Walcott believes Arsenal can make Barca pay

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott insists his side can make Barcelona pay for failing to turn their fantasy football into a Champions League rout against the Gunners.

Arsene Wenger’s side looked set for a heavy quarter-final first leg defeat at the Emirates Stadium when Barca’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice early in the second half.

But England star Walcott sparked Arsenal’s fightback when he came on as a substitute midway through the second period and the Londoners earned a 2-2 draw that gives them hope going into next week’s return clash at the Nou Camp.

While Arsenal crumbled this season when they fell behind against Chelsea and Manchester United, this time they were able to rise to the occasion. And Walcott is convinced his team showed enough character to prove they can cope with anything the European champions can throw at them.

“Trailing 2-0 a few years ago might have caused us to let our heads go down but the experience of the last few years against teams like Man Utd showed here,” Walcott said.

“When I came on it seemed to give everyone a bit of a boost but it wasn’t just me. We showed great character, had a bit of luck and got the two goals. I think it was a fair result in the end.

“We’ve had so much experience of disappointments in the last few years and we just want to go and win something. Hopefully we showed the character to try and go that one step further.”

Walcott admitted watching Barca turn on the style in the first hour was like watching a football computer game, such was the breathtaking trickery from Lionel Messi, Xavi and company.

But he took heart from the way Josep Guardiola’s team seemed to lose energy and focus in the final 30 minutes.

“In a way as a young player growing up it was a fantastic experience just watching world-class players. It was like someone was holding a Playstation controller and moving them around,” Walcott said.

“It could have been three or four nil at half time so to go in at 0-0 was fantastic. Manuel Almunia made some great saves.

“They did play well for 60 minutes but they died off in the last 30 minutes. Playing at that tempo for 90 minutes is hard and we are a fit team. We came right at them.

“Looking back it will be a very good result for us. If we can get an early goal and frustrate them it will be a great game in the second leg.”

Walcott conceded that injuries to captain Cesc Fabregas, who could be sidelined for months with what could be a broken leg, William Gallas and Andrey Arshavin had cast a shadow over the result.

But he is confident the Gunners have enough strength in depth to cope.

“It is a very mixed atmosphere at the moment. We’ve got a few injuries but hopefully they won’t be as bad as first thought,” Walcott said.

“Cesc is a fantastic player for us. We always want him to play and hopefully the injury won’t be too bad.

“But we have players who can come in and do the job. Against Porto he didn’t play and we still won. We have some great players who can come in for him.”