Same old story plays out for Arsenal

Arsene Wenger described this match as an opportunity for his Arsenal side to “show they had learned” but in the end all he get was deja-vu after a defeat which leaves them likely to bow out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage for the sixth year in a row.

The performance from Wenger’s men in this first-leg tie was, on the face of it, admirable for 71 minutes; but two goals from Lionel Messi meant all the memories of defeats gone by came flooding back, and not in the way Wenger had planned.

What the Arsenal manager wanted was for his team to show they had learned how to keep their concentration in a big game at home in the Champions League knockout stages, learned how to keep 10 men on the field, learned how to be ambitious and audacious against quality opponents without botching it at the other end of the pitch. Especially as all of those failings have been displayed by Arsenal teams in the past – even by the team which reached the final in 2006.