On the eve of THE rematch, I wanted to share my experience of living in the beautiful city of Barcelona. I moved  there (permanently in my mind) 3 days after 9/11. I fell in love with the City, Las Ramblas, the fantastic area of Gracia where we lived, and the relaxed and welcoming Spanish/ Catalan lifestyle.

Needless to say, I met a lot of Barcelona fans during my 18 month sojourn in their fair city and the discussions I had with them led me to be very disappointed in their fan culture. Admittedly, this was during the days of Van Gaal at Barcelona, and the era of Zidane, Raul and McManaman at Real Madrid. Nonetheless, it seemed to me that there was a vast discrepancy between how I thought of myself as an Arsenal fan, and how they saw themselves as Barca fans.

I find it hard to recall specific games, but it slowly dawned on me that the supporters I met would rather lose playing great football. In protest at the pragmatic tactics of the dour Dutchman, the masses waved white hankies around the ground, walked out when their team went behind and constantly complained about what the man said in the press and his lack of charisma. Being a young man who had supported Arsenal throughout the Graham years, I could not understand the fans’ complicity in their own downfall.

The great history of the club was explained to me: the amazing resistance to Franco that meant the stadium was the only place in the whole of Spain where you could speak Catalan without fear, the amazing football of the 70s with Cruyff, the Cruyff-led “dream team” that won the European Cup at Wembley and the tradition of swashbuckling football that was always, first and foremost, an expression of anarchist resistance to the Fascist regime of Franco. All themes I could warm to, yet the reality was a spoilt football public that would not sing unless winning with style and constantly sniped at their players and coaching staff.

I was unimpressed. Moreover, Arsenal were playing the best football I had ever seen us play and that Summer we won the double and won the league at Old Trafford which I watched at a great Irish pub near the Sagrada Familia. There was no comparison. At Highbury I knew that if we went 1-0 down we would not throw in the towel and signal our surrender as the white hankies demonstrated, we would sing up and urge our team on. In fact, I characterised the crowd at Camp Nou as Tottenham fans- forever in thrall to past glories, getting on their team’s back and dragging them down.

Now Barcelona were not a bad team in those days. They had Kluivert on top form, Saviola looked like he was going to be top drawer and with Overmars, DeBoer  and Rivaldo there was no doubting they were a force. But they couldn’t match Real Madrid at home (they went out to them in Europe too) and they didn’t play with enough panache for their demanding ‘socios’. I didn’t even want to go to Camp Nou, I was disgusted by the sniping and what I felt was a lack of support for their team. Angry and drunk one night, I asked, “Do you only support when the team plays well?” How they laughed at the young Englishman with his lack of class and his broken Spanish!

10 years later I find that my own team has now acquired a similar attitude from its fanbase. “We’ll sing when you play well enough” seems at times to be the dominant theme on the blogs and from the fans. I thought when I lived in Barcelona that Arsenal fans would forever be superior, would never question the club or the team as long as they played their hearts out and we sang our hearts out.

But it seems that success is a double-edged sword and despite Barcelona coming through their malaise to become the greatest football team I have ever seen play the game, their fans no longer know what it is to support their team through thick and thin, they are merely connoisseurs of great football and I hope with all my heart that even if we one day become as great a team as they are, we never fail to support our team when the going gets tough.

It is being reported today that Samir Nasri has recovered fully from his hamstring injury sustained against Huddersfield, and after one last check today Arsene Wenger is ready to put his name on the first XI teamsheet when Arsenal face Barcelona tomorrow.

The Mail reports that Nasri had a full fitness test yesterday and came through with flying colours, and it will give Gunners fans a big boost before the crucial Champions League match, and Arsene Wenger will be able to pick his very best team after all.

Theo Walcott was used as a fantastic impact sub by Wenger against Barca last season, and he thinks that if the Gunners can reproduce the form they displayed against Chelsea and Man City earlier this season they can get a result here.

He said: “We’re looking forward to it, it’s going to be a great battle. It’s one of the games you want to play in and hopefully the result can be different from last year. I believe we can do much better than last season; we can’t do worse, to be honest.

“It’s going to be an open game but these days when we lose the ball we try to get it back quicker. That’s what we did against Chelsea and Manchester City and hopefully we can take that into the Barcelona game, because it’s a massive one this season, the biggest one I’m going to play in.”

If both Nasri and Walcott have a great game, supporting the fantastic Van Persie, Arsenal have every chance of frightening Barcelona to death!

Нападающему "Арсенала" Маруану Шамаху был прописан отдых продолжительностью в несколько недель ввиду чрезмерной усталости организма.
Как известно, Шамах перебрался в "Арсенал" минувшим летом из "Бордо" на правах свободного агента. Ввиду травм Робина Ван Перси и Никласа Бендтнера нынешний сезон Маруан начинал в качестве игрока стартового состава.

И хотя на счету Шамаха 10 голов за "канониров", уже длительное время он не выходит с первых минут. Роль главного бомбардира команды в нынешнем году на себя взял Ван Перси. 27-летний марокканец признался, что доктора посоветовали ему отдохнуть до марта.

"Уже к началу января я чувствовал, что растерял свою резкость. Это было видно всем. Я лишь человек, и мне требуется отдых. В то же время "Арсенал" только выиграл от того, что форму набрал Робин Ван Перси. Сейчас он просто парит над полем - у него получается все".

"В этом есть и положительные моменты. Команда выступает хорошо, и я могу немного отдохнуть. Надеюсь, скоро я снова буду играть. Это скорее всего будет март, нежели февраль. Все не так серьезно. Я по-прежнему учусь, в тренировках и матчах, адаптируюсь к Лондону и английскому футболу".

"Я полностью осознаю, что сейчас у меня статус запасного игрока и дублера Ван Перси. Эта же роль отводится и Никласу Бендтнеру. Но все в руках самих игроков - они должны доказывать свое мастерство на поле. Насчет этого я не беспокоюсь", - цитирует Шамаха Sky Sports.

Emmanuel Eboue has the “200 per cent” support of Bacary Sagna ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Barcelona.

Sagna is suspended for the first leg following his red card in the dying stages of the 3-1 win over Partizan Belgrade in December meaning Eboue will start at right back against the Catalan giants.

Naturally, Sagna is disappointed to miss out but he is backing his team-mate to shine against the potent attacking force Barcelona has to offer.

“I will support him 200 per cent!” said the Frenchman. “He is a fantastic guy and great player, so he deserves to play in this kind of game as well.

“We showed last year that we can play as well as they can. We drew the home game, and then scored first in the away leg.

“So we know we will have chances - we’ll have to take them.”

After the eagerly-anticipated game at Emirates Stadium, Arsène Wenger’s side face three games in seven days culminating in the Carling Cup Final on February 27.

Sagna knows he and his team-mates will have sustain their high level throughout a demanding schedule.

“The key is making sure you get plenty of rest,” he added. “You have to be well rested so that you can perform to your best level.

“We don’t really have time to think about what’s coming up, because the next game is always really soon.

“We need all the players at this time, and so everyone is really involved and that helps the team spirit. That’s a big difference from last year.”

Arsenal playmaker Samir Nasri has revealed the secret to his fantastic form this year at the Emirates.

The French international has been in sparkling form for the Gunners helping them to second in the Premier League, scoring 14 in all competitions making the former Marseille man Arsene Wenger’s leading scorer so far this season.

Ahead of the crucial first leg Champions League tie with Barcelona, Nasri reveals in FourFourTwo magazine that being left out of France’s World Cup squad in the summer was a blessing in disguise.

“I was able to have a good break last summer and completely clear my head. It was the first time I managed to get away and have such a long break. I came back like a newborn baby!” Nasri told FourFourTwo Magazine.

“When I played for France at youth level I always scored lots of goals. I’m playing higher up the field these days, almost like an attacker. It means I get behind the defenders a lot more and find myself in a lot more one-on-one situations.

“He (Arsene Wenger) told me I had the qualities to get behind defences a lot more. He told me I was quick enough and I had to make use of it  a lot more. He also told me I has the quality to score goals if I got in the right positions. When you’re an attacking player in a top club these days, stats matter. So that’s what Arsene asked me to do.”

The two sides lock horns at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night in the first leg of the double header between two teams.

The 2010 Ballon d'Or winner recalled the last time the two clubs met on the European stage - last season - when the England international came on as a substitute and helped the Gunners to a 2-2 draw at the Emirates.

"I can only speak from experience but he was one of the most dangerous players I have ever played against," Messi said, according to The Telegraph.

"Barcelona players are not scared easily but I can tell you that when we played Arsenal last season he truly worried us."

He added: "When we were playing Arsenal at the Emirates we were so in control of the game at 2-0, with all respect Arsenal were not even in the game.

"Then Theo came on and changed the game. He pretty much single-handedly salvaged a draw that night."

Walcott managed to assist Nicklas Bendtner score a goal at the Nou Camp in the reverse leg last season, but Messi bagged four goals and cut short Arsenal's progress in the Champions League.