Since the Invincibles of 2004, Arsene Wenger has been striving to create a team whose football is so beautifully mesmerising it transforms into art. Last night, for the first 45 minutes, we saw the standard he has been trying to reach, and it was sublime.

I hoped we might come storming out of the traps, unsettling the Spaniards and stopping them getting into their stride. The European Champions had other ideas. For the first twenty minutes, they refused to let us play with their ball. We couldn't get near them. On the rare occasion a misplaced pass found a red and white shirt, they closed us down quickly and selfishly snatched it back. Their talent, skill, passing and movement is well known and admired, but their work rate without the ball was unexpected, and equally impressive.

We looked nervous, daunted by the occasion, the opponent and the unusually loud home support. None more so than Diaby, who spent the entire night sleepily chasing shadows, disappointingly so after his fine performance on Saturday. Almunia had a great first half, saving superbly from Xavi at close range and somehow helping us to reach the half time mark level. An achievement deserving of reward in itself. Had we been that bad, or were they really that good? The standard answer is 'a bit of both', but in that first half Barcelona were as good as anything I have seen and we were simply not used to playing without the ball for such lengthy periods.

Having survived the first half onslaught it was ridiculous to concede the way we did as the second got underway. Almunia undid his good work with his weekly trip to Almunia land, as Ibrahimovich latched onto a long ball. With too much space and the inviting easy option of lifting the ball over our 'keeper' now available, he accepted with ease. The sight of Song amazed at his No1's decision making for the second time in a week was telling. Ibrahimovic invested slightly more effort in his second finish on the hour mark, following another long ball that found him in a dangerous position, again all too easy. Alumnia didn't go walkies this time, and probably didn't have much chance with Swedish striker's 'Batistuta' finish high and powerful into the net.

I started to accept next week’s trip to Catalonia was going to be more about seeing the city and ticking the Nou Camp off the list, whilst hoping things didn't get too embarrassing.

The introduction of Walcott's pace worried Barcelona. He almost got behind them prior to Bendtner playing him through to pull us back into the tie after 70mins. Taking the ball in his stride, which he often forgets to do, his finish was tame, but happily passed under Valdes. The noise levels went up another notch, increased further with the legend of Thierry Henry entering the fray. Thankfully, he didn't have much involvement, as The Arsenal were finally starting to ask questions of their own in search of an equaliser.

It came via a penalty from 'El Capitan', after Cesc was brought down himself by the then dismissed Puyol. He appears to have done some damage in earning the penalty, which was not yet evident as he drilled home from the spot. It soon was though, and we can only hope it's not as bad as Fabregas fears. "I think I have broke something, I hope to wear the Arsenal shirt again this season, but I fear the worst".

Fingers crossed. Our injuries go from bad to worse, and the news cast a dark shadow over an enthralling night of top class football. We showed great character to respond at two down. Facing such a team, many would have thrown in the towel and conceded the three or four I feared we then might. It was a relief to be level, luckily travelling to the Nou Camp with the small task of 'only' having to win the game there to progress.

Hopes of such will be dented by the absence of Cesc, Gallas, possibly Arshavin and definitely the two away goals conceded. However, with Puyol and Pique displaced by suspension, and our spirit in better shape than our limbs, it's not over. In a game where a Barcelona masterclass saw them complete 533 passes to our 265, you can't really ask for more. A patched up Arsenal march on, having just witnessed the benchmark for Arsene's football ideology.

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