Arsenal (1) 2 - 4 (2) BarcelonaWembley Stadium, Tuesday 19th October 1999UEFA Champions League, first group stage, match 4Preview
Report
Result : Arsenal (1) 4 Barcelona (2) 4
Scorers: Bergkamp 44, Overmars 84 Rivaldo 15 pen, Luis Enrique 15,
Luis Figo 56, Cocu 69
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Adams; Vieira, Ljungberg,
Parlour, Overmars; Bergkamp, Kanu
Subs: Upson (Keown 73), Suker (Ljungberg 75), Henry (Kanu 75),
Luzhny, Silvinho, Vivas, Manninger
Booked: Parlour, Dixon
Barcelona: Arnau, Abelardo, Bogarde, Sergi, Reiziger, Guardiola,
Luis Enrique, Cocu, Rivaldo, Figo, Kluivert
Subs: Gabri (Luis Enrique 69), Zenden (Cocu 90),
Dehu (Guardiola 90), Litmanen, Dani, Puyol, Hesp
Booked: Figo, Arnau, Abelardo
Att: 73091
Ref: Urs Meier (Switzerland)
A fantastic game of football at Wembley last night, hard though it might
be for Arsenal fans to appreciate it as the Gunners just couldn't
overcome the 2 goal start handed to Barcelona by a combination of bad
luck, bad refereeing and bad defending. It was a game of many chances at
both ends which could easily have finished 6-6, though the cliched
metaphor might characterise it as the Spanish matador picking off the
English bull, from the way Barcelona's incisive counter attacks sliced
through Arsenal's defence. That would be to tell only part of the story
though.
Arsenal started off quite well, Kanu nicking the ball off Guardiola only to be stopped by the Barca captain cynically pulling him back, and the Gunners proceeded to have the better possession in the opening spell. However, the tone of the match was really set in the 13th minute. Luis Enrique's lovely first time return pass sent Cocu through down the middle, Keown was slow to react and Adams was forced to come across with a desperate tackle on the edge of the area. Cocu touched the ball past him and then went down in the area, and I must admit my first thought from 100yds away was penalty. However, Adams' furious reaction and later viewing of a TV replay made it clear Cocu had dived, and what's more the challenge may have been outside the area. The man that mattered though decided it was a penalty, and Rivaldo stroked it perfectly home despite Seaman getting close to it. Less than a minute later it was two. Arsenal lost possession from the kickoff (I think it was Kanu, the only time he did give the ball away the whole match), Winterburn missed his attempt to intercept in front of Figo, and the latter's flick sent Luis Enrique clear down the inside right channel. With Keown off the pitch receiving treatment for an injury sustained during the penalty incident, Arsenal hadn't had time to reorganise and Adams was left covering two players as Barcelona broke with lightening speed. He slipped as he went to challenge Enrique which left the Spaniard a clear run into the area, and he finished superbly, slotting the ball beyond Seaman and just inside the far post. A demoralising blow which would have killed off most teams. Not Arsenal, led by Adams they came roaring back and dominated the rest of the half. The captain headed over from Overmars' short chipped cross from the left, and then Ljungberg was put through by Kanu's pass but Arnau made a good block at his feet. Soon afterwards Adams should have pulled a goal back for Arsenal. Kanu did brilliantly down the left and his cross from the byline picked out Overmars near the penalty spot. The winger's left foot volley was superbly saved by Arnau but the rebound fell to Adams lurking on the 6yd line at the far post. It seemed he couldn't miss the open goal, but he mistimed a left foot volley which allowed the keeper to get back and make an incredible save, palming the ball onto the roof of the net. At the other end Barcelona broke briefly out of defence, and very nearly added to their score. Figo cut in from the left and hit a tremendous shot from just outside the area which Seaman tipped onto the post and the ball rebounded out to safety. Arsenal surged back, and a great run from Vieira ended with a lovely pass for Parlour to run onto, but the ball ran away from his attempt to take it in his stride as he broke through the middle. Vieira then went close with a 20 yard volley, and finally a couple of minutes before half time the pressure told. Parlour's pass found Kanu to the left of the area, and he hooked a first time cross towards Bergkamp in the middle. The Dutch master produced a quite brilliant first touch, his right foot cushioning the ball perfectly into his path and bamboozling his marker Abelardo, and his left foot stroked it past Arnau and into the corner of the net. Barcelona and Wembley were rocking, and amid a deafening noise Arsenal twice went close to equalising before half time. First a lovely flighted ball, I think from Bergkamp, found Ljungberg running into the area, but a defender deflected his volley over the bar. The corner was only half cleared to Dixon at the edge of the box, but his volley whistled narrowly wide of the upright. The half time whistle came at the wrong time for Arsenal, and it seemed in the opening moments of the 2nd half their minds were still in the dressing room. Twice Barcelona came close to scoring, most notably when Kluivert's cross from the left found Figo ghosting into the area between Winterburn and Adams, but fortunately he put his header just wide of the post. Arsenal eventually got themselves back together again though and started exerting pressure at the other end. Another exquisite Bergkamp pass seemed to have set up Ljungberg for the equaliser, but Arnau again did superbly coming out quickly to force the Swede wide and then block his eventual shot. At the other end though Arsenal were leaving gaps, and Barcelona took full advantage 10 minutes into the half. Guardiola floated a lovely pass forward to find Kluivert, Keown managed to hold him up and Dixon got back to get in a tackle. Unfortunately he succeeded only in playing the ball beyond Adams for Figo to run onto on the blind side. Seaman got a hand to his shot from just inside the area but unluckily didn't get enough of a deflection to stop the ball going in. At this stage, even two goals down there was still a feeling that Arsenal could get back into it. They weren't helped by the ref though, who turned down what looked 2 definite penalties soon afterwards. First Kanu's cross from the right struck Cocu on the arm as he put his arms up seemingly in self-preservation (still deliberate though, surely?). The sense of injustice was almost compounded when Barcelona broke up the other end and Kluivert was left with only Seaman to beat. Fortunately he went for the spectacular and his attempt to bend it in with the outside of his right foot went horribly wide. Kanu later had another penalty appeal turned down when he appeared to be blatantly hauled down in the area by Sergi as he attempted to bring down a chip forward by Winterburn. In between times Bergkamp had a good chance to pull a goal back when Overmars' chip sent him clear of the defence on the left, but he was left with a difficult angle and his left foot shot, though well struck, drifted wide of the far post. The Dutch master then brilliantly got past Guardiola wide on the right and pulled the ball back into the area towards Dixon. The veteran fullback mishit his volley, the ball squirted on to Vieira at the far post, but he couldn't control the ball well enough to get in a shot, and his eventual chipped cross back was headed clear. The killer 4th goal arrived midway through the half. Guardiola again sent a superb pass down the middle to pick out Cocu's run and the Dutch midfielder hit an early shot which seemed to surprise Seaman and zipped unerringly into the far corner. The injured Keown was soon replaced by Upson, and soon afterwards Suker and Henry replaced Kanu and Ljungberg. It was Suker who laid on Arsenal's consolation 2nd goal 6 minutes from time. Bergkamp's overhit cross from the right was collected on the left by Overmars and he played it back into the middle to find Suker. The Croatian produced a quite exquisite backheel to find Overmars as he continued his run into the middle and the Flying Dutchman slipped the ball between Arnau and the near post from a tight angle. Arsenal strove manfully to get another goal back, but the closest they came was from another apparently good penalty shout when Adams seemed to be chopped down just inside the area by Bogarde as he chased a ball down the inside right channel. Suprisingly I wasn't as disappointed at the final whistle as I normally would be after a defeat of such apparent magnitude. I thought Arsenal played very well overall, particularly going forward, though the defence did look somewhat frail at times. Credit Barcelona's brilliant counter attacking partly for that. My naive analysis was that they outdid us tactically when they attacked - Kluivert was their only out and out striker, and with Rivaldo and Figo wide of him, Luis Enrique and particularly Figo found a lot of space between Arsenal's defence and midfield. However, that must have in part been due to the fact that Arsenal were forced to leave themselves exposed as they chased the game having gone 2 goals down so early.
Seaman 7.0 Apart from the goals and the one he tipped onto the
post, he only had a couple of shots straight at him to
deal with. Personally I think it would be harsh to
blame him for any of the goals.
Winterburn 6.5 As determined and committed as ever, but I thought he
was consistently beaten by Figo until the last 20
minutes or so. Not on the ground but by being beaten
to the ball.
Dixon 7.0 Did reasonably well overall and kept Rivaldo fairly
quiet.
Adams 6.5 Not his best game, though he was unlucky for the two
opening goals, and thereafter was trying desperately to
atone.
Keown 6.5 Never entirely comfortable, not sure whether the injury
was affecting him.
Vieira 8.0 Some typically superb moments and on the whole
dominated midfield, though there was an early period
when he was very quiet.
Parlour 7.0 I thought he played ok when he had the ball, but he did
seem to be caught out of position frequently.
Ljungberg 7.5 Another good and busy game at Wembley, and consistently
made some good forward runs.
Overmars 6.5 Had quite a good first half but seemed to disappear for
much of the 2nd.
Bergkamp 9.0 Right back at his imperious best, comfortably his most
influential game of the season.
Kanu 8.5 Also had a great game overall, held on to possession,
won a lot in the air.
Upson Did well in the short time he was on.
Suker Created Overmars' goal beautifully and otherwise put
himself about well.
Henry Didn't really get hold of the ball.
Derek
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