There is never any shame in losing to arguably the best team in the world, but it didn't stop the feeling of it being the same old story for Arsenal.
The Gunners went into the game already 2-0 down from the first leg and the trip to Camp Nou was always going to be an uphill struggle. We battled valiantly at times and gave ourselves faint hope when Mohamed Elneny scored a stunning goal, but Barcelona's sheer class told on the day.
Barcelona were the better side over the two legs but I genuinely believe that, if we'd had a world class striker who actually buried his chances, it could've been a totally different story.
The Spanish giants were playing sublime football in attack but we made them look very suspect at the back on a fair few occasions. We just couldn't capitalise on it enough. If we had been able to it just might have been enough but, if you don't take your chances you're never going to win the game.
Arsenal started positively but Mesut Ozil and Elneny both failed to hit the target with their long-range efforts. Although Arsenal had started with great attacking intent, we all knew in the back of our minds that no matter what Barcelona were capable of changing the game in the blink of an eye, and that they did.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina had made a superb point-blank save to deny Lionel Messi from close range after 17 minutes but the Colombian couldn't do anything about Barcelona's opener just moments later. Neymar latched onto a through ball from Luis Suarez before calmly slotting the ball home from inside the box.
The visitors tried to find a response but Mathieu Flamini and Alex Iwobi sent their shots over the bar. Iwobi performed excellently and was one of the main positives to come out of what was a disappointing evening for Arsenal.
Arsenal continued to create chances and some great work from Ozil saw him beat his man and put the ball into the box but, when the ball eventually reached Elneny he took too long over the ball and was denied by a sliding block.
Despite decent attacking intentions and looking good going forward, we just couldn't seem to apply the finishing touch. Hector Bellerin's cross was headed wide by Alexis Sanchez before Danny Welbeck was denied by a superb challenge from Javier Mascherano.
Arsenal were 1-0 down at half-time and 3-0 behind on aggregate, but the visitors did finally have a goal to cheer about in the second half. Elneny scored his first goal for the club with a sublime strike into the top corner within six minutes of the restart. That goal seemed to give Arsenal renewed hope but, considering we were playing the best side in the world, I knew we were already out at this point...barring a miracle.
The goal seemed to spur the Gunners on with Welbeck bursting forward, only to be denied by a great challenge from Mascherano, before the striker sent a head over the bar soon after.
Any faint hope Arsenal had of a comeback was extinguished by an exquisite goal by Suarez. The former Liverpool man met Dani Alves cross with a sweet scissor kick into the top corner. It was a great finish.
Still Arsenal refused to give up as Welbeck's shot hit the crossbar. The visitors very nearly reduced the deficit soon after but a fine double save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen kept them out. The Barcelona shot-stopper produced a superb one-handed save to keep out Sanchez's free-kick at full-stretch before palming away substitute Olivier Giroud's follow-up. The German had to be alert again soon after as he came out quickly to deny substitute Theo Walcott.
Arsenal deserved more for their endeavours but they were hit by some more Barcelona magic before the end as Messi's superb chip over Ospina sealed Barcelona's 3-1 win on the night and 5-1 aggregate victory over the two legs.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CAMPAIGN
Other than the odd few highlights this has been a Champions League campaign to forget for Arsenal. After what should've been two easier games against Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos we found ourselves without any points on the board.
Beating Bayern Munich 2-0 at home was an absolutely superb result but then the German giants reminded us of their class by hammering us 5-1 in the return match.
A 3-0 home win over Dinamo Zagreb kept our hopes of qualifying for the Champions League knock-out stages alive. A Giroud hat-trick helped us beat Olympiacos 3-0 in Greece against the odds and somehow we had done what, at one point, looked impossible and got out of the group stages.
After being drawn against Barcelona in the round of 16, many fans were pessimistic about our chances. Although I also knew winning that tie would be a long-shot I was half delighted at the draw as if you want to win the competition you have to play against the best, and there's no point being in it if you don't want to test yourselves against the biggest sides in Europe.
For over an hour of the first leg I felt more belief than I was expecting as we were actually holding our own, matching Barcelona and keeping the world's best player Lionel Messi very quiet. Then in the blink of an eye the Argentinian legend hit two goals to give us a huge mountain to climb. We battled bravely in the second leg but Barcelona, as expected, proved too good and our European dream is over for yet another season.
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Out of the Champions League and the FA Cup and, with only the unimportant Community Shield to show for our efforts, this season is fast becoming the same old story for us.
Although the Premier League title race isn't yet mathematically over, only something truly special could get us back into it now and that doesn't looking likely at all.
But whatever happens we need to just take it one game at the time and we need to produce one hell of a herculean effort against Everton in our next league match. Arsene Wenger and the players owe us a big performance and best give this to us at the weekend. Come on lads!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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