Young Guns can come of age

ARSENAL have long laboured under an inferiority complex, whether it be about the purity of their opponents’ football or the source of their rivals’ spending power, but tonight they can prove definitively that they are no longer ‘Barcelona Light’ but a genuine force in European football that is here to stay.

This is a side that has made great strides over the 12 months since they were eviscerated at the Nou Camp by Lionel Messi, but the final step, the one that all successful sides have to take, eludes them still.

In short, they have to prove that their philosophy, which mirrors Barcelona’s when it comes to beautiful football based on bringing through the world’s best youngsters, can finally deliver what the Catalans now take for granted — a full trophy cabinet.