It's been a brutal day for central defenders thus far in the UEFA Champions League semifinal, second leg match between Chelsea and Barcelona. Blues' central defender Gary Cahill has already been forced off with a hamstring injury, and he was replaced by Jose Bosingwa. In similar fashion, Barcelona's Girard Pique has been forced out of the game and has been replaced by a player who is not a natural central defender, Dani Alves.
Barcelona Vs. Chelsea, 2012 UEFA Champions League: Gerard Pique Off Injured
Pique picked up the injury during this collision, but tried to run it off. That didn’t go so well. There’s a decent chance that he played a few minutes with a concussion before deciding that was a really, really stupid idea.
Barcelona might have to adjust the way their back line is organized with this change. Daniel Alves has played as a right central defender in a back three before, but he's a true wingback whose value is getting forward. It will be interesting to see how Barcelona plays for the rest of the match.
We’ll have live coverage throughout the game in our Barcelona vs. Chelsea, 2012 UEFA Champions League 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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