The Arsenal v Barça match tonight is being touted in England as something more than a game of football and the British press has focused on this Champions League last sixteen game as a " clash of ideals and shared principles." The Barça model has set a standard that the Arsenal coach, Arsene Wenger, has tried to imitate. Thus, the tie is deemed by the English dailies as that of two entities that are committed to their youth systems.

Names to look out for

In this tie, names people will be looking out for include the likes of Leo Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, not forgetting the Gunners' Cesc Fabregas and Jack Wilshere, the London outfit’s captain and promising youngster, respectively.

According to Alan Hansen, in an article in The Telegraph, Cesc has a chance to go one step further as a player this Wednesday , reaching the heights of Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard. He said that "Cesc is the player of the season in the Premier League, for his technique and the fact that he transfers Wenger's vision onto the field. However, if he wants to be one of the best players in the world he has to show that against the best team in the world. "

"True giants of football”

Likewise, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, in a column in the Daily Mail, asks whether Wilshere, the pearl of the Gunner’s youth set-up , can play at his best level against the "true giants of football." In England's match against Denmark, Wilshere was "awesome" but it remains to be seen whether he can maintain that level against Guardiola’s team.

According to Dalglish, against Barça Wilshere will come up against three players, Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, who are of similar height, all of whom show that in football today "there is no need to be an Arnold Schwarzenegger”

The Masia Model

The Barcelona model is, according to Paul Hayward in The Guardian, "the direct oppposite" to the system used by teams in the Premier League and other European clubs " should copy their academy because education is the foundation of Barça's history ." According to Hayward, in the Champions League, FC Barcelona has a average 70% possession of the ball compared to 57% for Arsenal, a figure that looks pretty "miserable" in comparison. These statistics "are not achieved overnight but are the product of years and years of experience."

The Barcelona model is also commented upon by the BBC’s Matthias Krug, who quotes Andrés Iniesta’s description of daily life in the Barça youth system: " We have grown up together with the same ideas about football and we play with the same philosophy. ”

Is there too much confidence in young talent? Are there too many short players? .Are they overconfident? The English may have asked these questions before, but now they have their answers. Lately, the Barça game has been "sublime" and "the trophies support Guardiola’s playing philosophy."