08 April,2010 07:40 AM IST | | PA Sport
It might not feel like it just yet but the 6-3 thrashing by Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday might just be the best thing to happen to Arsenal and Arsene Wenger this season.
It showed Wenger exactly where his team stands.
It displayed the gulf between the best in Europe and a team who indisputably are the most pleasing on the eye in the Premier League.
It proved if Wenger wants to win the top prizes he needs to spend. And the signs are that at last that penny might have dropped.
"We have to add something, for sure," said Wenger after generously praising Barcelona for another mighty performance which saw Lionel Messi score all four goals in a 4-1 second-leg triumph at the Nou Camp. "But we have some time to think about that."
It was the first time Wenger had appeared to accept he could not mix it with the very best by relying on the group of youngsters he has nurtured at the Emirates Stadium.
