Chelsea Vs. Barcelona: Didier Drogba Wins It For The Blues

It was raining at Stamford Bridge to start the match, but over the halftime period, the rain picked up significantly. That made the second half a much sloppier affair than the first, and for most of the half, it appeared to benefit Chelsea. Messi remained in the game and played well, but didn’t appear as sharp as he did in the first half.

On a great surge forward from his left back position, Adriano created the first big chance of the second half. He cut inside and dribbled through four Chelsea defenders, then unleashed a hard drive at goal. It was hit with enough pace that Cech could only punch it away, but the shot was always right at him.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

Pedro Rodriguez has entered the game for Sanchez in the 67th minute, and that doesn’t represent any kind of tactical change for Barcelona. He’ll likely slot right in as a left forward, running all over the place like Barcelona forwards do. It’s been a poor year in the league for Pedro, but he does have four Champions League goals in five starts and three substitute appearances.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

First, here’s the finish or lack thereof.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

UPDATE: Chelsea 1-0 FC Barcelona, Final Score

The Blaugranas’ best chance game in the 17th minute, when they had multiple opportunities. Lionel Messi started the move with a dribbling move through traffic before laying off to Adriano, who set up Iniesta for a shot on target. Cech saved, but could only parry the ball into the patch of Cesc Fabregas. He should have been able to score, but put his shot embarrassingly wide.

The Chelsea keeper is looking sharp so far, and it might take some serious quality to beat him.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

If you’re in the United States and looking for this game, it might not be where you expect. This game is not on FOX Soccer Channel because it has been moved to FX, a bigger channel available in more homes. You can still catch the game on FOX Deportes in Spanish. In Canada, the game is on Rogers Sportsnet regional networks, and you can find the game on ITV 1 in the UK.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

There’s been some speculation that Lampard and Drogba might not start, but they would be silly exclusions for Roberto Di Matteo. Against a team as good as Barcelona, individual performances are more likely to make a big difference for the Blues than tactical decisions, and it’s hard to imagine that those two won’t be fired up and in a perfect mental position to give a couple of the best performances of their careers.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

It seems like an apt description of the event, though I might change one thing. I’d probably call it the Ovrebazo, replacing Spain’s World Cup hero (he has better things to be known for than this--you know, like scoring a World Cup winning goal), and give the honor to Norwegian referee Tim Henning Ovrebo, who conceded an interview to ESPN recently where he admitted that his mistakes “cost Chelsea in 2009.”

Earlier in the match, Ovrebo missed three perfectly clear penalties on Barcelona that would have given Chelsea an express path to the final. Each was more clear than the previous one. And he knows it: he still “gets death threats” from irate Chelsea fans.

Even though Barcelona would like to avoid playing Puyol as a traditional left back in order to put him in a natural position and bring another central midfielder into the team, the potential drawbacks are too great. They’re going to dominate possession with a 4-3-3 anyway, and Guardiola should probably stick with it.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

With no disrespect intended to Bayern Munich, Real Madrid were probably looking ahead to El Clasico a bit during their UEFA Champions League match on Tuesday, a 2-1 win for the Bavarians at Allianz Arena. Bayern were solid, but were not at their best in a win over a team that has looked like the best in the world on league and Champions League form this season.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

What we know is that the Barcelona manager has not gone public with his decision yet, if he has made one, except to say he will not go to Chelsea. Retirement, or more accurately, a break from managing, is very much a possibility, though, and every word of every press conference is analyzed to gain insight into what Guardiola is thinking. Gabriel Roberts from Barca Blaugranes did just that, picking apart his press conference prior to the Chelsea Champions League tie and concluding that this tie could have a lot to do with his future. And what does he think Guardiola future plans are?

For more on the Blues, check out SB Nation Chelsea blog We Ain’t Got No History. For their opposition, visit Barca Blaugranes. We’ll have more pre-game updates, as well as live coverage of the match, in this story stream, so stay tuned!

This isn’t something that Chelsea can attack all match because it’s not a situation that comes up all match, but it will come up sometimes. When it does, the Blues need to take advantage. It is the best way for them to nick a goal or two and throw the tie into flux.

We’ll have continuous pre-game updates and live game coverage in our Chelsea vs. Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Chelsea FC blog We Ain’t Got No History and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.

Now, however, the gap at the top is down to just four points, with a Nou Camp Clásico to come. Andrés Iniesta is 27, Cesc Fàbregas and Leo Messi both 24, and another generation of coltish triangle fetishists are beginning to sprout. Guardiola may be staying on. Crisis? Pah. But still, impermanence is football’s very essence, and it seems likely that we are nearer the end of Guardiola’s Barcelona than we are the beginning. What better time to consider how they got there in the first place?

In his history of Spanish football, Morbo, Phil Ball writes:

When Roberto di Matteo replaced Andre Villas-Boas many, this commentator included, assumed that Roman Abramovich was admitting the defeat of his latest ‘project’ of rejuvenation. We were right. When, though, we suggested that this would also entail the writing off of this season’s actual projects (League, FA Cup and Champions League), we were wrong.

When RDM assumed AVB’s role after Chelsea’s acronymious managerial reshuffle, it seemed inevitable that he would do so only as a stopgap (an especially apt term, given the way the club was leaking goals, points and, apparently, players). Now though, with a cup final appearance already banked and the marquee-iest of marquee ties to come against Barcelona on Wednesday night, di Matteo’s job looks a mite less temporary. For the record, I still think that (rather like the perpetually unemployed victims of the government’s Workshare scheme) he’ll move on in the summer. Again like Britain’s perpetually unemployed, he will hope to do so with enhanced prospects (he will definitely do so, and this shatters the comparison, with enhanced personal wealth). I am not sure, though, that this is the case.

Each player gives him something different, and his selection will probably be based on what he wants out of his left forward and most advanced central midfield player. If he wants the paciest player and the one who best fits a wide forward role, Pedro will get the nod. Thiago is the most natural advanced midfield player if Iniesta is moved out to wide forward, and Fabregas is the most versatile of the three.

In addition to being the most versatile, Fabregas is the most experienced and he’s also been the most productive this season. He did not start away to AC Milan in the last round, but he was a starter in Barcelona’s other three Champions League knockout stage matches. Additionally, he started away to Milan in the Champions League group stages and he started in the league Clasico against Madrid, as well as the two Copa Del Rey Clasicos.

Abidal is out once again for Barcelona, and unlike last year, he isn’t coming back. Last season, Abidal had a non-cancerous tumor in his liver that was removed mid-season, and he recovered in time to return before the end of the year. This time around, his prognosis isn’t so positive in terms of his footballing career. Abidal needs a liver transplant, and it is likely that the 32-year-old French international’s professional career is over.

Whether Barcelona play 3-4-3 or 4-3-3, and whether they play Puyol or Adriano at left back, they will have a better side on the pitch than Chelsea. However, they will also have that one matchup problem on their left flank no matter what, and it’s a matchup problem that would not exist if Abidal was healthy.

Everything considered, Di Matteo should go with Sturridge against Barcelona. There is major concern about how the 22-year-old will perform on a bigger stage than he has ever encountered before, but that needs to be overlooked.

Sturridge can be a menace on the counter and that is where Chelsea will have to do the bulk of their damage. His long, mazy runs and ability to put a retreating defense on its heels is too much for Di Matteo to overlook. Kalou is probably the safer option, but the Blues can’t really go safe with this choice. They will almost assuredly play it safe elsewhere on the pitch, especially at the back, so in this position they need to take a chance.

One place that has not been a concern for Barcelona has been goalkeeper. Victor Valdes has been relatively healthy and in top form for years so it’s almost an afterthought that they have a goalkeeper because you never hear anybody talk about him. He’s just that reliable, or is he? After years of sure-handed, smart and decisive goalkeeping, Aaron Duckling from Barca Blaugranes is beginning to worry about Valdes.

Chelsea will likely need to play perfectly to beat Barcelona over two legs and even then, they will likely need some help from the Catalans. Could Valdes provide them that help with some of those “schoolboy errors”? It’s not something Barcelona fans have had to worry about before, but after this season, it might be time to start.