Barcelona vs Arsenal : Five Things We Learned

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Lionel Messi of Barcelona celebrates scoring his second goal during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Arsenal and Barcelona on February 23, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Lionel Messi of Barcelona celebrates scoring his second goal during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Arsenal and Barcelona on February 23, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)
(Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images) /

2. Barcelona’s counterattack is lethal

Credit must be given to the Barcelona counterattack. They were fantastic tonight. Especially the first goal where they split the Arsenal defense wide open. Neymar to Suarez back to the Brazilian and finally to Messi for the finish. It was Messi’s first goal against Petr Cech in-goal and it seemed to open up the game for Barcelona. It was another classic case of the deadly trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez tearing through defenses. The connection all three have together is something else. None of the players even shouted for the ball to be passed to them. They already knew it was coming.

We’ve seen this all year from Barcelona so nothing else should be expected from the deadly trio. They are the best trio in world football and could be argued as one of the best trios of all time, if not the best ever.

They could have had more if not for Suarez’s two misses, one off a half volley and the other hitting the post. Neymar was also denied twice by Cech, with the last chance coming as a header in the dying minutes of the game, who was great for Arsenal. It wasn’t the best performance by the Barcelona offense but they did just enough to get through this first leg.

Next: 1. Barcelona advancing already?