February 21, 2016 The Mail on Sunday V1 CHAMPIONS league Sport 11 Pictures: REUTERS & EXCLUSIVEPIX MEDIA

By Key battles Pete Jenson Bellerin v Neymar The Arsenal full-back (right) will want to remind Barcelona what they missed out on by letting a home-grown talent leave with a couple of those bursting runs from deep. But he can’t afford to leave space open for Neymar, who will look to expose it and get a free run at the centre of Arsenal’s defence. Monreal v Messi With licence to go where he wants, Lionel Messi will not just be a problem for Nacho Monreal (right) but he does like to make the Barca right his starting point these days. Barca’s game-plan will be for Luis Suarez to bully the centre-backs and Neymar and Messi to get in behind them on both sides. Sanchez v Alves As with Neymar and Messi, Alexis Sanchez (right) will not stay in wide areas but he will look to have some joy up against his old team-mate Dani Alves. The Brazilian is a far better defender than his attacking The three amigos: (l-r) Suarez, Neymar and Messi are the pride and tendencies have sometimes led us joy of Barca president Josep Maria to believe but he will be tested by Bartomeu (above) a pumped-up Alexis out to prove a point. League in Paris [in 2006]. If you look at coaches which are a reference for this club, they are the ones that win. ‘Cruyff won a lot, Rijkaard won, Pep 10 Suar won a lot. And when I say Pep I always ez ez ar to TAKE MESSI? say Pep and Tito because Tito was u N S ey very important for Pep. They were a to m i fantastic team. Pep brought knowl- s a s N r edge and was very successful. This e ey 1 16 ma 5 club will always be in gratitude to M si r es to him. And now there’s Luis Enrique. M S u ‘But in the end, a team is not only a to a r coach. A team is players, organisa- z e e r z tion, fans, medical staff, directors; it’s a 8 everything.’ u Intriguingly, Bartomeu does per- S NO CHANCE! ceive a threat emanating from our shores, though not in the form of an individual club. ‘When people ask me who is our rival, 73 As the world’s best player comes to Arsenal this week, I always say: ‘‘It’s the ’’. goals The TV deal, the organisation of the Barcelona’s front three have competition, the factARSENAL they have inter- set up an incredible 73 esting matches permanently, that the goals for each other Barcelona warn City, Guardiola and the rest of the league is very equal. Everything. The M TV rights is a consequence of doing e in all competitions ARSENAL s things correctly in past years.’ si this season t 9 In a league dominated by Barca and o si Ne s Premier League they will never lure their biggest Real Madrid, it seems impossible to y BARCELONAe m M emulate the Premier League. But La ar 1 ar to Liga has now embraced a collective 5 Neym deal rather than allowing the big two stars away from the Nou Camp to hive off almost all the TV money. ‘We will try,’ he insists. ‘Finally in La The key to beating Barca … Liga we are selling the rights in a more equal way. It’s worse for Barce- lona, worse for Madrid, worse proba- ARSENALpress high on their defence bly for some of the teams, but we have to think of the long term. We would How to tame Barca — yes, ARSENAL 27goals like to get some TV rights like the Pre- it is possible. mier League and the competition in The last team to take in 31 should be (more) interesting.’ points from Barcelona BARCELONA Yesterday’s 2-1 win at Las Palmas, at the Nou Camp were games with goals from Suarez and Neymar, Deportivo de la Coruña, put Barca nine points clear and Bar- who drew 2-2, after tomeu acknowledges that the Barca- Key Real Madrid show, compelling as it approaching the game in a way that few teams dare. Barcelona has become, is damaging for Spanish Barcelona football. Belatedly, La Liga is now Barcelona are used to movement receiving the sort of overseas invest- sides defending deep and playmaker but Arsenal ment that the Premier League has had only leaving one or two Arsenal for 10 years or more. players high up the pitch. he spent his time movement Espanyol, the other team in Barce- That enables Gerard shadowing lona, were bought by Chinese billion- Pique, Javier Mascherano Busquets at Arsenal aire Chen Yansheng; Valencia are and to every turn. Key attacking Barcelona are a co-operative, a club Ferran and everyone helped to change one-man club, as Manchester United owned by Singaporean billionaire Barcelona bring the ball out Pique said: ‘It was Barcelona owned by 140,000 members. Bartomeu it. So they (City) are not copying what did with Sir Alex Ferguson, or Arse- Peter Lim; Atletico Madrid have a comfortably from the back. impossible to play out movement had to stand for election to speak for we are doing. They are doing a differ- nal with Arsene Wenger. It has served Chinese stakeholder in Wang Jianlin. Arsenal But Deportivo left three through the middle andArsenal we this club. You cannot imagine Sheik ent project with an owner, not like them well, not being dominated by ‘If people come to Spain and invest movement Mansour doing that any time soon. here where we have 140,000 owners, a one strong personality. in football, that’s good for football,’ players high up the pitch in had to start moves in wider ‘I don’t like the word copy,’ says different city, with different fans. So ‘The modern sports way of organis- says Bartomeu. ‘It gives us more of a central positions. Strikers areas.’ Arsenal Bartomeu. ‘I don’t like it because no you cannot copy. But, of course, they ing our team was brought in by Johan challenge to have better teams and Jonathan Rodriguez and Arsenal could employ the attacking one copies everything. When Pep was bring to City the experience that they Cruyff when he was head coach,’ says try to win every year. I am concerned Lucas Perez and midfielder same tactic with Olivier here he helped our club to grow, when had in Barcelona.’ Bartomeu. ‘Then there was Louis van about my team, Barcelona, but also Faycal Fajr effectively Giroud and Alexis Sanchez Txiki was here he helped our club to Although during Guardiola’s glori- Gaal, who gave a lot of confidence to about football itself.’ blocked Barca from playing sitting on Pique and grow. I came with Ferran Soriano ous four years in charge, Barcelona youth players, to Victor Valdes, , Right now, though, he appears to out from the back. Mascherano and Mesut Ozil when the club were in a very difficult closely reflected his personality, they Iniesta, Carles Puyol. There was have little to worry about. Not on the Fajr is usually Deportivo’s dealing with Busquets. financial situation and the board and never went down the route of being a Rijkaard, and we won the Champions pitch, at least.