Beaten twice by Lionel Messi in the closing stages of Tuesday’s game, Petr Čech was left exposed by his defence for both goals.

The first came from a counter-attack, the second the penalty spot; Čech had no chance to deny the little Argentinian on either occasion.

Before Messi’s opener with around 20 minutes to go, Arsenal had given a very good account of themselves. The Gunners had managed to restrict the number of chances created by Barcelona’s star studded frontline and also forged a few decent openings at the other end. You can’t really criticise the gameplan.

“I think the only thing we didn’t fulfil was that we didn’t score,” said the 33-year-old goalkeeper. “If you play one of the favourites to win the Champions League and you have a chance, you need to find a goal. We had a couple of chances where we could have scored and we did not. I think that would have made a big difference.”

 LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Lionel Messi of Barcelona scores the opening goal past goalkeeper Petr Cech of Arsenal during the UEFA Champions League round of 16, first leg match between Arsenal FC and FC Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium on February 23, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Arsenal could only keep Lionel Messi out for so long. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Arsenal fluffed their lines in the first half, sending two good chances straight at German stopper Marc-André ter Stegen. The second half saw an improved attacking performance, and ter Stegen made a crucial stop to deny Olivier Giroud just moments before Lionel Messi struck the opener at the other end.

“It is disappointing because we did so well in the game and created chances. I thought the difference between the two teams, [was] they managed to get a goal and that made the big difference in the game, and the second was the penalty.

“In games like this you need to be more clinical and you need to find the back of the net.”