2015-16 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg - Arsenal Vs FC Barcelona Tuesday February 23,2016

The Gunners boss admits his side will be the underdogs against Luis Enrique's side and has urged his men to defend well and take their chances if they are to have any chance

Arsenal have already beaten one of the tournament favourites this season, having defeated Guardiola's Bayern Munich 2-0 during the group stage, but Barca's form makes for daunting reading for the Gunners

FC Barcelona ,last season's treble-winners head to London for Tuesday's first leg having gone 32 matches unbeaten in all competitions - a run which has seen them break the club record set under Pep Guardiola.

LAST MEETING

FC Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal FC – 8^th March 2011 – UEFA Champions League

Arsenal vs Barcelona: Head to Head

Arsenal and Barcelona have met each other five times in the Champions League, with Barcelona leading the charts with 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss

The two sides have crossed paths five times in this competition and the end result has always been the same: Barcelona progressing to the next round at the expense of the Gunners


The teams were drawn together in the round of 16 in 2010/11 season and quarter finals of 2009/10, in both occasions Barcelona knocked out Arsenal on aggregate.

The clash also mark  Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez making his first appearance against  FC Barcelona, for the club he scored 47 goals in 141 appearances from 2011 to 2014.


In nine meetings between the two sides, Arsenal have only emerged victorious on one occasion – a 2-1 win at the Emirates back in February 2011

Arsenal vs Barcelona – Form Comparison

The Gunners are currently third in the Premier League, with just 2 points separating them from top placed Leicester City. Arsenal have only lost once in their last 15 home matches in all competitions. Their last five home matches in all competitions witnessed 2 wins, 2 draws and a defeat.

 

FC Barcelona are flying on the top of La Liga, 9 points clear off second placed Atletico Madrid and 10 points clear off third placed Real Madrid.
They have lost only twice in all competitions this season, both of the defeats coming in away matches in Spanish La Liga. Since their last defeat at Sevilla on 3rd October 2015, Barcelona are unbeaten in 32 matches this season, with 26 of them ending in wins

FC Barcelona beat Arsenal 2-0
Goal Scorers for FC Barcelona - Lionel Messi 71 and 83rd Minute Penalty

• Lionel Messi ended a run of 10 hours and 11 minutes without a goal against Petr Cech (seventh game against him).
• Messi now has eight Champions League goals versus Arsenal - only against and AC Milan (eight) has he scored as often.
• There were just 47 seconds between Mathieu Flamini coming on to the pitch and him giving away a penalty.
• Barcelona are unbeaten in 33 competitive games - their best ever run in all competitions. The record for a Spanish team is for Real Madrid with 34 games in a row without defeat back in 1987-88.
• Arsenal failed to score for the first time in 14 Champions League matches.