Barcelona & Shakhtar Shine In Tuesday Champions League Action

Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal   (Barcelona win on aggregate, 4-3) 
Well, Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League hopes came to an abrupt halt Tuesday night to the buzzsaw Barcelona side everyone expected in the 1st leg.  Barcelona’s initial match profligacy in front of goal was not evident tonight as they put Arsenal to the sword from the opening whistle & dominated the match to the tune of a 3-1 victory.  Immense talent + rabid home support + getting all the officiating breaks go your way = unstoppable.

Barcelona’s opener was scored in 1st half injury time, though they had been threatening for awhile, when Cesc Fàbregas tried to back-heel to Jack Wilshere only some 30 yards from his goal but it was intercepted by Barcelona.  Lionel Messi soon had the ball in the back of the net & Barcelona had their lead.

Arsenal had made several good defensive stops in the opening half, but in truth, Barcelona truly dominated with 68% of the possession (when they announced that # at halftime, I was surprised it was that low, it felt like Arsenal didn’t have the ball at all) & had forced Arsenal starting ‘keeper, Wojciech Szczesny off with a dislocated finger.

Arsenal were given a lifeline with about their only real foray up to then when they equalized from a corner.  The ball delivered on the corner deflecting in off of Sergio Busquets & past Victor Valdes to give the Gunners a surprising 1-1 tie & lead, 3-2, on aggregate.

However, the match swung full into Barcelona’s favor when minutes later, Robin Van Persie, was sent off for his second caution for this.  Make of that incident what you will.  I certainly don’t know anymore.  After all the curious decisions lately in all sorts of matches, who can even begin to know what officials are thinking these days?  This one, Massimo Busacca, decided Van Persie’s actions were time-wasting despite only being in the 56th minute, so there ya go. 

It’s not like Barcelona weren’t going to score again, but Arsenal’s challenge became ginormous after being reduced to 10 men.  The inevitable goal came in the 68th minute when Xavi slotted home following several Manuel Almunia stops on Barcelona leading up to their game-winning goal.  It must be said about the Arsenal ‘keeper that he played a very good game considering the circumstances he was thrown into & made several good stops to keep Arsenal around as long as he did.  Interestingly, that’s the 3rd straight match against Barcelona away from home that Arsenal have had someone sent off  (the last 2 matches at the Camp Nou & in the ’06 Champions’ League final). 

Barcelona had a 3rd only minutes later when Messi converted a penalty for his 8,456th goal of the season after Laurent Koscielny had felled Pedro in the box.  Arsenal were still mathematically alive at this point & could’ve forced Barcelona to need 2 more goals with another goal but as in the 1st half, Barcelona held the ball for the vast majority of the remainder of the match & Arsenal were more or less left to chase shadows. 

Niklas Bendtner did give Barca fright for a second with a clear sight of goal with only minutes remaining but his 1st touch let him down & the chance was gone as was the possibility of advancement for the Gunners.

In all honesty, Barcelona were the far better team & deserved to advance though the officiating still left a sour taste & it did look like the match official, Busacca, was swayed by the Catalan home crowd on a few occasions.  But, such is life on the road in a big tournament.  Just wish you could see much more consistency in the way officials call matches.

Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 AS Roma   (Shakhtar win on aggregate, 6-2)
In what will be an embarrasing result for Roma even with it coming on the road in the frigid Ukraine, Shakhtar humiliated a 10-man Roma side, 3-0.  Czech Tomas Hubschmann opened the scoring for Donetsk when he got a slight touch on a cross to steer it inside the far post for the 1-0 lead.  Then one of Shakhtar’s Brazilian contingent, Willian, hit a lovely, little curled effort following a corner to double their lead & put the tie for all intents & purposes beyond Roma.  Finally, former Arsenal Gunner, Eduardo, scored a 3rd for Shakhtar when Roma (as they did in the 1st leg) gifted the Ukrainians a goal by some horrendous defending as the Brazilian-born Croatian nipped in to take the ball from the defender & poke home.