Would the game have been a different one if Van Persie had not been the victim of a foolish decision by Swiss referee Massimo Busacca? Wenger certainly thought so.

“I felt that Barcelona gave a lot in the first half of the game but in the second half we felt there was more space. I felt that, like in the first game, we would have come back into it and overall I am convinced we would have won this game.” He said in his post-match interview.

This game didn’t hinge on an admittedly poor decision. Wenger, so often blinded by his own love of what he has built at Arsenal, ignored the most basic aspects of the game. His side were played off the park by a team on another planet.

When Inter managed to knock football betting  favourites Barcelona out of the competition last year, they frustrated the Catalan club by pressing and harrying a team who will pass you into submission of you give them a chance to. They were a solid black and blue wall which frustrated Barcelona – Arsenal were unable to replicate their success.

Far from being a blockade against the Barcelona onslaught, they survived like a heavyweight whose legs had gone in the first round. Last ditch tackles by Gael Clichy and Laurent Koscielny saved Arsenal, as did replacement keeper Manual Almunia as they staggered around defying belief that they were able to keep Barcelona from landing the decisive blow. Goals seemed inevitable with every surge.

But as good as their opponents were, Arsenal committed a cardinal sin that undermined their efforts for most of the night. They gave away the ball far too often. Pep Guardiola’s men had 67% possession throughout the match and when they weren’t in control of the ball Arsenal simply gifted it straight back to them.

Time and time again they managed to wrestle the ball off a team who suffer like a broken hearted lover every time the ball cheated on them by finding an Arsenal boot, only to give it straight back with a rushed pass or an aimless long ball. Guardiola’s men treasure the ball when they have it, and long for it when they don’t. Arsenal never had the ball and when they did they scorned an opportunity to use it – tantamount to a criminal offence against a team like this.

Cesc Fabregas was most guilty of this as his nonchalant back heel on the stroke of half time was picked up by Andreas Iniesta just outside of the Arsenal area, who duly found Lionel Messi with a delicious pass through to the Argentinian magician who did the rest for the first Barcelona goal. His tally for the season moved to 44. The 45^th would soon follow.

For all their attacking verve the home side were spurning chance after chance, and were made to pay for their wastefulness soon after half-time as Arsenal at least looked like a side who knew they would leave the tournament with a whimper if they couldn’t muster anything going forward in the second half.

One of their first forays into Barcelona territory was rewarded with a goal out of nothing. A good attacking run from Samir Nasri, whose defensive work was far more impressive than anything he could do going forward against the irresistible Dani Alves, who had the time of his life in acres of space left vacant by an increasingly narrow defensive unit, forced a corner.

Sergio Busquets nodded into his own net and for a brief moment of time Arsenal dreamed of the next round. David Villa spurned a golden chance to put his team ahead once more straight away as Arsenal were bought back down to the ground with a bump. Arsenal would have to defend for their lives, and for the most part they were successful, by hook or by crook.

Then came the main talking point of the night. Having already been booked for lashing out at Alves as tempers frayed late in the first half, Van Persie protested his innocence as he fired off an attempt on goal after the linesman’s flag was raised.

The irony of Arsenal’s only attempts on goal leading to his side being reduced to ten men will not have offered much comfort for Arsene Wenger.

The subsequent action had an air of inevitability about it as Arsenal finally succumbed as most teams who travel to the Nou Camp do. Xavi tucked away a simply sumptuous goal after a move between Villa and Messi tore apart the Arsenal defence, and before long Koscielny fouled Pedro to give Messi and Barcelona a chance to wrap up the game. Football bets on the score line increasing began to flood in but the damage had been done, and Barcelona had finished for the night. What havoc they had wreaked.

Although Nicklas Bentdner had a golden opportunity to give Arsenal the goal they needed, in truth it would have been nothing short of robbery had they managed to achieve the most unlikely of smash and grabs.

Arsenal may choose to hide behind what was a poor refereeing decision when the game was at 1-1, but the longer the game wore on the more likely it looked that the home side would eventually overcome their ill-feted opponents, even if they had been able to keep 11 men on the pitch.

Their outrage is justified, but they must now look in the mirror and admit they got what they deserved – nothing.