FC Barcelona vs Arsenal Preview - The Most Important Night of the Season

FC Barcelona would be looking to overturn the first leg result

Once again FC Barcelona and Arsenal build upto to a crucial tie in completely contrasting fashion. Three weeks ago Arsenal was playing some of the most brilliant football of their season and it peaked with the win over us at the Arsenal. In contrast we went into that tie with a sudden dip in the form and ended losing a match we shoudl have comfortably won. This time around there is a simple change in the actors - we had got over that lose and had stinged three tough victories, meanwhile Arsenal had a more rocky ride - losing a cup final and drawing on Saturday. The injury list of Arsenal has also grown substantially in that period - as of now Van Persie, Song and Walcott all have been ruled out. Barca also is matching them for that list with Puyol being ruled out and Pique is missing due to suspension. The last time Arsenal played at the Camp Nou we operated with a make shift defense and that served us well. So there is no need to panic there.

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FC Barcelona vs Zaragoza Match Pics

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FC Barcelona - 1, Zaragoza - 0

FC barcelona overcomes a very tough Zaragoza challenge

FC Barcelona went once again ten points clear off Real Madrid with a hard fought win over Zaragoza. The final scoreline of 1-0, could be considered a bit of unfair but all credit to Zaragoza keeper who made at the final count 10 saves. With Tuesday's match being the most important, the eleven saw some key players missing. Victor Valdes as expected started in the eleven. The defense had Alves, Milito, Pique and Maxwell. The midfield has Xavi, Keita and Mascherano. David Villa was rested and Bojan started along with Pedro and Messi in attack. Puyol has not received the all clear from the medical team and it made sense to give some essential playing time for Milito. Guardiola once again made it to the stadium but looked very much in discomfort.

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Valencia - 0, Barca - 1

Pep Guardiola registered his first away victory at the Mestalla with a really hard fought 1-0 victory. Pep Guardiola has now won at every first division ground in La Liga. Hard fought has to be an understatement to describe tonight's match, but Lionel Messi's 27th league goal put us now 10 points ahead of Real Madrid. Real plays Malaga tomorrow and have a chance to reduce the lead, but the pressure on the Capital side will be enormous. Guardiola who was struggling from back pain in the build up to the match. But it wasn't clear whether it was Valencia or the back pain which was troubling him. But he did look in some pain throughout the match. The eleven picked for tonight's match was Pinto, Alves, Adriano, Abidal, Pique, Mascerano, Xavi, Busquetsa, Iniesta, Messi and Villa. We were playing three man central defender with both Alves and Adriano playing like a kind of wingers.

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Arsenal - 2, Barca - 1; Arsenal Takes the First Leg

Arsene Wenger has finally managed to register his first victory against FC Barcelona with a splendid 2-1 come back from behind victory. David Villa gave Barca the lead in the first half but Arsenal came back spectacularly in the second half to take the game away from us. We have now everything left to do and to make matters worse we will be without the service of Pique for the return leg. Guardiola's plan to sit back and take on the pressure in the second half back fired heavily and we had to pay for that. Guardiola lined up with Alves, Pique, Abidal and Maxwell in defense. The midfield had Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi. Messi, Villa and Pedro formed the attacking trio. Arsenal started with Nasri from the start on the left.

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