Preview: Barcelona v. Arsenal, Champions League Quarter-Finals, Second Leg

Brace scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovich will miss Tuesday's match because he has been ruled "to tall" compared to everyone else. Pic via Guardian.

Camp Nou, Barcelona

Tuesday, April 6

19.45 BST, 2:45 p.m. EDT

First leg drawn 2-2

• Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)
• History: 0 Arsenal wins, 2 Barcelona wins, 2 draws
• Arsenal's League Form: W-W-W-W-D-W
• Barcelona's League Form: D-W-W-W-W-W

Predicted Line-Up

guesses italicized

Almunia

Sagna - Campbell - Vermaelen - Clichy

Rosicky - Nasri - Denilson - Diaby
            Walcott

Bendtner

Subs from: Fabianski, Silvestre, Traore, Eastmond, Eboue, Merida, Eduardo

Out: Song (groin), Fabregas (leg), Arshavin (calf), Gallas (calf), Ramsey (leg), Gibbs (foot), Van Persie (ankle), Djourou (knee)
Playing on yellow cards: Clichy, Diaby

Arsenal News and Notes

• In addition to Arsenal's already long list of injuries, Alex Song will not make the trip to Camp Nou either, having injured his calf in the first half of Saturday's 1-0 win over Wolves.
• This likely means Sol Campbell will have to start for the second time in four days, which might be questionable for the veteran's fitness level until you consider that the back line really didn't have to do much against Wolves.
• With all of the injuries, will Arsene Wenger still be able to stun Barcelona with a pace substitute like Theo Walcott after the hour mark? Will it matter if Barca defender Eric Abidal is, in fact, fit again? It was Maxwell eaten alive by Walcott's pace.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in their last nine matches in all competitions, dating back to their 2-1 loss at Porto.

Barcelona News and Notes

• Normal center backs Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol are out suspended.
• Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who had Barcelona's brace at the Emirates, is out with a calf injury.
• Midfielder Andres Iniesta has returned to training after a hamstring injury, but is still a major doubt for tomorrow's second leg.
• Possible replacement defender Dmytro Chigrynskiy is not eligible to play; he has already appeared in this year's Champions League with his former club, Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk.
• Arsenal need an outright win or a scoring draw of 3-3 or higher to advance. Barcelona has lost three games all year, across all competitions.

Match Facts

• Arsenal has never beaten Barcelona in four tries, losing twice and drawing twice.
• Arsenal's only match at Camp Nou was a 1-1 draw in the group stages of the Champions League in 1999-2000. Kanu had the Gunners' 81st minute equalizer.
• The last time Arsenal drew the first leg of a Champions League tie at home was in the 2008 quarterfinals against Liverpool, when they proceeded to lose the second leg at Anfield. In the round of 16 that year, Arsenal drew the first leg at home against AC Milan, then won 2-0 at the San Siro.
• The referee is Germany's Wolfgang Stark, who has a bit of a colorful reputation. Those colors are yellow and red, of course. He was last seen by the English at Stamford Bridge last month, showing a red card late to Didier Drogba. He was last seen by Barcelona during a semifinal 0-0 draw with Chelsea last year, when the Catalan's were irate that he did not send off Michael Ballack. He was last seen by Arsenal in their 3-0 quarterfinal win against Villareal last year.

Other Ties

• Tuesday: CSKA Moscow (0) v. (1) Internazionale; Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
• Wednesday: Manchester United (1) v. (2) Bayern Munich; Old Trafford, Manchester
• Wednesday: Bordeaux (1) v. (3) Lyon; Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux