Last night Barcelona’s incredible winning run in La Liga came to an end as the Catalan giants drew 1-1 at Sporting Gijon.
Barca never really got going until the second half but all the credit must go to Sporting for taming the champions.
Tight
Sporting used the tactic of pressing Barca and keeping it tight in the middle.
The midtable side are no pushovers but nobody expected them to get anything from the game. For the majority of the match they kept Barcelona quiet.
They could even have been celebrating a famous victory if it wasn’t for one of their ex-players David Villa chipping a sublime equaliser in the 80th minute. It was one of the few times that the home side allowed Lionel Messi any space to wave his magic, as he produced a superb pass for the ex-Valencia striker to equalise.
Complacent
After 16 consecutive league victories maybe Barca thought they would only have to turn up to beat Sporting. Barca don’t usually suffer from complacency but this performance may have been down to a slight touch of complacency.
Perfect
This Barcelona side may be considered one of the best in the history of football but even they can have an off day. No football team were ever perfect and any team can lose or draw a game on a bad day.
It’s strange that I am talking about Barcelona slipping up and they only drew the game. That’s how good this Barcelona side are, that we criticise them even when they don’t lose.
Arsenal
Next up for Barcelona is Arsenal at the Emirates in the Champions League. This tie is without doubt the glamour tie. Two sides who love to play football. Barca and Lionel Messi took Arsenal apart in last year’s Champions League but this season the Gunners are far stronger and more experienced.
Dangerous
Barcelona not winning their last game could be really dangerous for Arsenal. They might have taken their eye of the ball slightly if they had steamrolled Sporting Gijon. However they will now be fully concentrated on victory and lack any complacency.
Scrap
Sporting Gijon showed by scraping and closing down space you can halt Barcelona. However Arsenal will want to play their own game and their strength definitely isn’t scraping and closing down space. Arsenal is the sort of opponents that Barcelona loves to play against.
They like to play free-flowing football and like to have possession of the ball. Unfortunately for Arsenal Barca are the best team in the world at free-flowing football. Arsenal will need to show that steel that has sometimes been missing in recent seasons.
Defence
Barcelona are not just favourites for this tie but for the whole Champions League trophy. Arsenal are in good attacking form and Barca could be without captain and defensive organiser Carlos Puyol for the first leg. At Sporting Gijon they looked vulnerable at the back.
Argentine defender Gabriel Milito looked shaky in the centre of Barca’s defence against Sporting but it’s unlikely that he will get the nod for the clash at the Emirates Stadium. Frenchman Eric Abidal is likely to come in to replace the Argentinian international.
Spectacle
This tie is definitely going to be the one to watch for neutrals. Both sides’ strengths are in the attacking third. And I can see these two teams trying to outscore each other. I still believe that Barcelona will be too strong for the Gunners but it’s going to be a far tighter contest than last season’s.
Sporting Gijon has proved that Barcelona can be stopped. However I fear for Arsenal that the result in Gijon was just a temporary blip in Barca’s relentless march towards the Champions League and La Liga titles.
Will Arsenal knock Barcelona out of the Champions League?
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