After Arsenal drew a blank against Sunderland at the Emirates, several of their stars took a lesson in shooting as they watched New Jersey beat Toronto in a thrilling NBA match at the O2 Arena. Jack Wilshere, who faces a race against time to be fit to face Barcelona on Tuesday, joined Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Cesc Fabregas on the touchline for the NBA clash. Chelsea's Peter Cech also took in the spectacle in London with his side not due to play until Monday when they visit Blackpool.
Front row seats: (From left to right) Arsenal's Jack Wilshere, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Cesc Fabregas at the basketball match between New Jersey Nets' and Toronto Raptors'
at the O2 Arena in London
The New Jersey Nets needed three overtimes but eventually completed a sweep of the first regular-season NBA games to be played in Europe as they won 137-136. In a thrilling finish at the O2 Arena, the Nets won a battle of endurance in a game that took over three and a half hours. The Nets won last night's contest 116-103 but the second win was much harder in another tight contest between two closely-matched teams. This was the second of back-to-back games arranged by the NBA with the aim of boosting the profile of basketball in this country ahead of next summer's Olympics.
There was a brighter atmosphere for the second game, and the players seemed to feed off it too as they played in front of another star-studded crowd at the O2 Arena. The bulk of the 18,700 strong sell-out crowd stuck around for the late finish. The NBA has played pre-season games to sold-out crowds here in London in each of the past four years, but these games fulfilled a promise to bring meaningful action here before next summer's Olympics. These are far from the most glamorous teams the NBA has to offer - it is arguable how meaningful these games actually are given their lowly standing at the foot of the Atlantic Division - but the heavy international influence on their rosters gave fans a sneak preview of players likely to return for the Olympics.
All smiles: Arsenal's players relax ahead of their Champions League showdown
against Barcelona on Tuesday
United States international Williams, a gold medal winner in Beijing, had 21 points and 18 assists for New Jersey, while Lopez - who hopes to join him in London - led the Nets with 34. Italy international Bargnani was the top scorer for Toronto with 35 while Brazil's Leandro Barbosa added 22 and Spain guard Calderon had nine points and nine assists.
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[FONT=impact!important]to prove their potential than against Barcelona tonight. [/FONT][FONT=impact!important]The former Barca youth team star is set to play at the Nou Camp for the first time in his career. Cesc Fabregas believes Arsenal can have no better stage on which to prove their potential than against Barcelona in the Nou Camp on Tuesday night. [/FONT]
[FONT=impact!important]The Spain World Cup winner has shrugged off a hamstring problem to return to the team he left as a teenager for the first time in a competitive club fixture, with a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League at stake. While it is sure to be an emotional evening for the Gunners skipper, the 23-year-old insists the glamour tie provides the perfect opportunity for Arsene Wenger's youngsters to show they have what it takes to deliver at the highest level.
'We have played so many games where we shown we have character, we have potential and that we are the present,' said Fabregas, who was sidelined for the shock Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham at Wembley. 'We want to win things for the club and this is obviously a fantastic exam for all of us a team and individually. 'We want to show how good we are and it's a fantastic opportunity for the team to have a great game.'
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Under the spotlight: Fabregas has shrugged off a hamstring injury to play against his boyhood club
Arsenal will take a slender 2-1 lead into tonight's clash following their stirring fightback at the Emirates Stadium and could be boosted by the return of leading scorer Robin van Persie who will have a late fitness test on his injured knee. Despite the personal significance of the occasion for Fabregas, who endured another summer of transfer speculation over a £30million move back to the Catalan club, the Gunners skipper insists victory is the only thing on his mind.
I am not here to shut up comments or to beat anyone specifically or whatever. I am just here to win for Arsenal Football Club,' Fabregas said.
'For all my connections with Barca, tonight is all about Arsenal. All I will be concentrating on is how to help Arsenal through to the quarter-finals. It is something that I want as badly as any Arsenal fan.' 'It is about us proving that we have what it takes to beat the best of the best.
'Sometimes I don't understand these reactions or comments about people saying I want this or I feel this. I want to win for Arsenal and that's it. That's easy for me. 'I don't put anything extra in my head because I play against Barcelona in the Nou Camp. 'It is a special game for everyone because it is a special stadium and we play against a good team and that's it. It's one more game that we want to win. 'We want to do well for the club and we want to get through to the next stage of the Champions League.
'There is nothing more to it than that - we just want to go through and get to the quarter-final.'
Fabregas missed last season's Champions League quarter-final encounter at the Nou Camp after suffering a broken leg in the first tie in London. The Gunners skipper knows full well his side cannot allow Lionel Messi to run riot again, the Argentinian having netted all four of Barcelona's goals in a masterclass last April. 'We know that you cannot give space to Messi because he scored four goals and was outstanding,' Fabregas said. 'For the rest, we showed what we have to do in the first leg a couple of weeks ago and we played some good football.
Silence: Fabregas insists his main priority
is to win for Arsenal
'We cannot always be focused on thinking what are they going to do or just defending - we are Arsenal and we have to make ourselves respected as well.'
Tonight, as Arsene Wenger says, is 'not a pre-season friendly at Barnet'. It is a match that could make or breakArsenal's season. It is an opportunity to prove to themselves, as much as their opponents, that they do indeed have what it takes to end their long search for silverware. Eliminate the best team in the world from the Champions League and the self-doubt should all but disappear. 'We will become favourites because we have beaten the super-favourites,' said Arsenal's manager.
But surrender the 2-1 advantage they secured so impressively at the Emirates in the first leg and it will complete a 10-day period so disappointing that there is a danger they might struggle to recover.
The prodigal son returns: Former Barcelona kid Fabregas
is finally set to play in the Nou Camp
That first-leg victory was supposed to be pivotal for Wenger's side, a night when they finally came of age. Then they lost to Birmingham in the Carling Cup final and - ignoring an easy midweek win over Leyton Orient - stumbled to a goalless draw against Sunderland. Wenger saw that as 'two points lost', despite Manchester United's setback at Anfield. It was. With a game in hand on United, Arsenal will remain in the title race whatever happens at the Nou Camp this evening, and they would not be alone in having weaknesses. This season's title race will be memorable for the fact that all the main contenders appear capable of blowing it at any moment.
But to secure a place in the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of a wonderful Barcelona team would strengthen Arsenal minds as well as their chances. As Wenger said, 'confidence is very important'. Arsenal seemed the more confident of the two camps here amid the chaos of the pre-match press conferences. It was pure theatre at times. There were accusations of dirty tricks, claims the Catalan club have an entire second team of Jack Wilsheres, even a suggestion Pep Guardiola would arrive in a wheelchair, having spent five nights in hospital with a herniated disc.
Judging by the way he walked into the auditorium, the bigger back problem appeared to be the absence of the injured Carles Puyol and suspended Gerard Pique. But, while the Catalan club all but accused Wenger of lying about Robin van Persie and claiming Theo Walcott would be flown in on 'a private jet', Puyol was on Barca TV training with his colleagues. 'He is not ready to play,' insisted Guardiola. We will see. Van Persie also remains a doubt despite his arrival on a plane being tagged 'Flight Van Man'. The mere fact he is here demonstrates how important a contest this is. 'I will not risk them,' said Wenger before joking that only if Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas were '99.5 per cent fit' would they play.
But Wenger knows how much he needs Van Persie; just as he recognises the significance of having Fabregas here. Without their Catalan captain, Arsenal suffered here last season, destroyed by Lionel Messi. It will be different with Fabregas in midfield, as Barcelona discovered at the Emirates last season and this. They will also know how determined he will be to excel in his first game at the club he left at 16 to join Arsenal and where he wanted to return last summer before Wenger persuaded him to stay in north London.
With Fabregas and possibly Van Persie, even as an impact substitute, as well as Samir Nasri and Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal could yet inflict more damage on a Barca side missing their two best centre halves and chasing the tie. Arsenal will still have to be careful, and the absence of Alex Song means Abou Diaby will provide Wenger's back four with the protection they need against Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. Arsenal, as Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti said, perfected the art of counter-attacking football in that first leg, and Wenger seems to think they have found a formula that works against the Spanish league leaders, in which Fabregas performs a crucial role.
'Cesc is vital for us because he is important in the transition between defending and attacking. He gets us out of pressure,' said Wenger. 'He can give a final ball as well.
'This will be one of the few games where we will spend 60 per cent of the time defending, so it is important we adapt. We have to fight against the pre-conceived ideas that Arsenal cannot defend.
'I will remind you that, in the last 11 Premier League games, we have seven clean sheets. We have conceded fewer goals than Manchester United. We can defend when we have to, although we prefer to attack. 'I feel defensively we can cope better than we did here last year. Then we had to go with two left-sided centre halves and it became the Lionel Messi show. You can never bet on a poor performance from Messi but I'm not worried. I'm confident.' He seemed it, more so than Guardiola - even if the Spanish manager does seem to think the future star of English football would have more chance of playing for Barnet than Barcelona's first team.
