Barcelona vs Arsenal

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UEFA Champions League Soccer Round 16 Barcelona vs. Arsenal, second leg, will be played 03/08/2011 at 20:45CET at Camp Nou, Barcelona. Arsenal is wary of another Barcelona masterclass. Last year's loss at the Camp Nou was a chastening experience for Arsenal FC and they will be looking for better in another repeat of the 2006 final; although this time they hold the lead.

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.

In previous meetings, the sides were level after last season's first leg, Arsenal recovering from 2-0 down to force a 2-2 home draw against the then holders. Arsène Wenger's team went ahead in the return through Nicklas Bendtner's 18th-minute effort only for Lionel Messi to take matters in his own hands, scoring all Barça's goals in a 4-1 victory.

The clubs also met in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League group stage. The game in England was played at Wembley where the Catalan giants followed a 1-1 draw in Spain with a 4-2 win. Current coach Josep Guardiola captained Barcelona in both matches while Puyol was on the bench for the Wembley game.

Both Daniel Alves and goalscorer David Villa believe FC Barcelona were the superior team in their 2-1 defeat at Arsenal FC and will prove it when the tie concludes at Camp Nou.

Daniel Alves dismissed the idea that Arsenal's superior physical power lay behind their late surge. "We're feeling good," he added. "Things happen and circumstances change quickly in these sort of games, playing in Europe is different. We had opportunities but we didn't manage to make the most of them. Now we'll play hard to stay in the competition."

After some minor strategy adjustments, Arsenal will hope to defeat Barcelona and move on to the quarterfinals; they certainly have the confidence and have already counted themselves winners in the next match. It will be exciting to see if Barcelona can come back to dash those hopes.

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