Arsenal’s season looks somewhat all but over, and many fans have come to believe that their beloved team have no chance of winning a trophy. Statistically, that is wrong as the north London side are still in both the Premier League and the Champions League, however, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur don’t look like giving up their chase, and the Gunners are already 2-0 down from the first leg against Barcelona, with a very tricky second leg to play at the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening to contend.
Arsene Wenger’s side have shown in previous seasons that they can beat the Spanish giants, as back in 2011 an Andrei Arshavin masterclass finish sealed victory, despite this being four years ago and the fact that the game was played at the Emirates, there is a slight glimmer of hope for the north London team.
Arsenal’s current form, however, does not give them any reassurance, as the club have only managed one win in their last seven games in all competitions. That win came away to Hull City in the FA Cup replay, which saw them go through to the quarter final, a surprise 2-1 loss to Watford.
The Gunners’ opponents in Barcelona, are fresh from a 6-0 victory against Getafe in La Liga, whilst resting star striker Luis Suarez and are without a loss in their last 37 games – in all competitions.
However, the current Champions League holders will be without long-serving Gerard Pique, who is banned due to suspension.
The tie looks as if it will fall very one sided, in Barcelona’s favour, however, Arsenal should not be written off yet. Even Per Mertesacker believes that the confidence is there, and that Arsenal will attack fiercely against the La Liga leaders, as reported by the club’s official website.
You have to give us credit because we kept going against Watford and created chance after chance.
But at the moment we lack that killer instinct. We need to work on that if we want to be successful in the Premier League and the Champions League.
We were not relaxed against Watford. Even in the box we played and always found good positions, with the man in the right position but we lacked that relaxation even to hit the target. We did not do that sometimes. We missed it too often.
We cannot afford to concede against Barcelona. We have to go there and try to attack, no matter what, that is the only possibility we have. We can be fortunate to have such big game in front of us.
They are the ultimate team at the minute, so we are straight away under pressure and we have to go away from home. I think the confidence is there, we are just missing something.
The season is not over. We play in a confident way, we maybe lack that bit at the end. The desire to play together and to be good as a team is there, you can feel that.
Arsenal fans can only hope that the players give all they have got, and show the desire required to turn out on top. Despite the odds being stacked, the tie is not over yet.
