Barca defeat and TV schedules - Reasons to be cheerful (part 54)

By Ricky Butler

SO ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING European exit. Once again we paid the price for a poor first leg result, although there is certainly no shame in losing to this Barcelona side.

At least we showed some character in the Nou Camp. It was actually a decent performance. Yes, Barca, 2-0 up from that first leg at the Emirates, were already on the beach but there was still a lot of positives to take on the night.

Alex Iwobi, 19, proved again that he is set for a big future while Mohamed Elneny had his best game yet in an Arsenal shirt. Arsene Wenger has had his critics in recent months but he has once again unearthed two real gems.

Elsewhere it was a familiar story as we paid the price for some poor defending and a failure to take our chances. We needed to score first and we had several chances to do just that; Alexis Sanchez' header which glanced just wide being the best.

Once we went behind in the 18^th minute to a well taken goal from Neymar, just moments after David Ospina had produced an incredible save to deny Lionel Messi, we played with more freedom and should have had a penalty before the break when Iwobi was clipped by Javier Mascherano. With the Nigerian teenager clean through on goal, a red card may well have followed for the Spaniard.

However, history shows us that English sides never get any big decisions in the Nou Camp so we should not have been surprised when the Russian official waved away our appeals.

Elneny's superb strike early in the second half, which had Messi or Neymar scored would have been talked about for weeks, briefly raised our hopes. Danny Welbeck, again showing what a terrific player he is, had a great chance to bring us to within one goal of going through. But Mascherano, who perhaps should not still have been on the field, got across make to make a crucial block.

The danger was always a Barca counter-attack and midway through the second half that was exactly what happened. Luis Suarez' volley appeared to come off his shin but it flew in off the underside of the crossbar and that was that. Game over.

Sanchez' free kick did force a great save from Marc-Andre de Stegen, who then did well to keep out Olivier Giroud's follow up, and Welbeck hit the crossbar, but on the night that was the difference; Barca took their chances, and in the closing stages they added an undeserved third.

Again our defending left a lot to be desired but it was a tidy finish from an otherwise disappointing Messi. 3-1 on the night, 5-1 on aggregate. We perhaps deserved better over the two legs but with a front three of MSN, Barca are pretty much unstoppable. Last year we went out out a team who we should have beaten, this time we can have very few complaints.

So where now for Wenger? Saturday's trip to Everton is now even more important. Nothing less than victory will do.

Off track slightly but it is great that the TV companies have helped by making it a lunchtime kick off after a Wednesday night away match in Europe. Not that we should be surprised as they never take into the account the players or the fans when it comes to rescheduling games. Unless it is Manchester United or Chelsea. Have either of them ever faced such a schedule at this point in a title race?

Surely from an audience point of view it would have been in BT Sports best interests to have two fresh teams playing. What will inevitably happen now is Arsenal will have to try to get the job done early on, making the second half a non-event. Cue millions of viewers switching off.

But enough of all that. Nothing less than three points will do and the only positive is that we have a very good record at Goodison Park. Everton have their own problems, especially at home, and they will more focused on the FA Cup, so expect a very cagey, error-ridden match.

If we can take the positives from the Nou Camp I still feel we still have a chance to claw back Spurs and Leicester City. A small chance, perhaps, but a chance nonetheless. Despite evidence to the contrary in recent weeks, we do have some very good players and if they can get that spark back maybe we can salvage something from the wreckage of the season.

Wenger has another year left on his contract and I'd like him to see it through regardless or what happens over the final nine matches. The problems are more to do with the ownership of the club, and getting a new manager in would not alter that. The club have to change their whole philosophy or we will have to accept that the top 4 and the odd cup run will be the limit of our ambitions for the foreseeable future.

Of course things could be much, much worse, but we are The Arsenal. We have a rich history and we should be challenging for honours. The frustrating thing is we are so close; maybe just three or four players away from matching the likes of Barca and Bayern Munich.

So a season that promised so much is now just 90 minutes away from being over. Victory at Goodison could ignite a run-in to defy all the odds but I am not convinced it will happen. The Barca match will have taken its toll and I expect a tired Arsenal to limp to defeat, Lukaku perhaps proving the difference.