Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1: Brilliant second-half performance puts Arsenal in the box seat.

Arsenal players mob Andrey Arshavin after the Russian popped up the match winner

As Arsene Wenger said, this is a different Arsenal team from the one Barcelona encountered a year ago. Different in the way they defiantly fought their way back into this extraordinary Champions League tie, and different in the level of determination they displayed.

When David Villa struck the first blow after 26 minutes, Arsenal appeared dead in the water. How could they come back against the finest football team on the planet? The finest we may have ever seen?

Because for more than an hour against the classy Catalans, the best Arsenal could produce simply wasn’t good enough. It was second best to the team even Wenger considers the finest around.

Then, however, came the most remarkable of fightbacks. First a 78th-minute equaliser from Robin van Persie then an unlikely winner from Andrey Arshavin.

It was incredible — a goal that suddenly gives Arsenal a fighting chance at the Nou Camp. And their situation was improved further by the fact that Pep Guardiola will probably have to prepare without his two first-choice centre-halves. While Carles Puyol is struggling with injury, Gerard Pique is now suspended after picking up a yellow card last night.

Make no mistake. Until their concentration lapsed in the latter stages and they allowed Arsenal to strike back, Barcelona were brilliant at The Emirates.

But this also amounted to one of the finest displays from an Arsenal side. Jack Wilshere was magnificent, and so too were Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas. If Wenger has any regrets, it will be the opportunities Van Persie squandered in the first half.

The odds were stacked against Van Persie when he let fly

He did make amends with the equaliser, though his goal also owed much to Victor Valdes anticipating a cross from the Dutchman and then seeing the ball fly inside his near post when Van Persie instead shot from a sharp angle.

Five minutes later, The Emirates was in ecstasy when a sweeping move saw Samir Nasri break down the right and cross for Arshavin, a 68th-minute substitute, to finish.

How unlikely the finale had seemed in the game’s opening phases. More than two minutes had elapsed before Arsenal even got an opportunity to pass the ball, such was the ominous manner in which Barcelona started.

But a decent free-kick from Samir Nasri that tested Valdes and a surging run by Walcott that ended with a ball that was a fraction too heavy for Van Persie lifted the mood in the stadium.

By the time Arsenal launched their next attack, there was an almost tangible sense of belief. Van Persie went so close to scoring, forcing a decent save from Valdes after Walcott and Fabregas had combined cleverly to create a chance for their Dutch colleague. It was a super chip from Fabregas that found the Arsenal striker.

The speed of Barcelona’s counter-attacks were stunning, though, and Alex Song picked up an early yellow card for a desperate challenge on the rapidly-advancing Messi.

The Argentine, in Wenger’s words, looked like he was on fire, darting away from Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou in pursuit of a 15th-minute pass from Villa, only to chip a left-foot finish past Wojciech Szczesny but agonisingly wide. It meant Messi was still searching for his first goal on English soil.

For Arsenal this was becoming all too familiar territory as Barcelona made it extremely hard for them to operate the high-tempo, pressing game they like to play. When Wilshere lost possession to Andres Iniesta, Messi again threatened.

This, however, was an improvement on last year for Arsenal, not least because they were still creating chances of their own. Both Fabregas and Walcott went close to putting Van Persie in a position where he could inflict some real damage.

When Wilshere then released Walcott, the Emirates rose to its feet. Accelerating upfield, Walcott sent Fabregas clear, only for Eric Abidal to divert the cross away from Van Persie with a brilliant interception.

Cesc Fabregas was up against the club who failed to sign him in the summer

That Barcelona opened the scoring less than a minute later was crushing for Arsenal. The goal was stunning in its execution. The way Messi held off Song to deliver the ball between Koscielny and Gael Clichy was superb, as was the manner in which Villa guided his finish under the body of the advancing Szczesny. Terrific.

To Arsenal’s credit, they continued to battle. Nasri picked up a second booking for the home side but a clear chance to hit back followed. The move was sparked by Fabregas and continued with a run from deep by Wilshere that was concluded with a perfectly weighted pass from the teenager.

Robin van Persie had a couple of good first-half opportunities before getting his goal

Sadly for Arsenal, however, Van Persie squandered the opportunity by slicing his shot hopelessly wide when the least he should have done was test Valdes.

The Catalans really were playing some magnificent stuff, with Messi continuing to torment Arsenal’s defence with his trickery. He had a goal disallowed for offside when he somehow escaped the clutches of four players to execute a delightful one-two with Villa, but he should have secured a penalty when his first attempt to find his colleague was blocked by Djourou’s hand.

Good fortune accompanied Arsenal after the break, first when Koscielny escaped punishment for his foul on Villa and then when Pique was booked. But the equaliser was slow to come, even if Walcott, Fabregas and Nasri continued to create chances.

But they kept creating, kept hoping, and thanks to the late heroics of Van Persie and Arshavin, they can visit the lair of the greatest team in the world with something approaching hope.