Lethal Lionel was the difference, says Wenger

ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger acknowledged Barcelona’s four-goal hero Lionel Messi was the difference on the night as his side crashed out of the Champions League following a 4-1 defeat at the Nou Camp last night.

Arsenal went ahead through Nicklas Bendtner early on to take the lead in the tie for the first time, but the Gunners’ joy was short-lived as Messi struck a brilliant first half hat-trick, before compounding the Londoners’ misery with a fourth late on to seal a 6-3 aggregate victory for Barcelona.

Wenger likened Barca’s brilliant Argentinian winger to a computer creation. “He’s like a PlayStation,” the Arsenal coach said after the match, when asked to describe the Argentinian’s performance.

“I think he can take advantage of every mistake you make. Barcelona are a very good side but of course they have Messi who can make the difference at any moment in the game,” he said.

Wenger believes the 22 -ear-old can go on to become one of the great players of all-time.

“He is very young but he can achieve a lot – there are not many players who can score four goals like he did.

“He has six or seven great years ahead of him and he can become unbelievable,” he said.

Wenger was upbeat despite Arsenal’s quarter-final exit, but the Frenchman is concerned this result will have a detrimental effect on his side’s Barclays Premier League title aspirations.

“Of course you worry because it’s a big disappointment – we have to recover quickly to fight for the Premier League, and focus completely now on that,” he said.

Arsenal’s next match is a trip to White Hart Lane for the north London derby next Wednesday and Wenger believes the prospect of facing local rivals Tottenham could give his players the lift they need following last night’s defeat.

“It’s a place where we have done well (in the past) and it forces you to focus straight away because it’s a derby,” he said.

The Gunners led for less than three minutes on the night, but Abou Diaby missed a great opportunity to set up Theo Walcott for a possible second goal when they were one up, and Wenger believes that was a key moment.

“We had a good opportunity to score the second goal. Before they equalised, we had a great chance to score again, but we made a very bad decision with the final ball and they came back straight away,” he said.

And Wenger, while expressing his pride in his players, did admit that some changes will be necessary in the summer, he said he will take some time to reflect on what is required.

“We have to add something for sure, but we have some time to think about that,” he said.