Tips For Wenger: 3 Ways That Arsenal Can Beat Barcelona At The Camp Nou

It all came crashing down in the second half, all the good work undone by one attack that sliced through the Arsenal defence much like how Deadpool sliced through villains in most of his comic strips.

Lionel Messi scored a brace for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League at the Emirates and it seems it is going to take a humungous task for Arsenal to have any chance of progressing into the next round of the competition.

Arsenal were knocked out at the same stage last season as well when they lost the home game to Monaco but the away leg was something else as the Gunners led 2-0 but couldn’t get that extra goal to send them through.

Arsenal also had beaten Bayern Munich at the Emirates this season and they still have a fighting chance of making it into the next round but beating Barcelona is going to be something that no team has managed to do for 33 games.

Here are three ways how Arsenal can get the better of Barcelona in the reverse tie.

1. Go all out against Barcelona

Arsenal don’t have anything to lose so the best thing the Gunners can actually do is go all out in attack and take on Barcelona. While this might seem to be a certainty for a hammering, not many teams have tried this tactic against Barcelona in fear of the repercussions that might take place.

Arsenal have the fire power to dismantle any good side on their day and even Barcelona will have one bad day in all these good days. Sanchez, Giroud, Ozil and Walcott will have to play out of their socks and for 70 minutes they did do that pretty well, now all they have to do is for 90 more minutes which can define their season, at least in Europe.

2. Cut out Busquets’ control

While everyone speaks highly about the attacking threat that Barcelona carry, their unsung hero this season has been Sergio Busquets. Someone who does not get the praise he deserves, Busquets might not be the one who scores the goals but he is extremely important to this side with his calm passing and ability to win the ball back.

Arsenal have to ensure that he does not get the ball as much as he does in most games. The Gunners should probably man mark him with a Ramsey and ensure that the Spaniard does not have a second to think or breathe on the pitch, cut out Busquets and you could still have a chance of doing something.

3. Target Javier Mascherano

One surprising tactic that Arsenal did not deploy was using the aerial prowess of Olivier Giroud on Javier Mascherano. The French attacker certainly is great in the air and lack of using him as an outlet should be addressed in the next game.

Mascherano might be a centre-back but he does not have the height or the leap that Giroud possesses, certainly lumping balls into Giroud for 90 minutes won’t make sense but Arsenal should exploit this mismatch whenever they have a chance in the next round at the Camp Nou.