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.

These days the Arsenal squad includes only one veteran of that day in the Stade de France, Mathieu Flamini, who was left on the bench before coming on to give away a penalty with an awful challenge on Messi.

At that stage Arsenal fans realised the residual memory of all those previous mistakes, all those ‘could have beens’ didn’t count for much at all.

For periods there were signs maybe the Gunners would show they had closed the gap. There was a calmness about their defending; and they didn’t panic, even when Barca were dominating, even when Suarez, Messi and Neymaar were bearing down on them.

For a spell, there was hope. Arsenal’s defence was solid, their attacks on the break quick and incisive, their midfield athletic and hard-working. What more could they have done? But in the end it was nowhere near enough.

You could point to missed chances – in particular from Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain in the first-half and Olivier Giroud in the second – but a proper analysis of the game would also show Barcelona missed at least five excellent chances and could have won by more.

The match was really decided by one sweeping move which involved the holy trinity of Suarez, Neymar and Messi – players whose combined value is probably more than Spain’s national debt.

But there was no denying that, however hard Arsenal tried, they weren’t quite in that league.

So what now? Let’s be honest, nobody gave the Gunners much chance against the European champions and run-away leaders of La Liga; and now their task is almost impossible.

But there were still positives to cling to. Another excellent display by Cech, an athletic performance from Ramsey, an improved defensive display against the very best in the world, even if it didn’t end so well.

Cech, of course, brings residual memory of his own – six games against Messi before this match without ever conceding a goal to him – but even that wasn’t enough to stop Barcelona.

So in the end for all the lessons learned, all the pre-match talk and all the early promise, this was Groundhog Day for Arsenal all over again.