Barcelona vs Arsenal, March 2011
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Another incident from a Champions League winning season for Barcelona. This incident, unlike the others happened in the first knockout stage.
Arsenal travelled to the Nou Camp with a 2-1 win in their bag from the first leg. The home side took the lead in the dying seconds of the first half courtesy of a goal from Messi, but Arsenal equalised in the 53rd minute through a Sergio Busquets own goal.
Arsenal were in the driving seat at that point because Barcelona needed to score in order to progress. However, disaster struck the Gunners three minutes after their equaliser.
Robin van Persie, who had been booked earlier in the game for a foul on Dani Alves, was shown a second yellow for attempting a shot on target after the whistle was blown for offside. The yellow was apparently shown for time wasting and it made no sense because the Dutchman would have wasted just a few seconds with that shot.
He was clearly baffled with the decision and pleaded that he didn’t hear the whistle. He might have a case there because the referee was nowhere near the action when he blew the whistle and the game was played at Nou Camp in front of a noisy crowd.
It didn’t take Barcelona long to take advantage of their extra man and they ended up winning the game 3-1. In the process they knocked Arsenal out with controversy erupting over the red card for Van Persie.
