Arsene Wenger accused Arsenal of naivete after they were pushed to the brink of another frustrating Champions League exit by Lionel Messi's double in Barcelona's 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger was infuriated his players failed to heed his warning to keep it tight at all costs in the last 16, first leg on Tuesday as Messi punished the hosts’ careless defending with a clinical 71st-minute opener.
Messi then took advantage of a needless foul on him by Mathieu Flamini, stroking home the resulting penalty to leave Barca on the verge of reaching the quarter-finals for a ninth consecutive year.
It was a familiar tale of woe for the Arsenal manager, who only this week had spoken publicly of his desire not to repeat the first-leg gung-ho tactics that had played a major role in Arsenal’s five successive last-16 failures.
Read more: Neymar to Suarez to Neymar to Messi – Nothing Arsenal could have done against such Barcelona brilliance
Also see: The Natioanl's Champions League last 16 landing page
“Of course I’m disappointed. We lost it in a way we knew we could not give them,” Wenger said.
“We were extremely guilty. It’s very difficult to take. If we had to keep a 0-0 I would have been happy with that.
“They are better than us, everybody knows that, but we could have won the game if we had kept our discipline.
“We were impatient in the build up and lost balls we usually don’t do.
“Once again, like against Monaco last season, we lost the game in exactly the same way. (It was) naive and that is frustrating. We just gave it away.”
Wenger’s anger was compounded because, for much of the match, he could have no complaints as Arsenal frustrated the European champions with a composed performance that could have yielded a lead if not for poor finishing.
“Barcelona master all aspects of the game and they have the players to punish you. But I felt there was room to beat them tonight. That is the frustration,” Wenger said.
“We had an unbelievable chance in the first half and the way we finished was a problem.
“Then we lost a bit of cautiousness to defend. When you leave a counter-attack that is when Barcelona is most dangerous.”
Now Wenger is left to survey the wreckage of Arsenal’s latest European flop and he conceded there was virtually no chance of a miraculous escape in the second leg in Spain on March 16.
“Barcelona is 95 per cent through certainly, but we want to go there and fight,” added Wenger, who was less than impressed with the way the visitors often made a meal of their response to tough tackles.
“Not one goes down without shouting,” he moaned. “I felt the referee was influenced but let’s be honest, we didn’t lose the game because of the referee.”
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique will miss the second leg after a late booking which followed a touchline chat with boss Luis Enrique, prompting suggestions it was a deliberate move to get a ban out of the way before the last eight with the tie effectively over.
But Luis Enrique denied that charge, saying: “No, it wasn’t deliberate. if you see the foul, obviously he has to do it.”
The coach was much more comfortable discussing his majestic side’s 33rd consecutive unbeaten match.
“We managed to deal with Arsenal’s pressure really well. We are one of the best clubs in the world when it comes to dealing with a tight defence,” he said.
“We have had a really high defensive level. Arsenal had players to do us a lot of harm, but we were up to the challenge of all the dangers they could present us.”
Few would bet against Barca winning their sixth European Cup this season, but Luis Enrique refused to write off Arsenal yet.
“The score is really good but nothing is decided yet. We will have to play really well in front of our own crowd to go through,” he said.
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Afghanistan Premier League - at a glance
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Fixtures:
Tue, Oct 16, 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Kabul Zwanan; Wed, Oct 17, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Nangarhar Leopards; 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Paktia Panthers; Thu, Oct 18, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Kandahar Knights; 8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers; Fri, Oct 19, 8pm: First semi-final; Sat, Oct 20, 8pm: Second semi-final; Sun, Oct 21, 8pm: final
Table:
1. Balkh Legends 6 5 1 10
2. Paktia Panthers 6 4 2 8
3. Kabul Zwanan 6 3 3 6
4. Nagarhar Leopards 7 2 5 4
5. Kandahar Knights 5 1 4 2
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: Hyundai Ionic Hybrid
Price, base: Dh117,000 (estimate)
Engine: 1.6L four-cylinder, with 1.56kWh battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 105hp (engine), plus 43.5hp (battery)
Torque: 147Nm (engine), plus 170Nm (battery)
Fuel economy, combined: 3.4L / 100km
US Industrial Market figures, Q1 2017
Vacancy Rate 5.4%
Markets With Positive Absorption 85.7 per cent
New Supply 55 million sq ft
New Supply to Inventory 0.4 per cent
Under Construction 198.2 million sq ft
(Source: Colliers)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
6.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m, Winner: Mayehaab, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Monoski, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Eastern World, Royston Ffrench, Charlie Appleby
7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Madkal, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
8.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Taneen, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5