After playing an unforgettable first leg, FC Barcelona and Arsenal will do battle today (2:45pm, FSN/FSE/DirecTV) at the Camp Nou for a berth in the UEFA Champions League semifinals.
Barcelona settled for a 2-2 draw in the first leg after initially holding a 2-0 lead in a match it was thoroughly dominating. That was before Arsenal's stirring comeback.
Today's match will be much different, with several key players set to miss the action. Cesc Fabregas, Andrei Arshavin and William Gallas are out for Arsenal, while suspended defenders Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique are out for Barcelona, as are injured stars Andres Iniesta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Here is our question for you? Who do you see winning the series? Is Barcelona destined to destroy the Gunners, or will the absence of Puyol and Pique leave Barcelona vulnerable?
Cast your vote:
Who is my pick? It's tough to pick against Barcelona at home. They may have a makeshift defense, but they still have Lionel Messi, Xavi and Thierry Henry.
Who did you vote for?
Share your thoughts below.
Messi vs inter…
Not sure, but it will likely be the best football match seen for the rest of the tournament.
It actually wouldn’t surprise me if Arsenal somehow pulled this off, but Barcelona have done very well at home this year and do have the advantage of two road goals, plus with Fabregas, Arshavin and Gallas out and they donkey formely known as Sol Campbell probably starting, I just don’t think it will happen for the Gunners.
Again, Barcelona have injuries of their own, plus have the Superclassico this Saturday to worry about, which is why I give Arsenal a puncher’s chance.
But I’ve seen Barcelona pull this kind of game off, I have yet see this group of players from Arsenal do it.
my bad. thx.
What’s worse is that with the games starting two hours apart; they could show both of them live!
Do you have MSG or any of the FoxSportsNet regional channels? It should be there in HD.
again Fox puts the more high profile game on replay. I wonder if they think that more people will watch inter v. Moscow if it’s the first game rather than if it were replayed.
(SBI-Mike, Fox Sports Espanol has a bigger audience than Fox Soccer Channel so I’m pretty sure the reason FSE got today’s game is because Barcelona is playing. I don’t know the broadcast restrictions but I would imagine that something must keep Fox from showing the match on both FSE and FSC. To be fair, the game is on FSN, which is actually available to more people in full HD, and as far as I know most folks who have FSC also have FSN.)
I’ve been saying it for a week – Arsenal will go through. If they chop down as many Barca players as possible and hit them on the break, it’s over.
Barca are missing both CB’s and Valdes isn’t the best keeper around really. However, Arsenal are missing a few players as well. Should be interesting.
A moral dilemma for sanctimonious soccer snobs everywhere.
4-1 mauling. Messi lights it up.
My only worry is the Catalans are looking over this game for their game with Madrid on Saturday. Arsenal will depend on Walcott and Nasri.
Messi disappeared the first game. He will wake up and remember that he is Messi today and be a force, with 2-3 goals.
Barca wins in a game that will not be as close as the first game.
Huge Arsenal fan here and I’m going with Barcelona. Besides the obvious omission of Fabregas, losing Song (which SBI didn’t mention) is going to hurt mightily as he is just coming into his own as a destructive CM. He’s the one Arsenal player in the center of the pitch that understands defensive positioning and defending, not to mention he has a bit of a nasty side. I think Barca wins the center of the midfield battle and dictates tempo and play. I don’t think this one is very close.
As an American it tells me that Arsenal is at home. 😉
SBI does go with soccer convention and put the home team first, plus it says tough to pick against Barca at home…
“Barcelona vs. Arsenal” should tell you.
Where is the game?
Ives, I’ve noticed this before where the location of games are left out of the post….
But it will most definitely be grammar that loses.
If it weren’t for their lax finishing in the first leg, Barcelona would already be through.
It will be Inter Milan who will wins today.
The key man for me will be Valdes, coming off an excellent outing this weekend. Let’s just hope that Marquez doesn’t get an early red card.
I’m interested to see who Barca puts out on the field, but I still think they are the favorites in this one. I’m guessing they will have Pedro and Messi on the wings with Henry as the main striker. Should be a great match nonetheless!