Match-winner Lionel Messi has refused to accept Barcelona are already through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after their victory at Arsenal on Tuesday night.
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“We will try with effort and spirit”, he said of the second leg in Spain on March 16.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, meanwhile, is now a doubt for England’s friendlies against Germany and Netherlands next month, reducing his opportunity to make a compelling case to be included in Roy Hodgson’s squad for the European Championship.
Barcelona finally made the breakthrough in the 71st minute when Suarez released Neymar down the left – the Brazilian turned on the burners before squaring for Messi, who touched the ball inside before firing into the back of the net.
The tie began to open up as Messi found a rare pocket of space in the Arsenal box but saw his shot blocked by Mertesacker before Suarez drilled across Cech’s goal and behind, with Neymar inches away from tapping in at the back post. There is a small chance, small margins obviously but we could see they were vulnerable at times.
People were surprised it took so long to put Arsenal out their misery. Probably Petr Cech. Possibly Hector Bellerin, who matched Neymar for pace. Its second-half performance on Tuesday, which combined possession with risky counterattacks, was a potent reminder of that track record – and another source of frustration for Wenger.
Arsenal replied with a header from Olivier Giroud from a Nacho Monreal cross that Ter Stegen did well to block as the pace and tempo of the game ticked up.
“They are better than us, everybody knows that, but we could’ve won the game if we kept the discipline until the end”.
“So I really hope, and cross my fingers, that he will win the Premier League the next two times and get to the Champions League final”.
Barcelona is the best team in the world right now. “We will go out to win the return”.
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“The tie is not over, but we’ve got two away goals and that’s not easy to do”, he told the club’s official website. “But there is nothing decided yet, we will have to perform very well in the (second leg)”. “I think the only thing we didn’t fulfil was that we didn’t score”.
