Arsenal vs Barcelona Player Ratings

Arsenal were faced with their toughest task yet when they welcomed FC Barcelona to the Emirates. Here are Pain In the Arsenal’s Player Ratings.

Arsenal’s mid-winter period of their season is always where they seem to lose a lot of momentum, and FC Barcelona dealt them another blow, all but sealing the tie with two away goals in North London and a clean sheet.

During the first half of the match, the result Arsenal earned against Bayern Munich in October looked like it could be on again, as the Gunners shared the opportunities with their Catalan opponents. Some good saves from Marc-André Ter Stegen and good defensive clearances from Barcelona made Arsenal settle for a 0-0 scoreline going into the half.

I predicted a 3-0 win for the Azulgrana prior to this game, and the second half proved to be the deciding period where Barcelona turned on their afterburners and caught Arsenal’s defense on the counter. After one counter-attack goal from Lionel Messi, some sloppy defending from Per Mertesacker and Mathieu Flamini sealed the game for the Spanish treble champions, when the French defensive midfielder gave away a penalty. That was that.

Here are the player ratings.

PETR CECH. 7.2. Petr Cech wasn’t forced to make so many stops in the first half, but he did have to make several stops to help resist a second-half Barcelona onslaught. He couldn’t have really done anything about either goal, so it was a valiant effort from the Czech.. GK. Arsenal FC

6.9. Hector Bellerin at times looked rattled when confronted with the extremely tricky Neymar, but the Spaniard eventually worked his way into some Arsenal attacks and ended up impacting the game. Overall, a decent showing for his first against his former club.. RB. Arsenal FC. HECTOR BELLERIN

Arsenal FC. LAURENT KOSCIELNY. 7.0. Laurent Koscielny was forced to be extremely prudent with his challenges against a Barcelona side notorious for earning free kicks and cards for their opponents. A lot of the tackles he made were important, but he looked powerless at times when the Azulgrana hit Arsenal on the counter.. CB

6.6. Per Mertesacker is not the ideal starter against the speedy and precise Barcelona forwards, and it showed when he eventually was taken out of position multiple times by Lionel Messi and Neymar. His second half mistake also cost Arsenal a second goal, and that looks to have sunk the Gunners for good.. CB. Arsenal FC. PER MERTESACKER

LB. Arsenal FC. NACHO MONREAL. 6.7. Nacho Monreal played a two-sided game, looking extremely solid until Barcelona’s first devastating counter attack and then was caught out of position for the rest of the match after that moment. He defended very smartly for 60 minutes, keeping Lionel Messi on the flank – however, it was Messi who eventually emerged on top.

Arsenal FC. FRANCIS COQUELIN. 6.7. Francis Coquelin was clearly someone Luis Enrique was watching out for in the game, and the Barcelona midfielders made sure they were passing around him and not giving the Frenchman enough opportunities to win back the ball. He needs experience against opposition like this in order to step up to world-class level.. MID

MID. Arsenal FC. AARON RAMSEY. 7.2. Aaron Ramsey put in some typical performances, playing great passes and making good moves while still giving away the ball at times in awful situations. The Welshman needs some better end product, though and we have been saying that too much this season.

7.1. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain put a lot into the game with his pace and directness, but his first-half shot from six yards was dismal and his final balls were not nearly good enough. He is working his way back into the game, however.. MID. Arsenal FC. ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN

6.8. Much in contrast to the Bayern Munich match in the first half of the season, Mesut Ozil did not acquiesce to the stakes of the game and looked absent for the majority of the Arsenal build-ups. The German needs to have more impact in bigger games down the line, especially against Manchester United this weekend.. MID. Arsenal FC. MESUT OZIL

ALEXIS SANCHEZ. 7.9. MAN OF THE MATCH. Alexis Sanchez had a great game putting the Barcelona defenders on the back foot, it was very unlucky he did not find himself on the score sheet or the stat sheet with an assist. His work rate was tremendous, and he pressed his former team mates excellently.. MID. Arsenal FC

OLIVIER GIROUD. 7.4. Olivier Giroud made the difference in the air against Javier Mascherano, but he was never able to insert himself into the match as a finisher and that was the downfall for Arsenal in the end. The Frenchman was not present in the box when there were full backs on the ball on the flank, and he needed more heading opportunities in front of Ter Stegen.. ST. Arsenal FC

5.9. Theo Walcott did nothing much after coming on for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, which is typical of his impact on the game from the subs bench this season.. MID. Arsenal FC. THEO WALCOTT

6.7. Danny Welbeck’s linkup play was very good when he came on as a substitute in the second half. He played some good passes and gave a great knockdown for Aaron Ramsey, but no marks were found on the stat sheet for the Englishman due to sub-par finishing.. MID. Arsenal FC. DANNY WELBECK

5.8. Mathieu Flamini made a costly tackle moments after coming on that led to the Arsenal second goal, and when he was on the pitch he did not do anything else.. MID. Arsenal FC. MATHIEU FLAMINI