like we did against Porto and take the second leg.

Go Gunners!
 
puyol and pique missing the second leg levels the field back up a bit, but it's still a big hill.

any early word on cesc's injury? hope it's not major.
 
^ It looked pretty bad. Cesc is my guy but it almost looked like he pulled a Martin Gramatica and hurt himself celebrating or something.
Right after the PK he was limping around bad, but he toughed it out though.

We've got some HUGE injuries to overcome in both title chases, but in Wenger we trust!
 
Barca absolutely demolished us in the first half, the first 20 minutes were just so painful to watch, they just kept coming at us over and over again, even conceding the 2 goals to Ibra, I think Almunia played his %#@ off today and made it so we weren't down 6-0.

Bad to see Arshavin and Gallas taken out, Gallas knows his calf was torn and he will be out probably for the rest of the season now, it looked bad. Arshavin could still walk, looks like a knock, hopefully he'll be good to go for the return leg on Tuesday. Cesc didn't play a huge roll today in the game suprisingly until the final 15-20 minutes and we all came to life. Theo imo should have came in for Arshavin instead of Eboue, when he came in, he showed he was way too fast to cover, Maxwell had no chance on him. Cesc's yellow card was pathetic, but he got injured anyways, seems to be surely out for Saturday vs Wolves, but hopefully he'll be back for the 14th vs the Spuds.

Not the man of the match, had to be Diaby. Absolutely horrible performance today, was lacking in everything and if we have any hope of winning the 2nd leg, the fool better learn how to pass.

That ref today was a complete joke, he didn't impress me at all. He was really good in the CL final last year but wasn't close to impressive. He kept calling everything on Song, like if Song touched anyone and they went down, it would be a call on Song, he must've had maybe 6-7 fouls on him easy.

With the 2-2 draw and Puyol and Pique out for the next leg...I do think we have a very good chance. Definitely want to see Bendtner with Nasri and Walcott up front next game. Have Rosicky, Diaby, Denilson. We'll have to use Sagna, Vermaelen, Song and Clichy at the back. We need to attack Barca very hard at the Nou Camp Tuesday and I hope we can get the result we want.
 
Injury updates on Gallas and Fabregas.


Gallas has pulled his calf muscle again - out for season.

Cesc says he may have broken fibula and might not come back this season as well...let's hope for good news.
 
MNA WHAT A GREAT ENDING....... I swear i thought Arsenal was dead in the damn water.
Loved it.
Barca playing to keep the lead
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Messi was really shut down imo
 
Originally Posted by Jada2001Retro

Injury updates on Gallas and Fabregas.


Gallas has pulled his calf muscle again - out for season.

Cesc says he may have broken fibula and might not come back this season as well...let's hope for good news.


Damn!
Crosses fingers, but Cesc said he thought it was broken so it cant be good news.
 
To be fair I think he is more bothered about the fact that we could win the Premiership but he won't be able to influence it.. Without him and Gallas I can't see us winning the title now.

The match was crazy though, I got a feeling that Barca will go all the way.
 
Fabregas probably broke it when he made contact with Puyol. I wouldnt rule him out completely from the World Cup but it's not looking good for him at all.

SMFH @ the Arsenal staff for letting his finish the match. Dude could barely stand but they let him back out there which could've caused further damage.

Based on what happened today, I expect to see this from Arsenal next week:

-------------Bedwetter-----------
Rosicky-------------------Walcott
-------------Nasri----------------
-------Diaby---Denilson----------
Clichy----------------------Sagna
--------Vermalen---Song---------
--------------Almunia------------

Not a very strong lineup but the club is stretched thin. If Arsenal cansomehow manage to score first then I think they should just park thebus and hope for the best. Maybe put Song back in central midfield and have Campbell play at CB?

As for Barca, I think they need to go back to their usual 4-3-3 with Messi on the right and Pedro/Henry on the left. Their biggest concern will obviously be at the back but they have 4 guys capable of filling in (Milito, Marquez, Toure, the Ukrainian dude).
 
Originally Posted by thekryptonite

To be fair I think he is more bothered about the fact that we could win the Premiership but he won't be able to influence it.. Without him and Gallas I can't see us winning the title now.

The match was crazy though, I got a feeling that Barca will go all the way.

who doesn't ?
 
Originally Posted by thekryptonite

To be fair I think he is more bothered about the fact that we could win the Premiership but he won't be able to influence it.. Without him and Gallas I can't see us winning the title now.

The match was crazy though, I got a feeling that Barca will go all the way.

who doesn't ?
 
Cesc left the Emirates on crutches...hopefully it's not as serious. You've got to remember, last time he was out, Nasri took over his position and did very well, I expect no less from Nasri and expect him to do well. Looks like Sol or Silvestre or possibly even Traore with Vermaelen for the 2nd leg. We cannot let them play with the freedom like today. Can't wait for the 2nd leg.
 
Originally Posted by Jada2001Retro

Gallas has pulled his calf muscle again - out for season.

Cesc says he may have broken fibula and might not come back this season as well...let's hope for good news.

@+*+
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I really can't say thats a foul. Cesc kicked into the back of Puyol's thigh (which presumably is when he cracked his fib?).
 
Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Fabregas probably broke it when he made contact with Puyol. I wouldnt rule him out completely from the World Cup but it's not looking good for him at all.

SMFH @ the Arsenal staff for letting his finish the match. Dude could barely stand but they let him back out there which could've caused further damage.

Based on what happened today, I expect to see this from Arsenal next week:

-------------Bedwetter-----------
Rosicky-------------------Walcott
-------------Nasri----------------
-------Diaby---Denilson----------
Clichy----------------------Sagna
--------Vermalen---Song---------
--------------Almunia------------

Not a very strong lineup but the club is stretched thin. If Arsenal can somehow manage to score first then I think they should just park the bus and hope for the best. Maybe put Song back in central midfield and have Campbell play at CB?

As for Barca, I think they need to go back to their usual 4-3-3 with Messi on the right and Pedro/Henry on the left. Their biggest concern will obviously be at the back but they have 4 guys capable of filling in (Milito, Marquez, Toure, the Ukrainian dude).

That's the lineup I want to see, but I'd rather Nasri instead of Rosicky and Song in the midfield with Traore in the back with Vermaelen.
  
 
Confirmed
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Fabregas has a slight crack in his fibula and will miss the rest of the season up to 6 weeks out. And basically out for WC finals.

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Fabregas will be on the WC team. I'm willing to put money on that. He'll be ready by mid-to-late May and can be eased into the tournament.

Nasri will replace Fabregas for the remainder of the season and I expect him to perform well since he'll be playing in his natural position. The 3 question marks for Arsenal going into next week are who'll play at LW, CDM and CB. I'd prefer Song at CDM but the problem is Campbell and Traore aren't reliable. As for LW, if Arshavin isn't fit then I dont see anyone else on the team capable of playing there other than Rosicky.

I expect Barca to win next week but there's no shame in losing to this team.

If Arsenal score first then Wenger better take out all 3 of our attackers and bring on Eboue, Campbell and Fabianski...use 2 goalkeepers and try to shut the door
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