Written By Shahan Ahmed
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Post Game Report: FT - Chelsea 2-2 Barcelona (3-2 Aggregate)
Despite being down to 10 men for more than half the match, Chelsea were able to hold off Barcelona. Petr Cech had a remarkable performance, and Ramires (as predicted) was the key to Chelsea moving forward. The Brazilian scored the deciding goal for a short-handed Chelsea side. The match was capped off by Fernando Torres scoring in stoppage time to remove all doubt.
Torres’ biggest miss of his career came when he rounded the keeper against Manchester United and failed to score. This time, the former Atletico Madrid star rounded Victor Valdes and made no mistake for the biggest goal of his career. That tidy finish put Chelsea into the Champions League final to be played in Munich on the 19th of May.
Lionel Messi failed to score from the penalty spot, as his spot kick hit the cross bar. Messi has now played Chelsea 8 times and not found the target, more times than any other side. Barcelona came close of a few occasions, but Chelsea’s defense was able to frustrate the Blaugrana all night. The home side managed 72% possession and 22 shots on the night but failed to find the target with enough regularity.
Chelsea will now await the result from tomorrow’s Real Madrid versus Bayern Munich second leg. Regardless of the winner, Chelsea will be heavy underdogs entering the final. Ramires, Raul Miereles, John Terry, and Branislav Ivanovic will all be suspended for the final. Also, David Luiz and Gary Cahill are currently out injured, but both should recover in time.
AccuScore Members: Visit the Champions League Expert Picks page to get the computer’s picks for both semi-final games.
Preview
After the weekend’s El Clasico defeat, La Liga is lost for Barcelona, so it’s full focus on the Champions League. Barcelona enter the 2nd leg down 1-0 after failing to earn an important away goal last week. Unlike Barcelona, Chelsea rested the majority of its first team on the weekend. 8 of the 11 Blues starters from the 1st leg of the semi-final were changed out in the 0-0 draw against Arsenal. Only John Terry, Gary Cahill, and Petr Cech started both matches.
Shakira’s man-friend, Gerard Pique, was tipped to return to Barcelona’s starting XI on Tuesday night. The 25 year-old was left out of Barcelona’s last two matches due to suspected off-the-pitch issues, as well as a thigh strain. If Pique does start, Puyol will likely replace Adriano at left back. However, manager Pep Guardiola may opt to sit Mascherano and keep Adriano at left back, as the Brazilian has been playing well of late. The Puyol and Pique combo has not been a frequent occurance this season, but the pair has collected every trophy imaginable playing together for club and country.
Hoodies are all the rage in Barcelona; it’s a political statement
With David Luiz still recovering from a hamstring injury, Cech, Terry, and Cahill will expect to start again at the Camp Nou for Chelsea. Cech, in particular, has put on some spectacular shifts this season. The 6’5” Czech Republic international has been a safe choice for man of the match nearly every time out for the Blues.
In the month of April, Chelsea have played 6 matches with 4 wins, 2 draws, and no losses. Cech and the Chelsea defense have not allowed more than a goal in any of those 6 matches. Cech, in particular, has been Chelsea’s Champions League guardian angel this season. The former Sparta Prague and Rennes keeper has recorded 5 or more saves in 6 of Chelsea’s 11 Champions league matches this season, including each of the last 3. The Chelsea shot-stopper has recorded 7 saves on 3 separate occasions in this season’s European campaign. In contrast, Barcelona’s #1, Victor Valdes, has 9 total saves in 10 Champions League starts this season.
Simply put: Cech will be a busy man on Tuesday night in Spain, and Valdes will not.
Officially, Chelsea started in a 4-3-3 against Barcelona in the 1st leg, but the formation played more as a 4-5-1. In order to bottle Dani Alves’ dangerous runs from right back, Di Matteo switched Ramires to the left side of the midfield. Combining with Raul Miereles and Ashley Cole on the left, the former Benfica man’s pace muzzled his fellow countryman. Alves still completed 86 passes on the night, nearly 3 times as many passes as Chelsea’s top passer, John Obi Mikel (32). However, less than one in five completed passes were forward to Lionel Messi or Alexis Sanchez.
Barcelona’s dominance of the midfield was hard to ignore in the 1st leg. Despite Chelsea’s defensive discipline in the final third, Barcelona were hardly ‘out-played’ in the middle of the park at Stamford Bridge. Xavi Hernandez completed 127 passes on the night. The entire Chelsea team completed 194 passes. The Barcelona team combined to complete 782 passes with 87% accuracy, over 4 times as many passes as the Blues made on the night. It’s no wonder that Barcelona controlled 72% of possession in London.
Xavi explains the importance of the back pass to Messi
Simply put: Barcelona will have 65-75% possession on Tuesday night, and the Chelsea midfield will sit deep into their own half launching occasional counter attacks via Ramires and Mata. Ramires is the key for Chelsea's spring attacks, but the home side will dominate the ball.
Lionel Messi hasn’t scored in two matches and the doubters are out in full force. Messi had 7 shots in the 1st leg, but the Londoners did well to constrict, press, and foul the Argentinean before he could get a clear sight at goal. Prior to his 2 match dry spell, Messi scored in each of his previous 5 matches and 13 of the last 14. During that remarkable 14 match run, Messi scored 26 goals. Yes, Messi looks tired, but don’t bet on Messi failing to breach the Chelsea back line.
Headache? Drogba doing an Advil advert after scoring in the 1st leg
Didier Drogba was rested on the weekend due to a knee knock, but most expect the Ivorian target man to muscle through and start Tuesday night. Drogba did well to hold up the ball and scored Chelsea’s only goal in the 1st leg. He was a handful for Busquets, Mascherano, and Puyol. However, Drogba’s biggest contribution may have been tracking back and making tackles in his own box late in the match. He caused trouble for Sergio Busquets in particular when coming back to defend. Regardless of where one stands on his flopping, Drogba’s ability, passion, and effort are unquestionable. If he can play, he will cause trouble for Barcelona’s defense.
Simply put: Messi is due to score, but don’t count out Drogba.
AccuScore Computer Prediction:
The computer is predicting a 3-1 win for Barcelona. If that scoreline is correct, Barcelona would advance into the final. Lionel Messi is 78% to score at least 1 goal. Alexis Sanchez is the next most likely scorer at the match at 39%. Didier Drogba rounds out the top 3 with a 27% chance of matching his feat from the first leg.
