Arsenal vs Barcelona: Five things the Gunners must do to beat Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar

One thing you notice when you look at Barcelona this season is how often they start slowly. They may have scored 67 goals in La Liga this season, but only 25 of those (37 per cent) have been in the first half.

While Luis Enrique’s side have led at half time on 13 occasions in the league, they have been level 11 times and behind once. The ‘half-time’ La Liga table has them in second-place, six points behind Real Madrid.

Unfortunately for Arsenal, Tuesday’s first leg lasts the requisite 90 minutes. Nevertheless, Barca’s first-half record is there to be taken advantage of and if they hold any hope of winning, Arsene Wenger’s side must start well.

Thierry Henry said it. The former France international, who represented both these sides, identified in The Sun this weekend that Arsenal will not have much of the ball, so they will have to use it will.

“They will probably only have 30 per cent possession and must be so efficient when they do get the ball,” he noted. “They need everyone to put a shift in.”

“The whole team must defend more as a unit and the wingers must tuck in and play more in their own half,” he added. “They need to stay compact, play on the counter and score every time they get in their penalty area.”

Easier said than done, maybe? Although Arsenal’s often profligate strike force can probably afford a few shots off target, Henry’s central point is correct. Persistent wastefulness, even just possession without attacking intent, will cost the Gunners in the final analysis.

Wenger’s men should play compact in the middle when with the ball, like Henry says, thereby offering the man in possession a simple passing option. Then, once they’ve found some space, unleash the pace and counter-attacking threat they possess on the flanks to get in behind.

It sounds so simple on paper, doesn’t it?

Luis Enrique may have overseen the evolution of this Barcelona team from tiki-taka technocrats to devastating counter-attackers but the two iterations share something in common – they play out from the back. That makes pressing their defence just as important as ever.

Given their penchant for attacking play, many managers assume that to sit back and soak up Barça’s pressure is the best way to approach a game against them. Actually, holding the ball in the opposition’s half and picking holes until they break through is exactly what they want you to do.

Playing proactive football and prohibiting those key first few passes out the back of their defence gives you a greater chance of success. Think Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott rather than Olivier Giroud, who Arsene Wenger sacrificed in order to play a counter-attacking style when down to ten men against Chelsea recently, of course.

Sergio Busquets is the chief outlet for Barcelona’s balls out the back so man-marking him is the logical next step, given that your frontline is pushing up against their defence. Enrique’s side can go long but most of their play still flows through the world’s best defensive midfielder.

If an Arsenal player has him under wraps, their chances of winning the ball back high up the pitch and exerting even more pressure on that defence increase. Should the Gunners do this well early on and make the most of the opportunities that fall to them, this tie could get interesting.

Tactics need the right players with the right attributes to perform them, otherwise all that planning goes to waste. We’ve already touched on why Olivier Giroud may be best off starting this one from the bench, however unlikely that seems, but there are other key choices to be made across Arsenal’s starting line-up.

Gabriel’s absence is a problem, as the age-old concern of Per Mertesacker’s pace rears its head again. To be fair, to the Germany international, he often copes when predicted to be up against it, but there’s only one winner in a foot race between him and Luis Suarez. If Wenger has other options, he should consider them, but Calum Chambers is far from a dependable replacement.