You have to hand it to ITV when it comes to football punditry. They are League Two compared to even the hapless BBC and Sky Sports (in spite of the handicap of Jamie Redknapp). I turned on after five minutes of their build up show ahead of last night’s second leg to be informed Barcelona were playing a 3-4-3 formation, instead of the 4-3-3 they have been using all season, and made great play of it as the first battle of the evening, won by Jose Mourinho.

Great work guys. That’s what you get when Andy Townshend is your number one analyst. Love him or loathe him (okay, loathe him) at least Jim Beglin corrected the error within 15 seconds of the kick off, having probably squirmed when listening to his colleagues’ obvious ignorance of who would be fielded where.

That amusement over, we had to wait a long time for any entertainment. Not that the onus was on Inter to provide it. Long time Gooner contributor Peter Le Beau emailed after the game to give his thoughts…

When I was a kid I saw Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in one of the greatest games I have ever seen. I wonder how many 10 year-olds watching Inter found themselves thrilled by what they saw tonight? Gamesmanship on both sides was rife but Inter were only interested in stifling Barcelona and were the only side I have ever seen who never had one shot at goal in 90 minutes. Even with ten men in Paris, Arsenal worked Barcelona’s defence ten times as much as Inter did tonight - and then Barca (who were poor tonight) get a perfectly fair goal disallowed at the end. So does the end justify the means? Should everybody want Mourinho as their manager? If success is that important you can forget it as far as I am concerned. Success for managers like Mourinho means the death of the game. Wenger and Guardiola might be idealists and naïve at times but at least with managers like them we still have a game left to enjoy.

It is certainly an interesting debate. Others compared Inter’s defensive abilities with Arsenal’s and pondered if a Wenger-managed Arsenal would ever deservedly beat a superior side over two legs. Not that anyone who enjoys the game would have wanted Inter to make the final. It is surreal to think it was less than a month ago that we were anticipating the visit of Barcelona to London for the first leg of Arsenal’s tie with them. Just once last night, I looked at the fixture and thought, if Arsenal had made the last four, I’d be watching Arsenal v Inter this evening. Going on the evidence of the actual semi, it is difficult to conceive of Wenger’s team, for all their attacking intentions, being able to break down the Inter defence. They certainly never managed to beat Chelsea when Mourinho was in charge there.

In fairness, the tie could just as easily have gone to Barca. It was knife-edge stuff. Inter’s third goal at home clearly being offside. Barca’s disallowed second last night after Toure’s handball. From the ref’s angle, I have some sympathy for the incorrect decision as he thought the ball was blocked by an outstretched arm. The fantastic save from Messi’s shot by Julio Cesar (displaying the value of a top class international keeper if you want to win trophies). Sometimes, luck plays its part, but you have to build a platform to take advantage of it. Arsenal enjoyed fortune in their quarter final first leg, but it was too much to ask for a repeat in the Nou Camp. At some point, the basics of defending as a unit need to come into the equation if Barcelona are to be denied.

As a neutral, once Arsenal were eliminated, it was a breath of fresh air to watch the Champions League without Premier League involvement. We see enough of Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool without them taking over the TV schedules completely. Bayern v Inter will, I hope, prove a decent final. The fear is obviously a stifled low scoring game, but it must be hoped that Bayern can score in the first 30 minutes and the game opens up. After the first leg of their last 16 game v Chelsea, Inter were 12-1 to win the competition. I thought the odds generous, so put a tenner on them, without any emotional attachment. Having said that, I hope Bayern win the final, if only because it would mean such a result should be the consequence of a decent and watchable match.

The conclusion of Barca’s exit is not that Inter’s is a better way, just that defending is an important aspect of the game, and one that cannot be ignored. Even if Barca had triumphed, the lesson would still have been the same. Arsenal have not looked solid defensively for at least the last three seasons. It’s something that has to change. The days of European Cup Finals finishing 7-3 are long gone…