PATRICK MBAJAH, INDIA

I’m not a fan of any Serie-A club. That doesn’t mean I dislike Italian football, but my opinions aren’t based on my support for Italian football in general. Regardless in the past we have ALL seen the vitriol that is spewed toward Italian clubs when they play with the same tactics Chelsea employed at the Camp Nou. Yet when a Milan or Juventus or Inter employ these tactics I rarely see any fan of any Premiership club come to their defense the way I have witnessed fans do the same for Chelsea. That’s the point I am trying to highlight.

I don’t advocate for the “entertainment” value because like every other fan, I want to see my team win. Barcelona didn’t win, because Chelsea parked the bus in front of their goal. Tactically, good for them. And it was somewhat entertaining to see the one-way traffic up until the point where the ball couldn’t find its way over the goal line. Fine. That’s life. Chelsea doesn’t play for the good of the game (although they did a couple of weeks ago in that shootout with Liverpool). It is about winning and I will concede that. But if it is, the next time a non-English club does this, I will be very interested to see the response (especially if it’s against a Premiership side).

If you are passionately addicted to a team, as most of the posters on here are, you want victory at any cost.

If you have never been passionately involved with supporting a team you will never understand the difference involved when your tesm either scores or concedes a goal (the ultimate high, the ultimate low).

Real fans get this. They understand the passionate desire to win, the need to invoke tactics for the occassion, regardless of any entertainment value, and the ultimate passion of watching their team raise the trophy aloft.

Nothing else matters!

If you’re passionate about your team you’ll be on the edge of your seat thru many 0-0 draws and feel totally entertained at the end.

It’s about blood and guts and VICTORY, and entertainment along the way is a bonus (but with most of the best teams you get it anyway). If you have to win (or draw) ugly along the way, so be it if it achieves the ultimate goal.

Entertainment my ass, go to cinema if that’s all you want!

Agree that pretty football does not win trophies…COMPLETELY disagree that the game is all about winning! This may be true from the perspective of individual clubs and supporters, but to neutrals and general fans of the game its about entertainment – which is something that intricate/technical/pretty/artistic/attacking football will provide. We watch football to be entertained and for moments that provide us with a wow factor. Barca always provide that. The duty of football should be provide that and as a fan of the game I’m disappointed by Chelsea. However, from a results perspective for Chelsea-backers, they did a good job.

Daniel, you’ve hit the nail on the head my friend, can’t stand the bias!

I understand that there are tactics and that the first leg is only half the battle and I am absolutely sure that we will see a different Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. I guess what irks me is that when Chelsea engage in this kind of tactical “lock down” many will defend it now as “tactical brilliance.” Were it a Serie-A club, I am 100% certain that the Italian club would be accused of the same accusations we’re throwing around here: anti-football. Were it Juventus, or Milan, we would never hear the end of it. Go back to 2003 and the Milan-Juve final was never hailed as tactical brilliance… rather the excitement was likened to watching the grass grow or the paint peel off a wall.

Sure, pretty football doesn’t win trophies..it’s results. No arguments from me. But how the tune changes now that it’s an English club that dabbles in this kind of tactical approach.

We see time and time again that ‘pretty’ football does not win trophies……and the game is ALL about winning.

This Barca team are very good but maybe not as good as some think. They’ve got to deliver silverware to prove the point and their season is now on a knife edge.

Chelsea can finish them off at home.

That said, this must have been one of the best nil-nil games ever played. Brilliant attack against rock solid defense, and some excellent goalkeeping on both sides. Of course, a few chances also that shouldn’t have been missed, particularly Drogba and Bojan.

For Barça fans who are touting 0-0 to be a victory… let’s not delude ourselves. We failed to score and that might come back to haunt us. Yes, we didn’t concede the away goal, but we know honestly that if we’re taking away from the first leg the fact that Chelsea didn’t score (when in the world of probabilities you’re not going to likely score when a team spends more time in its own half) then it was tantamount to a defeat. Barcelona are going to have to go all out but the question is will they be able to given the “Classico” on Saturday against Real Madrid. I fear a repeat of 2005 at Stamford Bridge more than any hopes of a 2006 repeat. But I stand by my belief that to play the way Chelsea did at Camp Nou, while tactically smart, robs any objective fan of the argument that English clubs play out and out attacking football. If it was an Italian club that exhibited that kind of performance, imagine the shower of abuse here on this site.