Barca 2 - Gunners Robbed

I got up at 4:30 this morning to watch the live broadcast of the 2006 Champion's League final between Barcelona and Arsenal (those being my 2 favourite teams). What I saw, in addition to some superb football, was an abysmal display of refereeing. It was a disgrace.

Where do I start? Well, of course it has to be Jens Lehmann's red card 18 minutes into the game. OK, technically the ref was correct. Lehmann did trip Eto'o and it certainly looked deliberate. But the whole point of the instant red card when the last defender intentionally fouls an attacker in a scoring position is to pretty much guarantee that a goal results (as it should have before the foul). In this case, the ball ran on for Giuly who easily put it in the empty net. I know there will be a huge amount of debate about the event but I think a better thing to have done would have been to let the goal count and consider that suitable punishment. Either the red card rule needs some refinement or the referee ought to be allowed to exercise discretion given the circumstances (such as the start of a Champions League final). What did the game gain by Lehmann's dismissal? Nothing! Not only that but Arsenal had to take off one of their brilliant outfield players to bring on the sub keeper - double punishment. Admittedly, for a keeper of Lehmann's level (would he be considered the best in the world at the moment?) it was one of the dumbest things he could have done - better to concede the goal and come back (as Arsenal continually show they can) with a full strength squad. And my heart really goes out to Pires for his sacrifice. What a disappointing thing to be asked to do - come off after less than 20 minutes into your team's first ever Champion's League final when you're still fit and fresh, especially when it's probably your last game with the club. So the ref's first major blunder hurt Lehmann & Pires personally, Arsenal in general, and even Barcelona because Ronaldinho missed the free kick from just outside the area. Score after 20 minutes: referee 4 - game nil.

Now, first and foremost, I support Arsenal. But I have to say I disagree with the ref's call that resulted in the first goal - an Arsenal goal. Eboue went down on the right wing just outside the area. The ref's call: foul - direct free kick. I was ecstatic when Henry popped an inch-perfect cross right on the edge of the 6-yard box for Campbell to head perfectly about a foot inside the far post to leave the keeper standing, dumbfounded, on his line in the middle of the goal. That was a flawless text-book set play. But it was marred by the fact that it probably should never have been a free kick in the first place. To me it looked like there was minimal contact between Eboue and the Puyol (the Barca defender involved) and the resulting fall was fairly theatrical. Although, out of all the ref's poor calls, I'd say this was almost reasonable; all the more so since it resulted in an Arsenal lead (kidding). Henry did a great job up front, seemingly on his own, and very nearly scored a 2nd on a few occasions. In fact, not long after Lehmann walked off, Henry got inside his defender (I think it was Marquez) and let a cracker go from outside the area to just inside the near post. Valdes, the Spainish keeper, could only deflect it and the reflection just about made it to the side-line/halfway-line intersection. Henry has such great speed, control and power. He'll be sorely missed if he moves to Spain next season (which, I think, is pretty much a foregone conclusion now - but if he had to go anywhere I'm glad it's Barcelona).

Almunia did a commendable job as Arsenal's backup keeper stopping arguably the current best attacking team in the world from scoring on several occasions, especially considering his team was down a man. But Arsenal hasn't earned a reputation as the best defensive team in the world for nothing. Ashley Cole and Toure in particular put up a solid defense on both wings keeping Giuly and Eto'o, respectively, at bay. It seemed like just about every play on the left side involved Cole. He's as good attacking as he is defending; I'm glad he's back as are most Gunners fans I suspect. Due mostly to the impassable Arsenal defense, the half-time score was 1-0 to Arsenal.

There were numerous fouls given and yellow cards given that were a complete farce. For me I'd had enough when Henry was given a yellow for being kicked shortly into the 2nd half. The replay clearly showed him playing the ball out and getting kicked in the thigh for his trouble. And what does he get for taking this punishment? Here you go, have a yellow. That's, literally, adding insult to injury. By this stage I'd pretty much lost all respect for the ref and that's saying something since I'd had it drummed into me that you always respect the ref and play his whistle (while I was playing myself and later refereeing).

The rain started pelting down shortly after half-time making the ground very slick for the keepers (just to make Almunia's already difficult job even harder). Barcelona had a few subs by this stage, one at half time (Iniesta), one not too far into the 2nd half (Larsson), and a third (Belletti) with about 20 minutes to go, in order to stir things up and penetrate the seemingly impenetrable defence. And it appeared to work, sort of, when Eto'o scored an equaliser with a point blank touch in at the left wing near post after a touch on from Larsson in the centre. The only problem...Eto'o was offside. Normally I'd be cheering at seeing Barcelona score, especially against such world class opposition, but this morning I was just shaking my head in disgust. Score: 1-1.

I was actually pleasantly surprised how well Arsenal contained Ronaldinho. Barca was playing balls to him just about everytime they got possession and he displayed his awesome ball skill as he moved forward, while being harried by Alexander Hleb mostly (I've got to pay more attention to Hleb in future - I definitely under-rated him), before being shut down by 2 or 3 Arsenal backs. What great team work. A top-notch back line working tirelessly in unity. (Actually, I was expecting Ronaldinho to be the main Barca man, and he was very good as usual, but I think Deco played a more vital role for Barcelona - he was involved in just about everything between the halfway line and Arsenal's penalty area.) However, it was not enough and Larsson put the sub Belletti through into the side of the 6-yard box who then rifled a shot across goal that deflected off Almunia's out-stretched foot only to bounce into the top of his net. Unlucky, since I think had Almunia missed the shot it would have gone clear across his goal and out for a goal kick. For once, this play was not marred by substandard refereeing and there was jubliation as almost the whole Barcelona team mobbed Belletti behind the Gunner's goal. Score: 2-1.

At this point there was only about 10 minutes playing time left and with Barca up 2-1 and Arsenal down a man, it was truely going to be mission impossible to come back and salvage anything from the game. Barcelona just play the possession game far too well, and the time-wasting exercises switched from Arsenal over to Barca. And, gee, they kept possession well. I really under-estimated another Gunner's man however: Freddie Ljungberg. I thought he's getting on and is nearing the end of his career. He's getting older and slowing down. But how wrong I was - he still has plenty of pace left in him and the skill to take advantage of it too. Time after time he gave up a big head start to the lead Barca defenders only to run them down and overtake them in the chase for the ball upfield. But Barcelona were just playing too deep for him to go all the way and they were not afraid to play it all the way back to Valdez just to deny any possibility of an equaliser.

For a game that started so fast and furiously (the first 15 minutes were fantastic football - even at 4:30am) the final result was disappointing to say the least. Well, not the final result exactly but the way it got to that score. Arsene Wenger was livid with the refereeing (Henry was less than happy too) and I completely agree. But, if anyone had to take the cup over Arsenal, I'm gald it was Barcelona and we'll be back again to challenge for it next year after sneaking into the top 4 in the very last game of the season in the English Premier League this year (phew). You can read more about the game on Soccernet: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=197123&cc=3436.

As for the refereeing, I'd give the ref a red card and call in a substitute ref. What a disappointment it was and now I've got to get through this day on 4 hours sleep. <yawn> But congrats need to go to Barcelona who were deserving champions (just not as deserving as Arsenal) - may they hold the cup high and proud.