Former Arsenal winger Samir Nasri has claimed that the Gunners were "robbed" during their 2010-11 Champions League tie with Barcelona in the last 16.
The ex-France international's final season at Arsenal saw Arsene Wenger's men claim one of the most iconic victories of the Emirates era when they welcomed Pep Guardiola's Barcelona to North London.
One year after being dumped out of the quarter-finals 6-3 on aggregate to Barca, Arsenal were fighting an uphill battle to stay alive in the 2010-11 first leg when David Villa raced through to fire La Blaugrana into a first-half lead.
However, Robin van Persie finished from a tight angle in the second half to level the scores, before a slick passing move ended with Nasri picking out Andrey Arshavin to curl home a stunning winner.
Arsenal travelled to Camp Nou with a 2-1 lead to protect, and Barcelona were on course for a shock elimination after Sergio Busquets's own goal cancelled out a Lionel Messi strike.
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Just three minutes after restoring parity, though, Arsenal controversially went down to 10 men as Van Persie kicked the ball away after the referee had blown his whistle - incurring a second yellow card in the process.
A bewildered Van Persie claimed not to have heard Massimo Busacca's whistle, but the official's decision stood, and Arsenal ultimately bowed out with a 3-1 loss at Camp Nou as Xavi and Messi struck in the second half.
To this day, the decision to send Van Persie off remains a hot-button topic, and speaking during an interview with ZackNaniProd, Nasri has insisted that Arsenal were "robbed" of a place in the quarter-finals.
"We played with an injured [Cesc] Fabregas – who wanted to play anyway, because it's against Barcelona and he was leaving – and Van Persie gets a red card, because he hadn't heard the referee's whistle," Nasri said, as translated by GFFN.
"Try playing with ten men at the Nou Camp, where the pitch feels like twice the size of the one at your stadium, and you already weren't seeing much of the ball. We were robbed in that game."
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Barcelona went on to defeat Manchester United 3-1 in the 2011 Champions League final, while Arsenal are still waiting for their maiden top-level European crown.
Nasri - who also lost the 2010-11 EFL Cup final with Arsenal to Birmingham City - spent three years at the Emirates after leaving Marseille in 2008, scoring 27 goals and providing 15 assists in 125 games.
The 35-year-old acrimoniously departed for Manchester City in 2011, winning two Premier League titles and coming up with 27 goals and 40 assists in 176 matches during a five-year stint at the Etihad Stadium.
Nasri also spent time with Sevilla, West Ham United, Antalyaspor and Anderlecht before hanging up his boots in 2021, having also earned 41 caps for the France national team.
Ben Knapton
