Champions League round of 16 draw 14 December 2015

Only Bayern's you can really argue is better. Iniesta is still as good as he was a few years ago & Rakitic suits the tandem perfectly. Sergi Roberto's been quality this season too but he's been playing as a RB until Dani Alves came back.

Their weakness is obviously their defence but Pique has emerged as a top 5 CB again, Mathieu is pretty decent and Dani Alves & Alba are okay.

We can beat anyone in one game. Winning over two legs against Barcelona? I can't envision it. Reckon it'll be a similar story to what happened with Bayern in the group stage.

Why are we buying into the Barca hype? Their defence is absolutely awful. Pique is awful, Alves is awful, Mathieu is horrendous and Alba is most likely the most overrated player in the last century. Busquets has seen better days and their goalkeeper would struggle to keep his place if playing for Bournemouth.

Rakitic and Iniesta are constantly stepping on each other's toes, and Neymar can only truly perform if Messi is injured.

The Barca era is over, and has been for years. Don't get fooled by their league performances, La Liga is essentially two good teams and 18 absolutely awful ones.

Yep.

Not like they didn't win the treble last year or anything. No biggie.

Well i believe our team is good enough to come out as winner in this duel, every game its own story. But trying to make the current CL holder, who won treble last year, and the team that destroyed Bayern (and this one did same to us) as some shit team holding on former glory its bit(just a bit) to much Ix :-|

Most important is what form we will have in February, and how many will be injured.

As I said before, we can beat anyone in one match. Don't think we'd be able to beat Barca over two legs.

I would've been a lot happier with Madrid as I think we honestly could beat them over two legs.

They have dropped four points in their last two league games, with Messi, Suarez and Neymar all on the pitch. They got twatted by Deportivo and you lot are worried talking about trebles, lol.

You know who else was a champion six months ago? Chelsea.

We are going through, no problem. Barca are not what they used to be.

We drew to Norwich & lost to West Brom

We drew to Norwich & lost to West Brom

Not saying we're world beaters. I'm just saying neither are Barca. This is not Bendtner, Denilson and Almunia up against the 2010 Barca side that won trebles for fun. This is Özil, Sanchez, Giroud and Cech against a Barca side still trying to transition from that dominating side to the next, with an ageing core and a mediocre manager.

Neymar, messi, suarez are better than anyone in the arsenal squad. Other than those 3, I think arsenal has superior players and depth.

As good as that attacking trio is, they are not infallible. I think suarez can be baited into tomfoolery, especially with the eyes of the british media focused on him again.

Nacho will at least pose a challenge to messi.

It really boils down to how well bellerin can contain neymar. He will have to limit his adventure, especially if he has walcott playing in front of him.

Neymar, messi, suarez are better than anyone in the arsenal squad. Other than those 3, I think arsenal has superior players and depth.

Fully agree, and it's not a secret that Barca actually become less effective when those three are on the pitch together. Too many chefs in the kitchen syndrome. Just look what Neymar achieved when Messi was injured, all of a sudden he was magical.

I want Gabriel to start with Koscielny and not for the stupid reason of Per being slow. I mean sure he's pace is worrying when Barca's front three pass the ball around and play 1-2s in split seconds but mainly I want Gabriel because of his aggression. We'll need it a lot.

I want Gabriel to start with Koscielny and not for the stupid reason of Per being slow. I mean sure he's pace is worrying when Barca's front three pass the ball around and play 1-2s in split seconds but mainly I want Gabriel because of his aggression. We'll need it a lot.

We'll be penned in for most of the game so I think Per's intelligence will contribute a lot in terms of limiting their attacks

I want them to buy stones before the first leg.

I want Gabriel to start with Koscielny and not for the stupid reason of Per being slow. I mean sure he's pace is worrying when Barca's front three pass the ball around and play 1-2s in split seconds but mainly I want Gabriel because of his aggression. We'll need it a lot.

As Morleys points out though, we'll have around 35% possession at the very most, so Per might actually be better. His pace won't be too much of an issue, and his reading of the game is far superior to Gabriel - he is simply better at interceptions. Normally I'd agree with you, as I'd rather see Gabriel over Per in most games...but pushed back in tight lines against those tricky midgets for 90 minutes?

Yep, we know we wont have the ball as much as we want. Per is best when we are pushed back. I just hope his and Bellerin form get better in February.

There is that but there's also their style of play. The are calm and relaxed around the box and then suddenly two-three passes in couple of seconds and you're open. Sure reading the game is very important but I don't know I just think an aggressive approach with pace might be the better option.

Well there's only one way to solve this lads

There is that but there's also their style of play. The are calm and relaxed around the box and then suddenly two-three passes in couple of seconds and you're open. Sure reading the game is very important but I don't know I just think an aggressive approach with pace might be the better option.

Yeah that is true. Did hell freeze over? Because lately you've started making a lot of sense.

I've always made sense Ix you just weren't listening. That's why we had to get the divorce, you never listened to what I had to say.