Arsenal were torn apart by the sheer quality of Argentine sensation Lionel Messi, who underlined his status as the best player in the world with a breathtaking performance - scoring four goals to single handedly end Arsenal's Champions League written.
Much will be written about the match, but none of this should be Arsenal's concern. The simple fact is there is no shame in losing to the European Champions, let alone without key men such as Fabregas, Gallas, Arshavin, Van Persie and Song. Barcelona are better than Arsenal, as they are better than the rest of Europe and so the Gunners must quickly put the tie out of their mind and focus on the very real possibility of winning the 2009-10 Barclays Premier League title.
After the exertions of Europe, the Gunners are fortunate in that they will be inactive this weekend due to the FA Cup. No such luxury is afforded to fellow title contenders Manchester United, who face a difficult tie away at in-form Blackburn. With a tough game at home to Bayern Munich to play tonight and doubts over Wayne Rooney's availability, this will be a very tough game for United and any slipup could be a major boost to Arsenal.
However, with Chelsea already three points clear with an uncatchable goal difference, the reality is that Arsenal are going to need to take 15 points out of 15 if they are to win the Premiership title.
While this is more than possible, the toughest of the 5 remaining fixtures occurs next Wednesday when Arsenal travel across North London to face bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal have a fantastic record at White Hart Lane, but Harry Redknapp's Champions League chasing Spurs side will likely pose the toughest threat to Arsenal's long unbeaten run against their neighbours since Steffan Iversen hit the winner way back in 1999.
As difficult a tie as this will be for Arsenal, the bigger challenge is arguably recovering mentally from the Barcelona tie. While in recent years this is something which the Gunners have struggled to do, with one setback generally opening the floodgates, the first leg fightback against the Catalans and recent late winning goals against Hull and Wolves has underlined the increased strength of character in the Arsenal squad.
It will be tough, but I am predicting a Samir Nasri inspired win at White Hart Lane and with Robin van Persie hopeful of returning before the end of the season, the title could just be swinging Arsenal's way yet!
Written by Danny Watson, a sports writer who blogs about Arsenal shirts.
