Messi weaves his magic as Barcelona beats Arsenal 2-0

In his post-match press conference, Arsene Wenger said (via arsenal.com), “Of course I’m disappointed because we put a lot of energy into this game”.

“We have to look at ourselves”.

It was the first of those names, Messi, who broke the deadlock on 71 minutes, after his two partners in crime had sliced through Arsenal’s stranded defence in a devastating counter-attack.

“We are in a good position and we don’t want to give that position up, it is a great chance to get focus back on the Premier League and forget what happened in the last 20 minutes and just focus on what went well”.

“We had an unbelievable chance in the first half”, Wenger said.

“We gave everything we had, and we never gave up”.

If Arsenal are to have any chance of overturning a 2-0 deficit against Barcelona in the Champions League next month, they must be sharper in front of goal, says manager Arsene Wenger.

Messi then took advantage of a needless foul on him by Mathieu Flamini, stroking home the resulting penalty to leave Barca on the verge of reaching the quarter-finals for a ninth consecutive year. “Not because Barcelona forced us but just because we were not technically precise enough in our passing”, added Wenger.

Giroud told Arsenal Player: “It’s possibly the turning point”.

Messi and his dazzling forward partners in crime Luis Suarez and Neymar were restricted for much of the first half by a committed and tenacious Arsenal, who might have led when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scuffed their clearest opportunity. “Overall I thought we were phenomenal”.

“My players individually performed perfectly and I think we are deserved winners of this game. The way we finished our chances is a problem because I felt that we missed something in the final third”.

“We need to build on the second half in which the lads played brilliantly”, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said.

Cristiano Ronaldo rubbished claims that friendship is key to good performances but the Barcelona star insists it is the crucial aspect that makes his team so effective.

However Luis Enrique denied any connivance.

“We’re really happy with the result we got”, he said.