- Xavi was the player who made most passes – 116 –more than Cesc (38). Wilshere (42) and Nasri (36) put together.

- By the 60th minute, the Barça players had put together 412 passes, whilst Arsenal had managed only 203.

- Barça dominated possession with 63%.

- For once, it wasn’t a Barça player who won back most possession – it was the Arsenal centre half Koscielny (17).

- The impressive record that no non-English team has ever won at the Emirates continues intact.

- In three of the five ties that Barça have lost 2-1 away, they have progressed in the competition; the last time it happened was in 1970 when they saw off Ipswich Town 1-0 at the Nou Camp.

- Valdés and Iniesta were the only two players left from the Barça team that lined up against Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League Final in Paris.

- Villa scored his 11th European goal on his 50th European appearance.

- Messi has still to score in England after a harsh offside decision robbed him of a goal on Wednesday.

- Piqué , who was the only Barça player under threat, will miss the return game after his yellow card on 58 minutes.