It is here then! The match which promises so much. The match every one - particularly the Barcelona and Arsenal fans have been waiting for.

Arsenal, in their best years in the recent past (a couple of years ago when they were winning domestic titles) were performing very miserably in Europe. It was a very good team but critics said that it could not be termed great until it won the big ones in Europe. This, the performance so far, is probably a couple of years late. It was totally unexpected that Arsenal would reach the Champions League final in the year it almost finished 5th in the English Premiership - some thing which exemplifies how it has been a crazy ride of emotions for Arsenal fans. The ride isn’t over. There is still pondering regarding Henry going to Barcelona (some thing I, as a Barcelona fan am very much over excited about). Regardless of that, the season could be perfect for Arsenal if they do manage to win the Champions League.

There is one problem though - FC Barcelona. Barcelona play their own style of attacking one-touch football which is so difficult to replicate and so wonderful to watch. There is possession. There is passing. There is a lot of brilliance. Add to it, there are a lot of goals - just some of the aspects which make Barcelona the best football side in the world (though Chelsea and English fans might still disagree). Messi might stage a return if he passes the fitness test. That Barca dominated last season without him and have managed to reach the Champions League final despite him not being there for crucial matches shows how the team relies more on team work and less on individual brilliance - despite brilliant Ronaldinho being ever present.

A champions league win would crown the young Rijkaard-era perfectly. It would be almost tragic if Barcelona fail to win the Champions League this time around. It was unbearable when the loss to Chelsea occured last year - it will be much more painful this time around. However, the threat from Arsenal is real. Arsenal has a solid defense and play attacking football very much like Barcelona does. More so, even if they do not dominate possession, a Thierry Henry special can never be ruled out till the last moment when the referee blows his whistle - which means that the match is always on.

Arsenal and Barcelona, both, play beautiful and mostly clean football. Both teams like to go for goals and keep up the attack - which makes the game very exciting and pleasurable to watch. When the two teams play against each other, regardless of who wins, football fans are likely to go home happy. The game is also a chance to watch some of the bigger names in world football ahead of the World Cup in all their glory. Expect at least three goals and some brilliant football. How far Joga Bonito will be applied on the field during the World Cup remains to be seen. A lot of that spirit is likely to be present in a romantic evening in Paris.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 at 8:14 am and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.