The Biggest Night of Gilberto's Career?

Wednesday night will be a special one in North London. The first leg of the Arsenal-Villarreal semifinal marks the final European game ever to be played at Highbury. While the pundits will no doubt wax nostalgic about the great European nights in the grand old stadium's past, the players on both sides undoubtedly will be focused on the task at hand. We all know how vital the first leg is in a two-legged tie.

Arsenal has not faced an opponent quite like Villarreal in the Champions League this season, and vice versa. Both teams love to move forward in numbers, especially on the counterattack. Both teams have suspect defenses that have held up surprisingly well in European play. And both squads have punched above their weight on the big stage this season.

Juan Roman Riquelme is the man who makes Villarreal dangerous. Much like Ronaldinho at Barcelona or Totti at Roma, the Villarreal team is built around the skills of Riquelme. He can beat you with his speed and beat you on free kicks. But most commonly, he'll make your defense look downright silly with his ridiculous passing ability. He likes to sit in the gap between the midfielders and the forwards, take the ball early, and punish you before you even realize he had the ball.

Clearly, shutting down Riquelme is the key defensively for Arsenal. Shutting down a player of his skill requires a tenacious defensive midfielder in the Makelele or Vieira mold.

The man tasked with containing Riquelme for Arsenal will be Gilberto Silva. Gilberto, a World Cup winner, Premiership medal winner, and FA Cup winner, perhaps has played in no bigger contest in his career.

Seldom in his career has Gilberto been relied upon so heavily as he will in this game. He no longer has the reassuring presence of Patrick Vieira next to him. Instead, he will have a teenager, Cesc Fabregas, at his side. He will not have Arsenal's most experienced defender, Sol Campbell, behind him. Instead, he'll be playing in front of a defense with an average age of 22.5 years. And he won't have the luxury of playing for a team that controls the ball for 75% of the game, as is the case when he lines up for Brazil.

Early in the season, Gilberto struggled to adapt to the additional responsibilities and his young teammates. He was often caught out of position. When he did win the ball, his distribution was poor. Riquelme carves up teams that give away possession cheaply in the opposing third of the field.

Gilberto will have to build on his good form of late and produce one of the best performances of his career on Wednesday night. Villarreal know how important it will be to score an away goal at Highbury. Gilberto has become a veteran leader and a stand-in captain for the Gunners this season. Against Villarreal, he will have the ultimate responsibility.

Riquelme and Gilberto have crossed paths before when Argentina and Brazil have locked horns. On Wednesday night in London, they will do battle again on one of the biggest stages of them all. Whoever comes out on top of this battle might be stamping his ticket to Paris.

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