Wizard. Genius. Magician. Lionel Messi should have declared at three and been stopped from reappearing for the second half at Camp Nou. Over the two legs he was not the only difference between the two sides, but for forty five minutes on Tuesday night, having the Argentinian amongst Barcelona’s ranks was all but unfair.

From the high reaches of the away section it was obvious early on just how difficult the task of handling this majestic side would be. The Spaniards pre-game warm up consisted of finding a partner and passing it back and forth to him. Simple. It's the first thing you are taught when you begin playing football as a child, yet this is how the European Champions prepare. Once this is transferred to the match, they move the ball from A to B, and then C, finding pockets of space with relative ease, with the fine Xavi pulling all the strings and completing more passes than our entire midfield put together. Stat. Then they are at your back four. With Messi. An early warning came when he whipped one just over the top corner. More was to follow.

We worked very hard early on. With the imprint of our opponents work rate in our minds, we tried to replicate this part of their game and had the cheek to drift away from the script and score as result. Diaby hustled and snatched possession back before putting Walcott through, with the Barca defence exposed high up the pitch. Walcott had acres to run into but too much time to think. He carried the ball with him, which he sometimes forgets to do, whilst a frantic flurry of possibilities passed through his mind. The wrong decision was taken in passing to Bendtner, but the Dane's determination saw him poke the ball home none the less.

One goal was never going to be enough as modern Arsenal do not readily deal in clean sheets, especially against such opponents. As such, even if Diaby had put Walcott through moments later, and we somehow found ourselves two up, the Lionel Messi show was about to get into full swing and we don't have the functionality to deal with such a force.

I've just seen his four goals again for the first time on TV. They look even better than they did live and my hands are held up even higher in recognition of the fact that, sometimes, there really isn't anything you can do. Or, perhaps, not anything that this Arsenal side could do. As previously stated, if Messi wants to play ball, he will. He did. Perhaps he felt he let his reputation down having not had the expected impact on the first leg. He made up for it. The performance was that of young man cementing his position as the finest of his generation. At 22. He'll probably go on to be the greatest of all time, especially if he can carry his national side to glory this summer. By half time, he had all but secured his team’s place in the semi finals with the greatest, quickest hat-trick there has been.

Messi did come out for the second half, but he and his team were more reserved, holding back energy for the important El Classico against Madrid at the weekend, safe in the knowledge their job had almost been completed. We had become an unwanted interference and they didn't close us down with the same tempo, happily letting our back four pass it around each other.

The game was closed out and shot dead by the late fourth.

For our part, which will be largely forgotten, Clichy stood out. Despite twice incorrectly choosing to shoot as we chased the game late on, his work rate was immense as he closed Barca down, nipped in front of his winger and surged forward at every opportunity. Rosicky was poor, and/or unfit, whilst Theo failed to justify the Spanish media's fears about him, despite his lucky assist. He never demanded the ball or beat his full back and they won't be scared of him anymore. His pace isn't always enough and I am fast coming to the conclusion that he is sprinter rather than a footballer.

An unwanted memorable night also saw The Arsenal lead out by Manuel Almunia. He made some fine saves in the first leg that kept us in the tie, and was not at fault for any of the great man’s goals. However, he is lucky enough to still keep goal, so the fact that he retains our captaincy in the absence of Fabregas is baffling and insulting. Twice during the first half, Nasri had to tell our 'leader' to calm down as his rushed distribution simply gave the ball back to Barcelona. In the second half, with us still hanging in there with the slimmest of hopes, his attempts to find Bendnter with long balls were drilled directly out of play. Thrice. There you go Barca, should you not be enjoying your large share of possession, have some more of it.

The armband should be tossed to Vermaelen for the remainder of the season.

No matter how disappointing it is to go out of the Champions League, the pain is eased by the fact you know you were beaten by, not only the better team, but the best. It's a lot easier to take than the last time we exited at the Quarter Final stage. I too hope they go on to win it, although it will be interesting to see if the alternative philosophy of Mourniho manages to contain in ways we are not built to.

The first half of the home leg against the Spaniards had been all about one of the finest team displays ever seen. The same can now be said for the individual performance of the Barca No.10 in the second leg.

FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi. Begrudgingly, it was an unwanted pleasure to have witnessed both.

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