Messi, who was scoring against Cech for the first time, made it 2-0 when won and then took the penalty kick to give Barcelona the two-goal cushion in the 83rd minute.
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Manager Arsene Wenger admitted Barcelona are “95 per cent through” to the quarter-finals but Mertesacker said the team will fight, having seen a few chinks in the armour of the five-time winners and proved critics wrong for large portions of the tie.
“They are one of the best teams in the world with their transitions, but we coped with them, kept the game level and then turned it in our favour”, the Spaniard said. I believe technically we were very average overall but the regret I have is that once we looked like we would dominate the game in the last 15, 20 minutes we give the goal away.
Mathieu Flamini fouled the Argentina superstar seven minutes from time and he duly doubled his tally from the penalty spot, leaving Wenger to compare elements of a largely creditable display to last season’s humiliating home defeat against Monaco at the same stage.
“There is always something positive we take from this game and we go to Manchester because we want to compete in the Premier League”.
Thomas Muller gave Bayern Munich the advantage in early in the first half.
Suarez and Neymar also missed clear late chances to make things worse for Arsenal, and the Blaugrana coach told his postgame news conference that his team had controlled the game and knew their work would pay off with more opportunities late on.
“Even players like Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, when they get the ball it’s all about little angles and options”.
“We are Arsenal Football Club”.
Spain worldwide Busquets, who came through Barcelona’s famed youth academy, has a deal that lasts until the end of the 2018-2019 season. “We defended very well, watching [Mesut] Ozil and his ability between the lines. But I don’t think we lost because of the referee”.
They will face the Spanish giants on March 16 at the Camp Nou with the Frenchman honest enough to admit that the hosts will be strong favourites to qualify.
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Lionel Messi finally broke his Petr Cech hex as Arsenal’s impressive rearguard action ultimately came to naught against Barcelona in this round of 16 first leg. “We will have to play really well in front of our crowd in order to be in the next round”.
