Bayern Munich’s Polish forward Robert Lewandowski (center), jumps to head the ball between Juventus’ French defender Patrice Evra (right), and Juventus’ Italian defender Andrea Barzagli (left), during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg football match between Juventus and Bayern Munich at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Feb 23. (AFP)

LONDON, Feb 24, (AFP): Arsene Wenger accused Arsenal of naivety after they were pushed to the brink of another frustrating Champions League exit by Lionel Messi’s brace in Barcelona’s 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.

Wenger was infuriated his players failed to heed his warning to keep it tight at all costs in the last 16, first leg on Tuesday as Messi punished the hosts’ careless defending with a clinical 71st-minute opener.

Messi then took advantage of a needless foul on him by Mathieu Flamini, stroking home the resulting penalty to leave Barca on the verge of reaching the quarter-finals for a ninth consecutive year.

It was a familiar tale of woe for the Gunners manager, who only this week had spoken publicly of his desire not to repeat the first-leg gung-ho tactics that had played a major role in Arsenal’s five successive last-16 failures.

“Of course I’m disappointed. We lost it in a way we knew we could not give them,” Wenger said.

“We were extremely guilty. It’s very difficult to take. If we had to keep a 0-0 I would have been happy with that.

“They are better than us, everybody knows that, but we could have won the game if we had kept our discipline.

“We were impatient in the build up and lost balls we usually don’t do.

“Once again, like against Monaco last season, we lost the game in exactly the same way. (It was) naive and that is frustrating. We just gave it away.”

Wenger’s anger was compounded because, for much of the match, he could have no complaints as Arsenal frustrated the European champions with a composed performance that could have yielded a lead if not for poor finishing.

“Barcelona master all aspects of the game and they have the players to punish you. But I felt there was room to beat them tonight. That is the frustration,” Wenger said.

“We had an unbelievable chance in the first half and the way we finished was a problem.

“Then we lost a bit of cautiousness to defend. When you leave a counter-attack that is when Barcelona is most dangerous.”

Now Wenger is left to survey the wreckage of Arsenal’s latest European flop and he conceded there was virtually no chance of a miraculous escape in the second leg in Spain on March 16.

“Barcelona is 95 percent through certainly, but we want to go there and fight,” added Wenger, who was less than impressed with the way the visitors often made a meal of their response to tough tackles.

“Not one goes down without shouting,” he moaned. “I felt the referee was influenced but let’s be honest, we didn’t lose the game because of the referee.”

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique will miss the second leg after a late booking which followed a touchline chat with boss Luis Enrique, prompting suggestions it was a deliberate move to get a ban out of the way before the last eight with the tie effectively over.

But Luis Enrique denied that charge, saying: “No, it wasn’t deliberate. if you see the foul, obviously he has to do it.”

The coach was much more comfortable discussing his majestic side’s 33rd consecutive unbeaten match.

“We managed to deal with Arsenal’s pressure really well. We are one of the best clubs in the world when it comes to dealing with a tight defence,” he said.

“We have had a really high defensive level. Arsenal had players to do us a lot of harm, but we were up to the challenge of all the dangers they could present us.”

Few would bet against Barca winning their sixth European Cup this season, but Luis Enrique refused to write off Arsenal yet.

“The score is really good but nothing is decided yet. We will have to play really well in front of our own crowd to go through,” he said.

Goal-scorer Arjen Robben admits disappointment was rife in Bayern Munich’s changing room after their 2-2 draw, having thrown away a two goal lead, at Juventus in the Champions League.

There is all to play for in the last 16, second leg tie, at Munich’s Allianz Arena on March 16 as Juve’s substitute Stefano Sturaro and Argentina forward Paulo Dybala netted second-half goals to leave it all square after Thomas Mueller and Robben had put Bayern in command on Tuesday.

Bayern were coasting when Robben’s superb strike from the edge of the area left them with a comfortable lead on 55 minutes until last season’s Champions League finalists roared back.

“You could feel the disappointment in the dressing room,” admitted Robben.

“When you are 2-0 up, you have to close the game down against an opponent like that.

“Above all else, we have to keep control of things in defence.

“Our starting position for the return leg is good and we need to go out there with a lot of passion, but also use our heads, like we did for the first 60 minutes today.”

Bayern’s Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said the Germans lost their heads after the home crowd got behind their team’s fight back in Turin.

“We could have come away with more today,” said Neuer as Bayern coach Pep Guardiola played David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich out of position at centre-back to cover for injuries.

“All the chaos in the stadium caused us to lose our composure a bit.”

Bayern captain Philipp Lahm was far more positive and even allowed himself a cliché.

“The Champions League was the winner today and the spectators really saw something,” said the ex-Germany captain.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has called for “improvements” after the Italian giants were handed a footballing masterclass by Bayern Munich before rescuing their Champions League hopes in a dramatic 2-2 draw in Turin.

Juventus ended a 12-year wait to reach the final last year when the Old Lady was outclassed 3-1 by Barcelona in Berlin.

But their chances of reaching even the quarter-finals this time around look slim after a display that underlined just why Bayern are considered favourites along with holders Barcelona and Real Madrid to win this year’s trophy in Milan.

Pep Guardiola’s men were faultless on their way to a two-goal lead by the 55th-minute lead thanks to goals from Thomas Mueller and Arjen Robben as they penned the hosts in their own half for long periods.

Although late substitute Stefano Sturaro rescued the hosts 14 minutes from time when he added to Paulo Dybala’s 63rd minute strike, Juve only saved face.

Outclassed at home, the Turin giants will be given few favours when they travel to Bavaria on March 16 looking for the win that would secure passage to the last eight. “We need to make improvements in relation to our first-half performance,” said Allegri.

“In the opening period they pushed us hard in our own half and we just couldn’t settle. We started making a lot of mistakes with our passes and didn’t use the space well, but let’s not forget we were playing Bayern.

“We showed the courage you need for this competition with a much better second half, so compliments to the lads.