Two goals in the final 12 minutes from Robin van Persie and substitute Andrey Arshavin clinched a dramatic victory for the English Premier League side after Barcelona had taken the lead through a first-half David Villa strike.
The result means Arsenal will carry a narrow lead into Camp Nou when the two sides meet in the second leg on March 8.
“It was one of the special nights because I feel we needed to be a special team,” said Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. “ We will go [to Camp Nou] and play our game again because you cannot just defend against this team.”
Attacking Redknapp hails defensive pair
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp paid tribute to his defensive midfielders after his side’s historic 1-0 victory at AC Milan.
“It was a great night, a fantastic performance, we set out how we wanted to play and the players responded, they couldn’t have given it any more,” said Redknapp.
Shakhtar stars stun Roma
A trio of Brazilians gave Shakhtar Donetsk a shock 3-2 victory.
Jadson, Douglas Costa and Luiz Adriano all found in the net in the space of 12 first half minutes to turn the tie on its head following Simone Perrotta’s opener. Jeremy Menez’s second-half strike ensured Roma retained a slight hope of triumphing following the second leg in Donetsk in three weeks time.
Raul celebrates homecoming
Raul Gonzalez enjoyed a successful return to his homeland scoring a vital equaliser as Schalke managed a 1-1 first leg draw against Valencia.
Roberto Soldado’s goal had put Valencia in front on 17 minutes but Raul equalised on 64 minutes.
FAN’S VIEW
Arsenal good but not good enough
Looking at past records, Arsenal are not good enough to win the Champions League.
Their attack may be the best in England but their defence, with an offside trap just about as efficient as a fishing net made of spaghetti, is just as bad. However, now is not the time for collected punditry. Forget that Barca are unquestionably the best team in the world, and that the away leg is yet to be played, the win was avenging five years of pain.
Best of all, the Gunners beat them by playing beautiful football. They outplayed Barca. How often do you hear that?
So, throwing rationality out the window, I can say that this is the year Arsenal will be Europe’s best. In fact, most fans feel they already are.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2011.
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