Arsenal lead at the break.

[Lowie01]

Despite the sending off of Mad Jens, I thought the final was quite a good spectacle, although I probably wouldn't be saying that if Barcelona were up at half time instead of Arsenal.

I missed most of the first half, woke up about the 42nd minute and saw Almunia in goal, but on replay I thought the ref should have allowed the Giuly goal and kept Mad Jens on. Being a goal down would have been a sufficient punishment for Arsenal.

The key part of the game was from about the 55th to 70th minute. Arsenal had at least three fantastic chances to take a 2-0 lead, and I reckon they would have been to hard to overhaul. Once Eto'o got the equaliser, Arsenal were always going to lose, as they simply wouldn't have been able to withstand the remaining time (including any potential extra time). Rijkaard should take a lot of the credit - Iniesta (who should have started ahead of Van Bommel) was excellent, Larsson's touch sublime and Belletti the unlikely hero.

As for the complaints of biased commentary, SBS were taking the Sky Sports call, so what would you expect? Of course they're going to favour the English team, and SBS should have realised that before Foster opened his mouth.

 

[DB10]

Especially since it's Martin Tyler.

Everyone knows he's an Arsenal man.

 

[Lowie01]

Especially since it's Martin Tyler.

Everyone knows he's an Arsenal man.

He says he supports Woking.

Although it's widely known he carries a torch for the Arsenal. But I can't recall that ever coming through in his commentary.

 

[Lowie01]

My respect for Sammy Eto'o has just grown:

We saw Liverpool recover last year from three goals down and we knew it was never over, we always thought we could win. You can have doubt in a final but at half-time we remembered the spirit of Liverpool and we knew we had to keep going and keep trying and trying."

We are just so inspirational.

Also, as if Celtic supporters needed more reason to love Henrik Larsson, he's just helped Celtic go staright into the group stage of next season's CL.

 

[trent]

After watching the game this morning i must say i am absolutley gutted! From where we were at the 60th minute mark to go on and lose was just heart breaking. Full credit to Barcelona for winning but they did NOT deserve to win! The courage and heart that our boys (arsenal) showed to play with 10 men and match a side like that should be honoured. The sending off of argubaly the best keeper in the world was the turning point of the match...with Henry's miss in the third minute of play it was enivatble that it was NOT Arsenal's day. So many times did the referee let things go and not give cards when they should of! Arsenal should feel absolutely robbed out of the Champions League title! I know im not the only one who feels this way and i know like me this loss will be a burden on Arsenal's fans hearts for a long time to come......

 

[Kompany]

Arsenal should feel absolutely robbed out of the Champions League title!

Keep em coming

 

[Borgsta]

After watching the game this morning i must say i am absolutley gutted! From where we were at the 60th minute mark to go on and lose was just heart breaking. Full credit to Barcelona for winning but they did NOT deserve to win! The courage and heart that our boys (arsenal) showed to play with 10 men and match a side like that should be honoured. The sending off of argubaly the best keeper in the world was the turning point of the match...with Henry's miss in the third minute of play it was enivatble that it was NOT Arsenal's day. So many times did the referee let things go and not give cards when they should of! Arsenal should feel absolutely robbed out of the Champions League title! I know im not the only one who feels this way and i know like me this loss will be a burden on Arsenal's fans hearts for a long time to come......

haha come off it mate. I doffed my cap before because it was so close to the end of the game. You've had 15 hours and you are being an absolute loser and are wrong to top it all off.

 

[ALwaysNorth]

Just shattering.

We were absolutely dead on our feet after fifty minutes. After playing eight matches in April - some under incredible pressure such as the Spurs game, Juventus away etc - we were spent both physically and mentally. It was only a matter of time until Barcelona equalised. The Arsenal boys could barely string a pass together and as soon that second went in we had no hope..

I don't want to kick you when your down but Arsenal haven't been putting out in EPL games for three months and Barcelona have had to perform week in week out , AC Milan home and away , Benfica home and away , Real Madrid , Villareal, Espanyol and Sevilla since March 28 makes for a tougher 7 weeks than the Gunners .

 

[sainter]

After watching the game this morning i must say i am absolutley gutted! From where we were at the 60th minute mark to go on and lose was just heart breaking. Full credit to Barcelona for winning but they did NOT deserve to win! The courage and heart that our boys (arsenal) showed to play with 10 men and match a side like that should be honoured. The sending off of argubaly the best keeper in the world was the turning point of the match...with Henry's miss in the third minute of play it was enivatble that it was NOT Arsenal's day. So many times did the referee let things go and not give cards when they should of! Arsenal should feel absolutely robbed out of the Champions League title! I know im not the only one who feels this way and i know like me this loss will be a burden on Arsenal's fans hearts for a long time to come......

The refereeing was poor but I wouldn't think a lot of Arsenal supporters would feel that way.

The goal to Giuly should have counted and the Campbell goal came about from a free kick outside the box that shouldn't have been given.

I'd agree that they copped a raw deal around the ground and were harshly dealt with but Barcelona were the best team in Europe and deservedly won.

In any case most people would have admired the way the Gunners went about things last night. Really courageous effort. I know I hoped they would hold on but the better team on the night (and for the past two seasons) won.

 

[jod23]

It's so harsh to get so close and then lose. Arsenal will be forgotten. Their name wont be on the trophy and it wont be in the record books. It's a tough pill to swallow, also given the fact that they have never been further than the quarters. It's different for say an AC Milan who seem to get the semi's or final most years. For Arsenal this was really there first ever real shot at it in there long and illustrious history.

And to lose. Well that's tough and I kinda feel for them. Im not an Arse supporter but it must frustrate them to know their big English rivals like Man U and Liverpool have climbed that mountain more than once. Yet they havent been able to.

Very tough and I think all the BF supporters are taking it really well which is good as I know how painful it is. Trust me I know... half time last year I knew all about that pain. Lucky for me, we turned it round, unlucky for you guys you couldnt.

 

[jod23]

Re-reading my post above it was supposed to be a compliment to the Arsenal supporters but it sounds like im digging the boot in. Didnt come out right at all I think. Maybe you lot know what i mean.

 

[DB10]

I don't want to kick you when your down but Arsenal haven't been putting out in EPL games for three months

That's just ridiculous, how on earth have the Arsenal not "been putting out in EPL games for three months"? We were the ones fighting tooth and nail to make sure we finished fourth all the while playing some incredibly difficult games in Europe.

Since March 28th we played, among other lesser teams:

Juventus (twice)
Manchester United (away)
Portsmouth (away, never easy)
Villarreal (twice)
Tottenham (home)
Wigan (home, tough opposition, emotional aspect of the final day of Highbury gleefully ignored)
Barcelona

Give me a f**king break that we've hardly been putting in. That just smacks of disrespect for the amount of games we played in the last seven weeks and the physical and mental effort that went into it.

 

[trent]

haha come off it mate. I doffed my cap before because it was so close to the end of the game. You've had 15 hours and you are being an absolute loser and are wrong to top it all off.

Your pathetic....
Arsenal were not playing against Barcelona FC but they were playing against the REF! Samuel Eto'o's goal in the 76th minute was as offside as they come and and absolute disgrace it wasnt called! The referee did not do his job. No disresepct to Barcelona but we played better then them when it was 11 against 11. We can be proud of what we achieved but the refereeing was horrendous! It is difficult to accpet losing the game on a poor decsion! The goal was OFFSIDE and it was proven on televsion! I personally dont think the best team won....even with 10 they were rarely dangerous and created little!
This loss is a cruel one which will haunt myself and Arsenal fans for decades...

 

[BarcaRulz]

Your pathetic....
Arsenal were not playing against Barcelona FC but they were playing against the REF! Samuel Eto'o's goal in the 76th minute was as offside as they come and and absolute disgrace it wasnt called! The referee did not do his job. No disresepct to Barcelona but we played better then them when it was 11 against 11. We can be proud of what we achieved but the refereeing was horrendous! It is difficult to accpet losing the game on a poor decsion! The goal was OFFSIDE and it was proven on televsion! I personally dont think the best team won....even with 10 they were rarely dangerous and created little!
This loss is a cruel one which will haunt myself and Arsenal fans for decades...

You are the one thats pathetic... Etoo's goal was not an offside, but thats beside the point i want to make right now, which is that the ref was crap, but he wasnt being crap towards one team..

I would very much like the 1-0 lead on the 18th minute, i would also like to not conceed a goal from a phantom free kick, in which the player that dived went down like he was being shot.

You might want to be careful about what you say.

 

[trent]

You are the one thats pathetic... Etoo's goal was not an offside, but thats beside the point i want to make right now, which is that the ref was crap, but he wasnt being crap towards one team..

I would very much like the 1-0 lead on the 18th minute, i would also like to not conceed a goal from a phantom free kick, in which the player that dived went down like he was being shot.

You might want to be careful about what you say.

Typical response of a "winning teams" fan
You have your cup so neck up!

 

[Kompany]

Stop crying like a baby or start supporting Chelsea trent

 

[BarcaRulz]

And you are a typical sour fan from the 'losing team'.. Would think you would take it a bit better then that seing as Arsenal nearly came close..

Blaming the ref, fair enough, but at least make sure he wasn't as crap for the other team as well.

Have fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdwuFUMZvYo&search=barca

 

[ALwaysNorth]

That's just ridiculous, how on earth have the Arsenal not "been putting out in EPL games for three months"? We were the ones fighting tooth and nail to make sure we finished fourth all the while playing some incredibly difficult games in Europe.

Since March 28th we played, among other lesser teams:

Juventus (twice)
Manchester United (away)
Portsmouth (away, never easy)
Villarreal (twice)
Tottenham (home)
Wigan (home, tough opposition, emotional aspect of the final day of Highbury gleefully ignored)
Barcelona

Give me a f**king break that we've hardly been putting in. That just smacks of disrespect for the amount of games we played in the last seven weeks and the physical and mental effort that went into it.

Wigan and Portsmouth ! Geez players spend plenty of sleepless nights before those two .

Wed. 1 Final Arsenal 2 - 3 West Ham
Sat. 4 Final Birmingham 0 - 2 Arsenal
Sat. 11 Final Arsenal 1 - 1 Bolton
Tue. 14 Final Liverpool 1 - 0 Arsenal
Sat. 25 Final Blackburn 1 - 0 Arsenal
Sat. 4 Final Fulham 0 - 4 Arsenal
Sun. 12 Final Arsenal 2 - 1 Liverpool
Sat. 18 Final Arsenal 3 - 0 Charlton
Sat. 1 Final Arsenal 5 - 0 Aston Villa
Sun. 9 Final Man Utd 2 - 0 Arsenal
Wed. 12 Final Portsmouth 1 - 1 Arsenal
Sat. 15 Final Arsenal 3 - 1 West Brom
Sat. 22 Final Arsenal 1 - 1 Tottenham
Mon. 1 Final Sunderland 0 - 3 Arsenal
Thu. 4 Final Man City 1 - 3 Arsenal
Sun. 7 Final Arsenal 4 - 2 Wigan

Played 16 Won 9 Drawn 3 Lost 4 and only one of those wins win over a top half side .