Messi night may force Wenger’s hand.

A defeat in the Nou Camp was widely expected, especially considering how many first choice players we had missing but Wenger will be concerned by the gulf in class that was demonstrated in both legs.

Man Utd, Chelsea and Barcelona have all proved that they are clearly better than this Arsenal side which makes winning trophies a near impossible task. Wenger’s contract expires at the end of next season and he has said that an extension to his current contract will depend on his team’s ability to win trophies. There are a few areas in the team which could definitely be improved with a dip into the transfer market and Wenger has already admitted that he will look to strengthen in the summer:

"We have to add something that is for sure, but we have some time to think about that."

However, there is still hope in the league, which is a remarkable situation to be in considering our injury problems. The time for evaluation will come at the end of the season but there has been a worrying consistency in our failure to deliver in the biggest games in the last few years. Last night Barcelona started well but were not as exhilarating as they had been last week at the Grove. Messi came extremely close as his shot from outside the box clipped the top of the net but it was Theo Walcott’s pace which, as expected, did the damage. Diaby did very well to intercept the ball on the half way line, Nasri picked up possession and slipped the ball through to Walcott who was immediately five yards clear of the Barcelona defence. Theo probably should have provided the finish but instead he tried to slip Bendtner through for an easy finish. Dani Alves had other ideas and raced back to challenge the Dane. Fortunately the ball fell nicely for the rebound and Bendtner reacted brilliantly to poke the ball home past Valdes. It was a dream start but the celebrations were still fairly muted as it was only the 19th minute.

The next two minutes decided the tie. Almost immediately Diaby had the chance to play through Walcott again but instead he opted for Bendtner and the move broke down. A minute later, a poor clearance from Silvestre fell at Messi’s feet and he planted the ball perfectly into the top corner. He had a similar chance at the Grove which he had blasted over but this was the start of a ruthless night for the Argentine. He added two more before half time.

His second goal came after his perfectly weighted pass sent Abidal clear down the left, his cross was not cleared properly and Messi charged in ahead of Denilson and Diaby to pick up Pedro’s pass and finish with his right foot. We could have dealt with it better but Messi was extremely quick to capitalise. He completed his hat-trick before the interval when our shambolic back line allowed him to break the offside trap and he dinked the ball over Almunia with an exquisite finish.

We defended much better in the second half but Messi was still able to add a fourth when more poor defending allowed him to break through and he was able to put the rebound through Almunia’s legs. It capped a remarkable night for the best player in the world and his clinical finishing is something we have really missed. Perhaps if he had been injured and we had van Persie, things may have been different but football is about making the most of your opportunities.

The Champions League is over for another season but the league is still very much within reach. White Hart Lane is the venue next Wednesday and Sol Campbell will be hoping he can recover from his tight hamstring in time for another warm reception from his old employers.

Photo: Action Images

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