Wednesday, 9th March, 2011
Arsene Wenger believes that it was referee Massimo Busacca’s decision to send off Robin van Persie against Barcelona last night that effectively ended what could have been a classic encounter – and a game Arsenal could have won.
Barcelona eventually won 3-1 at the Camp Nou, thanks to goals from Lionel Messi (twice) and Xavi, while Arsenal, who managed no shots on goal for the entire 90 minutes, grabbed what was a leveller through a Sergio Busquets own goal. But it was the sending off of Van Persie, for a second yellow card offence, that of not stopping when the referee blew his whistle and continuing to shoot, which incensed Wenger – especially as the Dutchman argued he had not heard the whistle.
"I just spoke to the UEFA people", said Wenger. "They are shocked as well as it killed a promising, fantastic match. What for? If it’s a bad tackle, okay, but frankly it is embarrassing."
And Wenger thinks that his Arsenal side, despite being overrun, could still have won the game with eleven versus eleven.
"I felt Barca gave a lot in the first half. We were completely dominated, I agree with that. But in the second half we felt there was more space. I knew that like in the first game we could have come back into the game and overall I’m convinced that we would have won this game."
And the Frenchman signed off with one more blast at the referee, stating: "I think two kinds of people will be unhappy – those who love Arsenal, and those who love the game."
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