2 takım şampiyonlar ligi tarihinde 6. kez karşı karşıya geliyorlar. daha önce 1999-00'da grup maçlarında, 2005-06'da finalde ve 2009-10'da çeyrek finalde krşı karşıya gelen takımlardan barcelona rakibine karşı 3g ve 2b aldı. 13ga ve 7gy...
having established himself in the centre of arsenal fc's defence following a serious knee injury, johan djourou said he "wants to keep it that way" as he looked ahead to facing fc barcelona.
whether or not arsenal fc succeed where they failed last season and end fc barcelona's uefa champions league ambitions, johan djourou is simply glad to be back on the biggest club stage of all after overcoming a serious knee injury.
alongside laurent koscielny, the centre-back has become a fixture in the heart of arsenal's defence since the turn of the year in the absence of sébastien squillaci and, before him, thomas vermaelen. he has started 11 of the gunners' last 12 matches in all competitions, a turn of events which must have seemed unlikely when he spent almost the whole of last term sidelined with a knee problem sustained towards the end of 2008/09.
reflecting on his situation now that he is fully fit, the swiss international − who missed the 6-3 aggregate defeat by barcelona in the quarter-finals last term − said: "things have gone well for me. i was injured, so i needed a bit of time to come back but i've worked hard and had the confidence of the manager. it was about working hard and showing what i can do and i'm happy today that i'm in the team.
"it was a good point to prove, to show that my knee is fine and the injury is in the past now. i'm looking to the future because it was a difficult time for me. now i'm enjoying myself, so i just want to keep it that way."
whether he and his team-mates continue to enjoy themselves in europe's premier club competition might depend on their ability to shackle lionel messi, a scorer of 43 goals in 39 games for barcelona and argentina this campaign.
"we know barcelona are a great team, and we all know about lionel messi, but don't think it's only about him because he gets great service from players like xavi [hernández] and [andrés] iniesta," stressed the 24-year-old. "from the start we have to be focused and as a group of 11 players we need to get behind the ball and defend all together."
djourou will start alongside koscielny and in front of a rookie goalkeeper making his debut in uefa club competition, wojciech szczęsny. together, the trio have helped arsenal to seven wins in an eight-match unbeaten run which has confirmed the club's status as manchester united fc's closest title challengers, and secured a place in the english league cup final.
"it's great, we're not conceding many goals," said djourou of playing with koscielny, 16 months his senior. "we have a good understanding but i've played with thomas vermaelen and sébastien squillaci, so we have good defenders at the club. we are happy because we are getting good results and we just want to keep that going."
djourou, meanwhile, has no qualms about szczęsny's ability to handle himself against one of the most feted attacking lineups in world football. "he's a great guy and a great goalkeeper because he has a lot of confidence," he added. "for a guy of his age that confidence is impressive. he's very young and looks like he's been in the game for ages so it's just great to have him behind you."
robin van persie and andrey arshavin struck fine goals in the closing 12 minutes as the gunners came from behind to secure a memorable win.
arsenal fc scored two stunning goals in the last 12 minutes to secure their first ever victory over fc barcelona and give themselves the advantage in another high-class duel between these two european giants.
david villa gave the 2009 uefa champions league winners the initiative midway through the first half and though lionel messi contrived to miss a couple of gilt-edged opportunities, it seemed it would be enough. however, robin van persie put his side level with a shot that wrong-footed víctor valdés before substitute andrey arshavin side-footed a dramatic winner.
arsenal had promised a more resolute, mature proposition for barcelona to deal with compared to the team that had almost lost last season's quarter-final in the first leg, going 2-0 down before mounting a fightback. the gunners duly threatened first when samir nasri's free-kick narrowly cleared all his team-mates and carried through to valdés.
theo walcott then overhit his pass to van persie following a scintillating run but the speedy winger was soon back on the prowl. this time his pass found cesc fàbregas who scooped a lovely ball to give van persie a scoring chance at the far post: valdés did well to parry.
the visitors began to knit their passes together and there was something ominous in the space daniel alves was afforded and in messi's hunger for the ball.
messi and villa combined with a couple of lovely touches which sent the former streaking through with only wojciech szczęsny to beat. credit the goalkeeper, making his european debut, for spreading himself and forcing the world's supreme talent to steer his chip wide.
a swift arsenal counter allowed fabregas to loft the ball out of valdés's reach but éric abidal was on hand to head away. it only proved the preamble to barcelona's opening goal, however, messi and villa swapping roles to devastating effect. messi played the decisive pass to put the spanish predator in the clear and this time szczęsny could not keep it out.
van persie sliced another opening wide but these were becoming rare opportunities for the gunners. after the break arsenal tried all they knew to find their traditional smooth groove. jack wilshere fired off a shot at the start of the second half and van persie another 20 minutes in but they were no test for a keeper of valdés's class.
in their desperation arsenal became prone to giving the ball away. it nearly proved costly as andrés iniesta fed messi but once more his luck was out as his shot flew into the side-netting. then the game changed, van persie finding a gap between valdés and his near post following an exquisite chip forward by gaël clichy.
the crowd roared their team on for a second and when nasri broke away five minutes later arshavin arrived on cue in the penalty area to shoot beyond the goalkeeper. there was late pressure on the home team but they survived and now head for the round of 16 second leg with plenty of confidence, especially as barcelona will be without gerard piqué, suspended after receiving his third yellow card of the campaign tonight.
yardımcı hakemler: renato faverani (ita), andrea stefani (ita)
4. hakem: paolo silvio mazzoleni (ita)
çzigi hakemleri: mauro bergonzi (ita), andrea de marco (ita)
arsenal: wojciech szczęsny (gk), cesc fàbregas (c), laurent koscielny, samir nasri, robin van persie, theo walcott (dk. 77 nicklas bendtner), alex song (dk. 68 andrey arshavin), jack wilshere, johan djourou, gaël clichy, emmanuel eboué
yedekler: manuel almunia (gk), tomáš rosický, denilson, sébastien squillaci, kieran gibbs
teknik direktör: arsène wenger (fra)
barcelona: víctor valdés (gk), daniel alves, gerard piqué, xavi hernández (c), david villa (dk. 68 seydou keita), andrés iniesta (dk. 89 adriano), lionel messi, sergio busquets, pedro rodríguez, maxwell, éric abidal
yedekler: josé pinto (gk), bojan krkić, javier mascherano, gabriel milito, ibrahim afellay
teknik direktör: josep guardiola (esp)
goller: dk. 26 david villa (0-1) dk. 78 robin van persie (1-1) dk. 83 andrey arshavin (2-1)
sarı kartlar: dk. 7 alex song, dk. 28 samir nasri, dk. 83 andrey arshavin, dk. 86 robin van persie (arsenal) dk. 29 andrés iniesta, dk. 58 gerard piqué (barcelona)
arsenal 17.09.2003 yılında şampiyonlar ligi grup maçında 3-0 yenildiği inter milan maçından bugüne kadar avrupa kupalarında (ingiliz takımları hariç) evinde yenilmezliğini sürdürmüş oldu.
arsenal 2003-04 sezonu şl çeyrek finalinde evinde chelsea'ye 2-1 ve 2008-09 şl yarı finalinde manchester united'a 3-1 yenilmişti.
