ARSENAL won 1-0 but it wasn’t fun to be there because Villarreal were time-wasting from 33 minutes onwards.
REYES was badly missed. His diagonal passes would have opened the game up.Eleven right-footed players were unable to switch the play to the flanks, beyond the congested central zone.
LEHMANN had nothing to do except punch Riquelme’s 30 yarders.
EBOUE was the free man but his final ball was poor.
TOURE jumped under three balls in defence but scored the vital goal in 41.
SENDEROS played well and pushed the back line upfield in the last 20, as Tony Adams used to do, to force the issue and help get a second goal. A future captain, clearly.
FLAMINI had another good game.
HLEB was excellent and set up the goal when Henry played him in on the left.
GILBERTO was Arsenal’s best player despite being lucky not to concede a penalty when he fouled Jose Mari just inside the box.
FABREGAS was less effective than usual against a midfield that was far superior to that of Juventus or Real Madrid.
PIRES was peripheral but found Henry for a lovely disallowed goal in 12 minutes. Replays showed Henry was level.
LJUNGBERG is a fading veteran who scored goals and won penalties four years ago.
HENRY did a few bits and pieces against a very disciplined back seven.
ARSENE should have brought Bergkamp and Van Persie on in 65 minutes not 80. Each had six touches. Neither had an impact. They had too little time in a slow game spoiled by play-acting and diving
The atmosphere was good, but the spectacle was dire.
Champions League semi-finals are usually 95% fear and 5% flair.
The result is everything and scoring first is almost everything.
ARSENAL will draw at the El Madrigal, a tiny stadium, and progress to the Stade de France, a huge stadium, to face Europe’s most entertaining champions, Barcelona.
Finals are different to semis.
Finals are a short game of 90 minutes, not a long, cagey game of 180 minutes.
A cup final might be exciting football .
This wasn’t.