Soccer:Arsene Wenger and Samir Nasri have both been charged by Uefa for comments made to referee Massimo Busacca after last night's controversial Champions League defeat at Barcelona. The Gunners manager and midfielder are accused of "inappropriate language" towards the Swiss official.
The disciplinary case will be heard by Uefa on March 17th.
Busacca caused uproar by showing Robin van Persie a second yellow card in the 56th minute for shooting at goal just one second after he had blown the whistle for offside - the Dutch striker claimed he had not heard it due to the noise of the 95,000-plus crowd.
At that stage the score was 1-1 at the Nou Camp, with Arsenal 3-2 ahead on aggregate.
Wenger confronted the Swiss official after the final whistle and angry exchanges continued inside the tunnel. The Frenchman told a news conference the decision was "embarrassing" and said Uefa representatives at the game had been shocked by the decision.
Nasri has also been charged with improper conduct for his comments to the referee after the match, while Van Persie could also be in trouble after describing the decision as a joke, saying that Busacca had "been bad all evening."
Wenger was given a one-match ban for improper conduct in 2007 for showing dissent against a referee's decision in a Champions League match.
Although it has been a difficult couple of weeks for Wenger’s side, who suffered a shock Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham, all is not yet lost. On Saturday, they head to Premier League title rivals United, whom they trail by just three points and hold a game in hand, looking to secure a return to Wembley with a place in the FA Cup semi-finals at stake.
Right-back Sagna insists having such an important fixture straight after such a disappointment can work in Arsenal’s favour.
“We can learn a lot from Barcelona — they kept playing as a team, kept passing the ball quite well. We have to think about the way they played and it must be an inspiration,” the France international said. “We have to be strong because we want to be successful. We have to fight for the team, for the fans and everyone.
“We want to bring something back to the Emirates and so we have to think about the next game. Everyone is still confident we can win something. The good point is we don’t have time to think about what happened last night.
“We just want to train as hard as we can and give the maximum.”
Sagna feels Arsenal can use their Nou Camp defeat in a positive way when they head to Old Trafford for Saturday’s late kick-off.
“We are ready to fight because we are even more frustrated after what happened last night and we want to give more,” he said. “It will be another big game on Saturday. We just want to go there and play our football.”
The performance of teenage midfielder Jack Wilshere over the two legs was certainly a positive for Wenger.
The 19-year-old again showed his huge potential with an impressive display up against the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
“To be playing against people like Xavi and Iniesta is brilliant," he said. “It was a great experience. At my age, I am still learning and there are no better players to learn from. Barcelona will probably win it now because they are the best team in Europe.”
Wilshere maintains Arsenal cannot feel sorry for themselves.
“We have got to pick ourselves up,” he said. “We have still got the championship, we are just three points behind and with a game in hand. We will go to Manchester United in the FA Cup on Saturday to get the win.”
Wilshere added: “We never give up, that is the spirit of Arsenal. We are still in two competitions and need to get a trophy this year, that will be the aim.”
