A furious Arsene Wenger is confident that his Arsenal side would have beaten Barcelona but for what he described as an ‘embarrassing’ decision by the referee to send off Robin van Persie.
“I’m convinced that we would have won,” said Wenger, who faces Uefa’s disciplinary proceedings over his behavior with referee Massimo Busacca in the tunnel.
Barcelona qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League after winning 3-1 and 4-3 overall, with Arsenal having travelled to Nou Camp with a 2-1 advantage.
Although Barcelona dominated possession, the score was 1-1 before the dismissal of Van Persie for a second bookable offence after shooting when the referee had already blown his whistle.
“Even if he did hear the whistle it was the wrong decision. A decision like that kills a football game.
“Barca are good enough to win in a noble way and you just want to be given the chance to play them fairly.”
Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola pinpointed why exactly Arsenal had lost. “We didn’t allow them to make three or four successive passes this evening,” he said. “We played a perfect game. Over the two legs we were better than them,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2011.
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