Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas takes blame for loss to Barcelona in UEFA Champions League
Following Arsenal’s defeat to Barcelona in their second-leg encounter in the UEFA Champions League fixture last night, Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas has went on to take full responsibility for his side crashing out of the contest.
Despite taking a one-goal advantage to Camp Nou after having beaten Barcelona 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg, Arsenal went on to crash out by an aggregate score of 4-3. This was because the Gunners lost by a margin of 3-1 last night. The Catalans’
first goal came via a mistake by the Spanish World Cup winner, Fabregas, which is why he is willing to take full blame for the loss.
Just two minutes from the half-time break, Fabregas looked to back-heel a pass to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jack-Wilshere-c17463, when he should have been blasting it clear. This was mainly due to the fact that the ball was dangerously close to the Arsenal area at the point in time. However
with the pass not being a rather good one, it went on to get intercepted by Andres Iniesta. The midfielder then went on to loft a through pass to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296, who at this point was well in the Arsenal box. The Argentine wizard then raised the ball over the
rushing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Manuel-Almunia-c23386 with a deft touch and volleyed it into the back of the Arsenal net.
After the restart, Arsenal were however given a ray of hope. The team was awarded an early corner, which was whipped in with pace by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-Busquets-c33048 as he beat Victor Valdes on the near post and landed into
the back of the net. With Arsenal looking to hold onto the lead, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 was shown a second yellow in a dubious manner, cutting the Gunners down to ten men. Barcelona then went on to score two goals in three minutes and settled the tie for good.
Nonetheless, Fabregas refuses to rule the dismissal of Van Persie as the reason his team lost and has stated that it was his mistake that lead to the team’s falling out of the tournament.
Fabregas’s tweeted after the game: “I take full blame for the result tonight. One of the worst moments of my life. I apologize.” Soon after that, the player went on to add: “Great support from the Arsenal fans.”
The midfielder apart from being gutted by the loss, acknowledged the hard work his side put into the game. He then went on to mention that he might have even played 75 minutes of the game with an injury. The midfielder is reported to have said that it was
a pity they did not make it in the match. He said his team had given Barcelona some pretty scary moments, especially when they had scored. “But that's football and it wasn't our night. I'm proud of the team; we stood up to them and defended well when we were
supposed to. Personally, I enjoyed the first 15 minutes, but then felt a slight pain in the back of my leg and carried on for as long as I could,” he said.
With Arsenal now out of the European competition, the team can and should focus all their energy on the Premier League and the FA Cup, because ending their current season without a trophy would be pretty off considering the performances the team put in all
season long.
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