John Evans
Djourou and Song were both fit to play at home to Wolves at the weekend and the news looks good on Nasri as he may even be involved in the Barcelona first leg on Wednesday night. The only player of any real note that we will have out is Vermaelen who we have kind of got used to doing without as he has been unavailable for selection since September. (Ed’s note – And obviously the suspended Sagna)
So many people seem to be over hyping the Barcelona side at the moment and building the tie up into some sort of David versus Goliath type affair. I personally feel very strongly that it should be a tie to be enjoyed and not one to be endured. We are second favourites and rightly so but at the end of the day what a game to look forward too. Surely it is seeing the likes of Messi and co. plying their trade at our home of football that makes being a football fan worthwhile. We will get to see our boys come up against the best in Europe and see how we get on.
Before last season’s quarter final tie against the same team I was very optimistic and I feel very much the same this time round. I am certain that Barcelona’s defence is just as vulnerable as our own backline and I feel that if anyone cared to look at the final 30 minutes of the first leg last season you would come to the same conclusion.
Yes we were well beaten over the two legs last season so all the pessimistic amongst you will look to that as proof that we have no chance this time round but dare to look beyond the bare facts of the result and there is room for optimism of our outcome being more positive this time round.
First point of change from last season Almunia was in goal. This time round we have our younger pole between the posts, I know Manuel had a good first 30 minutes in the first leg last season but come on how poor was he for both Ibrahimovic’s efforts that went in at the start of the second half? How easy did he make it for Messi to score on more than one occasion in the second leg? Who would you feel more confident in having between the posts? I know my pick from the two and it isn’t the Spanish waiter that is for sure.
Point two to consider is the form of Johan Djourou. He has been possibly the biggest plus point from the whole season for me. He has been a rock. Last season in the second leg we went to the Nou Camp with one Mikael Sivestre at the heart of our defence. Anyone not seeing an improvement in this area wants locking up. Quite simply comparing the two players is an embarrassing waste of time.
Point three. Jack Wilshere. Last term we relied on Denilson and Diaby to put the barriers up against the Catalan giants, quite simply that was never going to be good enough at the top table of European football. This time partnering Song we have Wilshere who has quite simply been a revelation all season long. When he doesn’t play we miss him big time. Jack will be like a little terrier on Wednesday night and Xavi and co will know he is on the pitch unlike last season when coming up against the likes of Denilson would have been a dream for the Spanish maestro.
Point four. Cesc being 100% fit this time round. People say he didn’t play in the second leg but scored in the first and that is fact. But in reality anyone with a memory will remember Cesc was a passenger for the whole first leg and was nowhere near fit for the game. He shouldn’t have played in the home match and only did out of desperation to be involved against his boyhood side. This time round he is 100% at the right time and coming to the boil nicely. Which is a massive improvement on the game last season.
Point five. Robin van Persie. Last season was nowhere to be seen, predictably out injured he didn’t feature at all in the 180 minutes. We then relied on Bendtner to do the damage and he missed a couple of sitters in the first leg when the game was very close. Sure he did manage to score the first goal in the Nou Camp but who would you rather have up front? No question as the answer is RVP and he is banging them in at the moment with alarming regularity.
These are five big positives to take with us into the game on Wednesday and ones that will make a big difference to the percentage chance of a better outcome than the tie last season as all of the above listed points are facts not opinions. We are a stronger outfit this time round and some of Barcelona’s best players are a year older and not getting any younger. The likes of Puyol and Xavi would certainly full into this category.
I am not saying I expect us to win with ease or anything of that nature but for us to be going into this tie with a massive inferiority complex is for me selling ourselves a little short.
Barcelona are favourites to progress in my eyes but only just and to be honest if we came away with a first leg advantage I for one would not be overly surprised as for me the Spanish league doesn’t have the same strength in depth as the Premier League anymore. The top two are very good but the rest seem pretty mediocre in my book. With teams like City and Chelsea having to battle it out this season for Champions League places for next season’s competition it does make you look at the equivalent teams in Spain and they do seem to be of less quality to me than the English teams in the same positions in the Premier League. This makes us a little more used to a battle on a regular basis which also could mean our levels of stamina could be superior to Barcelona’s if push comes to shove and the second leg gets tight.
Who knows what the results will be but I for one will be enjoying both legs and if we did win then great. If we go out then we will have fallen to the best team in the competition and still have three possible trophies to fight for until May.
