Late goals by Samuel Eto’o and substitute Juliano Belletti allowed Barcelona finally to overcome 10-man Arsenal 2-1 in a Champions League final of extraordinary drama at the Stade de France in Paris on Wednesday.
Arsenal, who shrugged off the 18th-minute dismissal of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann to take the lead through Sol Campbell’s 37th-minute header, came within a quarter of an hour of pulling off what would have been one of the most unlikely triumphs in the tournament’s history.
But after Thierry Henry had squandered his second glorious chance of the evening, the exhausted Gunners were floored by two late sucker punches, with Eto’o’s close-range finish and Belletti’s equally well-taken strike in the space of four minutes proving enough to secure the Catalan club’s second European Cup, 14 years after Ronald Koeman’s free kick decided the 1992 final at Wembley.
For all the pre-match commitments to the creation of a spectacle worthy of the occasion, there was a hint of caution in the way both sides lined up.
Arsenal left Spanish winger Jose Antonio-Reyes out of the five-man midfield that had proved so effective earlier in the tournament.
Rijkaard’s concern to shield a sometimes suspect defence was reflected in the inclusion of Marc van Bommel at the expense of the more creative Andres Iniesta.
For the 17-and-a-bit minutes in which the two sides were playing on equal terms, Arsenal had done enough to suggest their pre-match status as underdogs had been overstated.
In fact, Wenger’s men came agonisingly close to claiming the lead inside two minutes, when Henry gathered Emmanuel Eboue’s cross on the edge of the six-yard box.
A superb first touch carried the Arsenal captain away from Rafael Marquez, but Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes got just enough of a contact on his stabbed shot to send it wide.
Henry’s frustration was evident in the venom he injected into his next shooting opportunity, forcing Valdes into a good near-post save.
Ludovic Giuly provided Barca’s first effort on target, Ronaldinho sent a long-range free kick narrowly over the angle of post and bar and Deco thumped a 20-yard effort straight at Lehmann.
Barca were beginning to find their rhythm and it did not come as a total surprise when Ronaldinho’s pass sent Eto’o clear of the Arsenal back four, forcing Lehmann to sprint off his line.
It was a race the German was always going to lose and Arsenal were fortunate that his outstretched glove caught Eto’o’s boot inches outside the box.
Giuly rolled the loose ball into the net, but Norwegian referee Terje Hauge had already blown for the foul.
Arsenal responded to the inevitable red card by taking off Robert Pires to make way for Manuel Almunia, and Barcelona’s chance of taking the lead went begging when Ronaldinho chipped his free kick inches wide.
Barcelona began to turn the screw, but it was Arsenal who were to take the lead after Eboue’s surge into the box was checked by Carlos Puyol.
The Barcelona captain was fortunate to escape a caution, but Arsenal exacted punishment from the resulting free kick, chipped casually into the area by Henry.
Campbell’s run went untracked and the England centreback was unchallenged as he rose to steer his header past Valdes.
A sense that this could be Arsenal’s night grew in first-half stoppage time, when Eto’o turned Campbell superbly inside the box only for Almunia to make a brilliant reflex save, his touch just enough to deflect the ball on to the post.
Rijkaard’s response was to send on Iniesta in place of the Brazilian Edmilson for the second half, and the Spain midfielder’s first contribution was to provoke another fine save from Almunia, diving low to his left.
By the hour mark, when Van Bommel was replaced by Henrik Larsson, Barcelona were playing with four forwards ahead of two attack-minded midfielders.
But it was Arsenal who looked the more likely scorers as the desperate Catalans began to leave gaps at the back.
Hleb cut inside from the right of the area and sent a left-foot drive a foot wide and then Ljungberg, coming in from the opposing flank, forced Valdes to tip the ball over the bar.
Then, with 20 minutes left, Henry squandered a wonderful opportunity to deliver what would have been a fatal blow. Sent clear by Hleb’s pass through the inside right channel, the Frenchman steered his low shot too close to Valdes and the goalkeeper, who had got his positioning exactly right, was able to dive to his right and smother the ball.
It would have been Henry’s 50th goal in European competition, perhaps the final glorious act of a glorious Arsenal career.
But the fairy-tale ending was not to be. Six minutes after that chance was spurned, Barcelona equalised, with Larsson’s flick inside the box allowing Eto’o to get round the back of the back four and squeeze the ball between Almunia and his near post.
Worse was to follow for the Spanish goalkeeper four minutes later when Larsson spotted Belletti’s surge into the box. The substitute’s momentum carried him past two Arsenal defenders and his shot found the net through the goalkeeper’s legs. — AFP
