Barcelona suffered a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal and AS Roma's miserable run continued with a 3-2 home loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League last-16 first-round matches on Wednesday. For once, Lionel Messi's goalscoring instincts deserted him as Barcelona squandered a 1-0 lead when Robin van Persie and Andrei Arshavin struck late to give Arsenal an unlikely edge to take into the second leg at the Nou Camp.
"It was a game between two special teams in my opinion," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, whose side were often left chasing shadows in the first half, said. In Rome, Brazilians Jadson, Douglas Costa and Luiz Adriano scored before halftime for Ukrainian side Shakhtar in the Stadio Olimpico in what was the visitors' first appearance in the competition's last 16 and their first competitive match since early December. Simone Perrotta had given Roma the lead but the Italians needed a 61st-minute effort from Jeremy Menez to give themselves some hope for a daunting trip to Ukraine.
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