Barcelona will be looking to avenge their 2-1 defeat at the Emirates a fortnight ago as they host Arsenal in the second leg of this all-important last 16 Champions League clash Tuesday evening.
Arsenal triumphed in the first leg of this tie just two weeks ago thanks to goals from Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin. Barcelona originally took the lead early through a David Villa strike but Arsene Wenger’s men battled back valiantly to claim a 2-1 victory.
With injury worries, League Cup heartache and an unconvincing performance against Sunderland last weekend Arsenal will certainly have their work cut out and will have to be careful not to see a repeat of last year’s fixture when the Gunners were trounced 4-1 at the Nou Camp thanks to a Lionel Messi four-goal masterclass.
Arsenal will need to hold onto a one goal aggregate lead at the Nou Camp tomorrow should they wish to progress to the next round. However, just a 1-0 victory from Pep Guardiola’s men will see Barcelona progress to the quarter finals via away goals.
The Catalonian giants are still without defensive talisman Carlos Puyol and his absence has had a detrimental effect on his side after they recently surrended a record-breaking sixteen game win streak by drawing to Spanish minnows Sporting Gijon.
Despite the first leg defeat, Pep Guardiola’s men are still odds-on favourites to progress to the next round of the competition and with Arsenal’s depleted squad and the Nou Camp providing the intimidating back-drop for tomorrow night’s clash, Arsenal certainly aren’t out of the woods yet.
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andym
Founder and chief editor of La Liga Blog, Andy fell in love with Spanish football after a university placement year in the Costa Del Sol. His favourite Tapas is Albondigas and on Saturday afternoons, Andy can regularly be found trying to emulate his hero Carles Puyol for his amateur football team.