An emotional Arsene Wenger didn’t hold back following Arsenal‘s 2-0 loss in the first leg of its round of 16 encounter with Barcelona.
The Arsenal boss blamed his “naive” players for their lack of consistency on the defensive front as Wenger criticised the team’s false sense of confidence in attack for Arsenal’s failures in defense.
“We looked like we were dominating the game and we give the goal away,” Wenger told reporters. “It was similar to when we lost to Monaco last season. We were naive, and that is frustrating.”
Arsenal appeared to be in good position to head into the second leg of its Champions League matchup with a positive goalless result until a gaffe in the midfield saw Barcelona break on the counter attack en route to the opening goal. The hosts conceded a second when Mathieu Flamini‘s daft tackle on Lionel Messi led to a penalty for the Argentine superstar, who converted with ease.
The Gunners were in a similar position last year at this stage of the tournament when they lost the first leg at home to AS Monaco before getting knocked out.
Wenger: “Maybe we felt that we could win the game and then we lost our cautiousness to defend. They’re so dangerous on the break.” #AFCvFCB
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) February 23, 2016
The team’s struggles in front of goal were another troubling aspect for Wenger, as Arsenal had a trio of opportunities to open the scoring but failed to find a way past Barca ‘keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Wenger: “We had an unbelievable chance in the first half. Our finishing was a problem tonight. We missed it in the final third.” #AFCvFCB
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) February 23, 2016
Wenger added that his side’s chances are slim thanks to Arsenal’s failure to maintain composure in the final 20 minutes of the contest.
“This makes it really tricky for the second leg, very difficult if not impossible. But we have to go there and fight.
“Now it is 95 percent them and 5 percent us. But we to have a go.
“We knew that we could not allow them any counter attacks. But we pushed too far into their half and we got caught. That is their quality.
“It’s too easy to blame people. You have to respect the effort the players put in. That is what is so frustrating. We knew in the last 20 minutes we would have a chance if we didn’t make any mistakes. They can kill when you think you are on top.”
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