Jack Wilshere can boast beating Pep Guardiola’s imperious Barcelona side on his long list of career achievements.
Against the odds in 2011, Arsenal secured a memorable Champions League win at a time where teams full of world-class players were forced to park the bus and patiently wait their turn to merely have the ball for a few seconds.
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In a career that’s seen Wilshere win two FA Cups, represent England at major tournaments, it was that famous night at the Emirates Stadium, which ranks as the best game he’s ever played in.
“I think when you’re a player, you go through stages and spells in your career and games where you’re in this flow state,” Wilshere told eSPORTY.com ahead of eBay Live’s 7 vs 10 showdown on Sunday.
“Momentum is with you, everything you do is working. You might score a few more goals than you usually score.
“I had a few moments and a few games like that in my career, but probably because it was against that Barcelona team, I would say it was.”
Goals from Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin secured a 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium, but was only half time in the last 16 tie.
Barcelona managed to turn things around with a comprehensive 3-1 (4-2 on aggregate) triumph in the second leg before going on to become European champions for a fourth time.
Double delight
What adds to the magic of the first leg for Wilshere are the gifts he received afterwards, though.
Having plucked up the courage to ask direct opponent, Xavi, for his shirt after the match, former midfielder Wilshere also wanted the big prize of a match-worn Lionel Messi shirt.
Wilshere, an avid collector of football memorabilia, managed to get his hands on one thanks to the intervention of one of his teammates.
“That team was full of superstars and shirts that I would have wanted,” Wilshere recalled. I wanted Xavi’s and I wanted Messi’s.
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“I plucked up the courage to ask Xavi for his. I didn’t pluck up the courage to ask Messi. Luckily, Cesc Fabregas was in our team and he is a good friend of Messi’s. So he kindly asked him for me. And yeah, I got the shirt, which I was buzzing about.
“It was me versus Xavi in that game. He played in the opposite position to me. So me and him had a good battle that game.
“And yeah, he wasn’t delighted, I would say. But I think he knew that he was someone that I watched when I was growing up. He was kind enough to give over the shirt.”
Priceless gift
Wilshere may get a good price for that Messi shirt should he choose to flog it, given the electric start to this summer’s World Cup the great man has made.
In just two matches, Messi already has five goals for the tournament, which makes him the all-time World Cup record goalscorer.
Messi now has 916 career goals to his name, although he’s still some way behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who has two 2026 World Cup goals to boast.
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Arsenal’s magic night
“I’ve got some fond memories from that game. The year before, Arsenal played against Barcelona,” Wilshere continued.
“And Barcelona beat Arsenal 4-1 away from home and Messi scored all the goals. I was at Bolton at the time on loan.
“The next season was kind of my first season establishing myself in the team at Arsenal. I remember when the draw came up, we were all watching it. All the lads were watching it around the TV. We got Barcelona and it felt like everyone just kind of went flat.
“I was thinking, ‘why?’ I know they’re good, don’t get me wrong. I know they were European champions at that time but I was thinking, we can at least have a go and try and beat them.
“And then I remember being in the tunnel and having Xavi, having Andres Iniesta, having Sergio Busquets, having Messi, having David Villa. All that stood next to me. You could really feel the aura they had and the confidence they had in themselves.
“The game started and we didn’t touch the ball for the first ten minutes. I remember them just being really close to each other and just making short passes. You kind of press one and you think, ‘okay, we’ve got him here’. He’s on his own and then he finds a solution.
“There was a moment, it must have been after ten or 15 minutes, where I won the ball back. I think it was off Iniesta. I turned with the ball and I drove past Xavi. I remember the whole stadium lifting.
“I quickly worked out as well in that game, are we going to have to keep the ball if we want to have any chance? But also when we are keeping the ball, if we can beat their first line of pressure, either with a pass or a dribble, then we would get a bit of success.
“I started to do that a little bit more. My confidence grew a little bit more and then we went on to win the game.”
Hosted by Jack Wilshere and Landon Donovan on Sunday at 2:30pm GMT, fans can tune in on eBay Live to bid live on curated memorabilia, football shirts, cards, and collectables tied to legendary No. 10s and No. 7s.
