Samir Nasri Claims Arsenal Were Robbed Against Barcelona In The UCL (1 Viewer)

[Wonderboy]

During an interview with ZackNaniProd, former Arsenal winger Samir Nasri has claimed that the Gunners were unfairly treated in their 2010-11 Champions League tie with Barcelona in the last 16. In Nasri's final season at Arsenal, the team famously beat Pep Guardiola's Barcelona 2-1 in the first leg at Emirates Stadium, with Nasri providing the assist for Andrey Arshavin's winning goal.

However, in the second leg at Camp Nou, Arsenal controversially went down to 10 men after Robin van Persie was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away after the referee had blown his whistle. Despite Lionel Messi's earlier goal being cancelled out by Sergio Busquets's own goal, Arsenal ultimately lost 3-1 as Xavi and Messi struck in the second half.

Nasri believes that Arsenal were "robbed" of a place in the quarter-finals due to the controversial decision to send Van Persie off, which remains a contentious topic among fans and experts.

"We played with an injured [Cesc] Fabregas – who wanted to play anyway, because it's against Barcelona and he was leaving – and Van Persie gets a red card, because he hadn't heard the referee's whistle," Nasri said, as translated by GFFN.

"Try playing with ten men at the Nou Camp, where the pitch feels like twice the size of the one at your stadium, and you already weren't seeing much of the ball. We were robbed in that game."

In the 2011 Champions League final, Barcelona emerged victorious over Manchester United with a 3-1 scoreline, while Arsenal are still in search of their first major European title. Nasri, who also suffered defeat in the 2010-11 EFL Cup final with Arsenal against Birmingham City, played for three years at the Emirates Stadium after his move from Marseille in 2008. During his time at Arsenal, the 35-year-old managed to score 27 goals and provide 15 assists in 125 appearances.

In 2011, Nasri controversially left Arsenal to join Manchester City, where he won two Premier League titles and registered 27 goals and 40 assists in 176 games during his five-year spell at the club. After departing from Manchester City, Nasri played for several clubs including Sevilla, West Ham United, Antalyaspor and Anderlecht, before retiring from football in 2021. He also earned 41 caps for the France national team throughout his career.