Petr Cech, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba are all likely to start for Chelsea on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League against Barcelona. All five of those players were on the pitch for the famous Tom Henning Ovrebo "Iniestazo" game in which a number of terrible refereeing decisions seriously altered the course of the game. Though Barcelona were perhaps the better team on the night and might have won a fairly officiated game, that 2009 match has gone down in history as one of the most poorly officiated games of all time.
Chelsea Vs. Barcelona, 2012 UEFA Champions League: Time For Revenge?
Some are using the word "revenge" for what those five, along with some of their fellow Chelsea veterans will be seeking on Wednesday night. That's almost certainly the wrong word to use; Chelsea know that Barcelona's players had nothing to do with Ovrebo's terrible performance. There's no doubt that they remember that game, though, and that the Blaugrana shirts will bring back memories of one of the most painful losses in the careers of those players.
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.
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