"We were robbed in that game" - Ex-Arsenal star Samir Nasri makes controversial claim on UCL clash with Barcelona
Former Arsenal forward Samir Nasri has claimed that the Gunners were unfairly penalized in their 2010-11 Champions League Round-of-16 clash against Barcelona.
Premier League giants Arsenal picked up a thrilling 2-1 victory in the first leg of their 2010-11 Champions League Round-of-16 tie with Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium. Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin found the back of the net in the second half to propel the hosts to a victory after overcoming David Villa’s first-half strike.
In the second leg, Lionel Messi fired the Blaugrana in front before a Sergio Busquets own goal restored parity for the Gunners. However, shortly after the equalizer, referee Massimo Busacca showed Van Persie a second yellow for kicking the ball after the whistle had gone off. The Dutchman argued that he had not heard the match official’s whistle, but the referee refused to budge.
Samir Nasri on Barcelona 2011:
"We played with an injured Fàbregas – who wanted to play anyway, because it’s against Barcelona and he was leaving – and Van Persie gets a red card, because he hadn’t heard the referee’s whistle.
We were robbed in that game." [Zack Nani via GFFN] https://t.co/VbM32mBu8f
Playing with 10 men, Arsenal succumbed to a 3-1 defeat at Camp Nou to crash out of the competition. Over a decade after the incident, Nasri, who had assisted Arshavin’s first-leg goal, claimed that Arsenal were unjustly punished against Barca.
In an interview with Zack Nani, the former Manchester City man said (via Get French Football News):
“We played with an injured [Cesc] Fabregas – who wanted to play anyway, because it's against Barcelona and he was leaving – and Van Persie gets a red card, because he hadn't heard the referee's whistle.
“Try playing with 10 men at the Nou Camp, where the pitch feels like twice the size of the one at your stadium, and you already weren't seeing much of the ball. We were robbed in that game.”
It was Arsenal’s second consecutive Champions League exit at the hands of the Catalan giants. The Londoners were dumped out of the Champions League quarter-finals with a 6-3 aggregate scoreline in the 2009-10 season.
Sergio Busquets wants Barcelona to wrap up La Liga title as soon as possible
Barcelona skipper Sergio Busquets has urged his team to buckle up and bag the La Liga title as soon as possible. His comments came after Xavi’s men were held to a goalless draw against Girona on Monday night (April 10).
“Our objective is to win La Liga and to do it as soon as possible,” he said (via Barca Blaugranes).
“We have a 13-point margin and we don’t want to lose it. We want to win everything and if Madrid drop points, so much the better.”
With them sitting 13 points clear of Real Madrid with only 10 games to go, Barcelona need not panic about their current situation. However, considering they lost 4-0 to Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg last week, they would not mind bagging a few big wins to boost their morale.