Walcott answers the Arsenal call

THIS was supposed to be all about an exciting forward player, revelling in his youth and capable of changing games on his own.

And so it was. The surprise, however, was that it was Theo Walcott and not Lionel Messi who ultimately played the decisive role in a thrilling tie that could yet go either way.

Not that Walcott is anywhere near the Argentine in terms of his ability and achievements in his career so far.

But there was no denying that when Arsenal were in desperate need of the kind of inspiration Messi serves up to order, Walcott answered the call, scoring three minutes after appearing as a 67th minute substitute.

It wasn’t a stunning dribble or a likely contender for goal of the season. It was, however, a moment of decisive action that had been noticeably absent from Arsenal’s play up to that point.

And after halving Barcelona’s two-goal lead, Walcott’s pace and willingness to attack the visiting defence sowed seeds of doubt within the Catalans where no one had been before.

Suddenly Arsenal were back in the game and when Cesc Fabregas struck the 84th minute equaliser from the spot, it was even possible to believe they may yet claim a place in the semis.

Before Walcott’s intervention, voicing such an opinion would have provoked only laughter as up to that point Arsenal’s evening had veered from embarrassment to humiliation.

It was a case of the Premier League’s possession bullies getting a taste of their own medicine. And judging by the haunted look of Arsene Wenger, this hurt.

No wonder. His team were made to look technically inferior, unable to string three passes together and reduced to launching the odd, largely ineffective counter attack.

Of course Barcelona’s threat was supposed to be centred around Messi, the theory being that if Arsenal could stop the Argentine – as Chelsea so nearly managed to do at the semi-final stage last season – they would have every chance of establishing an advantage before the return in the Nou Camp.

Fine theory, the execution was altogether and not only did Arsenal fail to stop Messi, they failed to stop anyone.

Not that Messi dominated the game; he didn’t need to when his team-mates were more than capable of launching wave after wave of attacks from seemingly any area of the pitch.

For 25 exhilarating first-half minutes, Barcelona were untouchable and while Messi shone, his star was no brighter than any of his colleagues.

In fact the only Barça player who looked out of touch was Zlatan Ibrahimovic who looked destined to extend his woeful record of under-performing against Premier League teams after missing three good chances, one an absolute gift.

Half-time changed all that, and Ibrahimovic the myth was transformed into Ibrahimovic the reality with the Swede delivering two outstanding finishes to put his side in control.

With the creative burden shared then, Messi limited himself to embellishing his side’s thrilling play with moments of quality that underlined the Catalans supremacy.

An electric burst took him past two defenders in the sixth minute just as Barcelona’s early bombardment was gathering pace before his left foot shot was saved by a leg thrust out in improvised desperation by Almunia.

Then later, midway through the first half, the Argentine’s clever run behind Clichy was picked out by Xavi’s perfectly weighted pass, and it took a clumsy challenge by the full back to prevent the forward delivering his cross. It should have been a penalty but there was always the sense that Barcelona would find a way through anyway.

The move summed up why Messi’s talents are so perfectly showcased within this Barcelona side. With passes like that, any striker would look good. Although possibly not Nicklas Bendtner.

For once, though, this was not Messi’s night. Walcott and Fabregas saw to that.

Fabregas, though, won’t be at the Nou Camp in a week’s time; a first half booking saw to that. And if Barcelona repeat their first half showing, that will no place to be for an Arsenal-supporting spectator.