Selfless to the end, Cesc Fábregas embodies the spirit of a leader

Posted Thursday, April 01, 2010 by theguardian.com

No one at the Emirates will forget the part Arsenal's young captain played in a near-epic revival

Selfless to the end, Cesc Fábregas embodies the spirit of a leader
Cesc Fábregas reacts after being booked against Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium.

Two Arsenal captains left the pitch with applause in their ears at the conclusion of last night's enthralling match. One, Thierry Henry, lingered to enjoy a sentimental ovation on his return to north London in Barcelona's colours. The other, Cesc Fábregas, had preceded him down the tunnel, limping off with the deeper satisfaction of knowing that he had reshaped the outcome of a pulsating evening. He was also heading towards the distressing discovery that the injury could have consequences not just for the remainder of Arsenal's season but for his participation in the World Cup.

In the final minute of the first half, when the match was still goalless but the visitors might have been three or four goals up, Fábregas slid into a tackle with Sergio Busquets, caught his former Barcelona academy colleague with his trailing foot, and received the caution that will keep him out of next week's second leg. The crowd at the Camp Nou will be deprived of seeing a man who might have taken his place among their heroes, had Arsène Wenger not spirited him away, but they will be happy to defer the pleasure.

As the referee waved his yellow card, Fábregas went down on his knees and clutched his head, immediately recognising the significance of the moment. Until then, having been cleared to play by a late fitness test and on his own insistence, his contribution to the night had been opaque, if not invisible, as Barcelona's magicians flickered across the perfect surface, Lionel Messi and Xavi creating chance after chance that foundered on the profligate finishing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the magnificent resistance of Manuel Almunia.

Fábregas rose from his disappointment to soldier on and in the final minutes of the match crowned a performance not far short of the one delivered by Roy Keane in this competition 11 years ago. On an April night in Turin the Manchester United captain responded to an early booking that he knew would keep him out of the final by driving his team to overcome a 2-0 lead to Juventus, scoring the first of the three goals that gave United an aggregate victory and a place in a final that he would watch from the Camp Nou grandstand, wearing a suit.

Keane left the Stadio delle Alpi with the sound of his name ringing in the air and Fábregas would have felt the same bitter-sweet satisfaction last night after scoring the late goal that deprived Barcelona of the away win their overall play certainly merited.

With six minutes left, and Arsenal capitalising on the confusion created in the Barcelona defence by the insertion of Theo Walcott's pace, Nicklas Bendtner headed the ball across the area into the path of Fábregas, who was drawing his foot back to strike a close-range volley when he was bundled over by Carles Puyol, a great defender who habitually operates on the border of legality. A penalty and a red card breathed even greater enthusiasm into Arsenal's supporters, who had spent the first hour frustrated by Barça's superiority and were thoroughly deflated by Ibrahimovic's two strikes but rekindled by Walcott's goal.

Some players and coaches believe that the man who wins the penalty should not take the consequent kick. Not Fábregas. Not on this night. Not against this opposition. Although clearly hurt in the challenge, he prepared himself carefully, waited for the referee to give the signal, and struck a perfect effort low and hard into the left-hand corner of the net. Víctor Valdés guessed wrong, but would have been helpless in any case.

In terms of its effect on the match, this was a performance to match the one Fábregas gave two days after last Christmas when, with Aston Villa having had the better of a thus-far goalless encounter, he came on as a substitute in the 57th minute, having missed two games with a strained hamstring, and single-handedly rearranged the course of events, bringing coherence to Arsenal's play and scoring twice in a 3-0 win.

He was withdrawn that afternoon as a precaution and Wenger would have taken the same course after last night's equaliser had he not already made his three substitutions, two of them enforced by injury before the interval. Even so, he might have removed Fábregas — "We could have played 10 against 10," he said — had his 22-year-old captain not insisted on seeing the night to its conclusion.

The odds are now certainly against Arsenal making it through to the semi-final. They will be without Robin van Persie, Andrey Arshavin and William Gallas, as well as Fábregas, and the captain's most natural understudy, Aaron Ramsey, is out for the season. But none in the 59,572 crowd last night will forget the desperation with which Arsenal fought back after being overwhelmed throughout the first hour, or the part played by their young captain in a near-epic revival.

Wenger talked before the match about the side's spirit. He has often spoken in such terms this season, to widespread scepticism. While this side might not yet be at Barcelona's current level, however, last night they certainly fought for the right to compete against the players with whom Fábregas grew up, and they will go to Catalunya inspired by his example.