Arsenal fan Dan Jones looks ahead to his team's Champions League quarter-final with Barcelona, and revisits that fateful night in 2006.
Looking ahead at tonight's match I feel like a teenage boy before a first date. I'm nervous, excited and scared.
Will I go to bed content, happy and with a feeling of pride and joy? Or will I be disappointed, anxious and depressed?
I feel even more nervous than I did before our Champions League final meeting with the Spanish giants in 2006. That season was not a particularly great one anyway, with us only pipping Spurs to fourth spot in the Premier League on the last day of the season. I was praying a win in the final could be the silver lining.
2006 AND ALL THAT
I decided not to risk the mainstream pubs in town that night, as I knew there would be hoards of Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool fans waiting eagerly to shoot me down should we lose, so I ducked down a quieter place near my home where I knew the Arsenal contingent would be strong.
What a start to the game! Thierry Henry came out of the blocks like a greyhound and should have put us ahead after three minutes but for the point blank stop of Valdes. He was then gifted a second chance from the resulting corner, which he smashed wide. I had barely returned from the bar, and found myself staring into a half-full pint glass spilled by my entire table jumping to their feet to watch the net ripple. It wasn't to be.
Lehman's sending off was hard to absorb at the time, but you can't blame him for the final result. Up until his sending off he had made a few good saves and when you look at how off the pace Sol Cambpell was when Ronaldhino's pass split our defence, I think Lehman did well to eat up the ground between him and Eto to make the challenge outside the box.
Ultimately the challenge led to his dismissal, but it denied Barcelona a pen and the lead.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
When Sol redeemed himself with his crashing header before the end of the half it was party time. We sensed there was a real possibility we may be able to hold out the second half. If you asked any Gooner before the match if they'd have taken 1 - 0 up at half time - and with 10 men they would of snapped your arm off. I've seen Arsenal out-play and beat many a top side with 10 men, so I thought this was our chance for glory.
We set up predictably in the second half to soak up pressure and play on the break and that's exactly what we did.
Barca looked dangerous but Hleb, Freddy and Henry all had chances from counter attacks which on another day they could have all put away. We thought Henry had won it for us with his chance around the 70th minute, but he missed and it ultimately proved to be the pivotal moment of the match.
Ten minutes later we found ourselves behind and looked physically and emotionally incapable of finding an equaliser. Barcelona's patience had paid off and it was a case of Arsenal's missed chances that cost us.
LOOKING AHEAD
Tonight we go into the match on the back of a disappointing result against Birmingham and with the possible absence of Fabregas and a few other key players we are hardly at full strength.
I need not mention the qualities of Barcelona and the danger they present through the likes of Lionel Messi. I think our players need to concentrate on their own strengths rather than worrying about Barcelona's individuals and produce their A-game which is ultimately as good as Football gets when it's there.
It could well boil down to 'attack vs attack' tonight so I certainly will not be betting on a 0-0 (although I would take that all day long!). I'm more nervous on how our defence will cope than whether will get chances or not. Should Barca take anymore than a goal advantage back to the Nou Camp then I fear another trophiless season is on the cards. Let's hope the weather is not the only thing battering Barcelona's stars tonight...
It will be interesting to see the reactions to Henry and Fabregas's return to there former clubs as undoubtedly both sets of fans would love to see them back. I'm sure both players will get a great reception and if i'm honest I'd love to see Henry feature at some stage, especially if he manages to miss as many chances as he did in the final!
- Dan Jones for Football.co.uk
Source: DSG
