Robin van Persie (L) of Arsenal shoots past Gerard Pique of Barcelona to score during their Champions League soccer match at the Emirates stadium in north London, Feb 16, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - Arsenal come from 1-0 down to defeat Barcelona 2-1 at Emirates in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 round encounter on Wednesday.

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Arsenal were ousted from the quarterfinals of last year's Champions league by La Liga giant, but manager Arsene Wenger believed the Gunners were better than last year.

Arsenal challenged Barca since the start under the lead of captain Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott threatened the right flank with his speed. But Barca could always be the favourites with their fantastic attacking skills.

After wasting several chances to break the deadlock, Barca finally put them ahead thanks to David Villa's acute finish on Lionel Messi's pass in the 26th minutes.

Arsenal got their best chance to equal in the 29th minute, but striker van Persie's drive inside the box wide the left post.

Wenger was desperate to change the scoreline as he introduced Russian Andrey Arshaavin and Danish forward Nicklas Bendtner in the second half while Barca manager Josep Guardiola tried to protect their victory by replacing striker Villa with midfielder Seydo Keita.

When Barca failed to consolidate their advantage with score, Arsenal found their chance to revenge.

Dutch striker van Persie shot home from a very tight angle in the 78th minute and Arshavin added the winner five minutes later after Samir Nasri feed Fabregas' pass to him.

Arsenal fans jumped up from their seats and the exciting sound of singing echoed in the stadium for minutes.

Barcelona will host the Londoners at Nou Camp on March 8.