The Gunners faced the Spanish champions this evening in the toughest possible last 16 contest.
Barcelona came to town as the reigning European champs and anointed as the best team in the land blessed with perhaps the greatest front line in the history of the game.
And Lionel Messi showed his class once again, scoring twice in a 2-0 win for the Catalan giants.
For Arsenal, it was a hard lesson about how brutal football can be at this level. For long spells, they subdued Barcelona in a way that few could have anticipated. They chased and they harried and they were holding their own against the most beautifully constructed club side there has ever been until that exhilarating burst of play when Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez suddenly clicked into gear and reminded us there is no other forward line on the planet with their devastating gifts.
Lionel Messi has insisted he feels as much pressure as ever at Barcelona despite the success of team-mates Luis Suarez and Neymar, describing their relationship as a "natural understanding."
