Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona – Live Blog – UEFA Champions League – 6 May 2009
"Let's go with the 10-0-0 formation like we practiced!"
Chelsea (Essien 9′) 1-1 Barcelona (Iniesta 90′ + 3) (Barcelona win 1-1 on Aggregate on Away Goals Rule)
Stadium: Stamford Bridge, England
Competition: UEFA Champions League, Semifinals, Leg #2
Date: 6 May 2009
Kickoff: 18:45 GMT, 14:45 EST
Barcelona pulled off a great escape and eliminated Chelsea to advance to the Champions League Final! Soccerlens brought you the action live! You can see the goals from the Chelsea-Barcelona game here, or click below for the minute-by-minute live-blog. Make sure to share your thoughts about the game in the comments!
Match Preview:
The old adage goes “offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.” If that’s the case, then Chelsea’s performance in the first leg against Barcelona was Treble caliber. Guus Hiddink’s men rarely ventured forward and seemed content to eke out a scoreless draw. Their hope was to take a 0-0 scoreline into the second leg at Stamford Bridge, where they’ll take on a more offensive posture against a club that hasn’t played nearly as well on the road in Europe as they have at home.
Indeed, heading into this past weekend, you could argue that Barcelona haven’t been in the best of form. They drew with Valencia which opened the door for Real Madrid to close the gap in La Liga. They haven’t won on the road in Europe since November, when they defeated Sporting Lisbon. However, then came Saturday’s 6-2 demolition of Real Madrid in El Clasico. Barcelona confirmed their credentials as the most dangerous and dynamic offensive team in Europe and dismantled one of the hottest teams in recent history in Real Madrid. Their big guns, especially Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta, were quiet in the first leg, but were in excellent form over the weekend and will be looking to prove that the first leg was a fluke. Most importantly, they know that they don’t have to win at Stamford Bridge in order to advance. Any goal that they score will give them an advantage over Chelsea, and any scored draw will send them through to the Finals.
Chelsea, however, have reason to feel confident going into this match. They’ll be getting Ashley Cole back from suspension, and he’ll be able to mark Messi, allowing Jose Bosingwa (who did a respectable job) to move back to his natural position at right-back. They should also have Alex and Michael Ballack available, despite both players leaving last weekend’s match with Fulham with slight knocks. Moreover, Chelsea can take heart knowing that Barcelona have been suspect on defense all year, and they were burned for two goals on set-plays by an otherwise impotent Real Madrid side. Chelsea have scored numerous goals on set-pieces this year, and we need look no further than the first leg of the Liverpool tie to see that. They’ll need all hands on deck, especially if Barcelona bring their scoring boots that they used to humble Real Madrid.
Hopefully, we should see a more wide-open and entertaining game than the first leg. Will Barcelona continue their offensive rampage and overwhelm Chelsea at Stamford Bridge? Or will Chelsea prevail and make it to their second consecutive Finals? Tune in and find out!
Lineups:
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry (c), A. Cole, Essien, Ballack, Malouda, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba.
Subs: Hilario, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Mikel, Kalou, Belletti, Mancienne.
Chelsea will make only one change from the side that defeated Fulham over the weekend, bringing back Ballack in favor of the defensive-minded Mikel. That, along with Anelka’s place in the starting lineup, could indicate that Chelsea will have their attacking boots on. Otherwise, they would have gone with their lineup in Barcelona last week and simply played for penalty kicks. Ashley Cole is back in the lineup after his suspension, and will be tasked with stopping Lionel Messi.
Barcelona: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Toure, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi (c), Keita, Messi, Iniesta, Eto’o.
Subs: Pinto, Caceres, Gudjohnsen, Bojan, Sylvinho, Hleb, Pedro.
As expected, Barca will be without Thierry Henry, who sustained an injury during the weekend’s victory over Real Madrid. Barca will start with Toure at center-half in place of the suspended Puyol. Busquets will come into the lineup to sit in front of the defense, and Keita will start alongside Xavi in midfield. As with the first leg, former Chelsea man, Gudjohnsen, will be available off the bench, as will former Arsenal players Hleb and Sylvinho.
Minute-by-Minute:
Post Match Apparently, it’s pandemonium at Stamford Bridge, and Drogba has not helped matters by getting in Tom Henning Ovrebo’s face and launching into a long and nasty tirade. He’s booked (as if he cares at this point) and has to be restrained. Well, I can sympathize with Chelsea, but they’re really acting like a bunch of sore losers. Remember how they were the worst behaved team in Europe last season? Every time a ref made a decision against them, it seemed like John Terry, Michael Ballack, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, and Didier Drogba would surround the ref and look like they were going to do a gang assault on him? I guess that Chelsea never really went away. Get over it guys. You lost.
90′ + 7 Eto’o comes off and Sylvinho will replace him. Chelsea win a free kick and Cech comes up for it. They can’t do much with it, though, as there’s the whistle and we’re done! Chelsea players are bum-rushing the ref and are really giving him a earful. They feel jobbed, and it’s hard to argue. However, Barcelona have pulled off a great escape and will meet Manchester United in the Final! Thanks to everyone who followed along! I’ll see you next time!
90′ + 6 Cech comes up for the corner and Lampard plays it into the box for him. It’s knocked out to Ballack and he tries a hard shot that looks like it might have hit Eto’o’s shoulder! No call from the ref and Ballack is incensed. In fact, he looks like he’s trying to grab the ref and beat him up. I’m actually afraid for this ref’s safety. Needless to say, Ballack’s booked and he’ll miss the next match.
90′ + 5 Chelsea look shell-shocked, but they win a corner. Barcelona make a change as Iniesta will come off for Gudjohnsen.
90′ + 3 GOAL!! Wow! What a heartbreaker! Alves lifts a cross from the right and Terry heads it away. Essien whiffs on his clearance attempt and Messi corrals it inside the box. He sends it out to Iniesta, and he fires a shot from the center edge of the box and he beats Cech to the top right corner!
90′ + 1 Four minutes will be added on. Essien gives it away poorly, and Messi’s pass to Pique on the center edge of the box is taken away by Lampard. Eto’o is booked for mouthing off to the ref and he’s clearly had a frustrating night. Belletti gets through, but his shot is wide of the post.
90′ Alves with a long cross from the top-right edge of the penalty area to the far post. Eto’o tries valiantly to keep it from going out, but the linesman rules that it crossed the line.
89′ Lampard wins a corner and, for some reason, Guardiola hugs Hiddink. What’s that about? Is he conceding defeat already? Nothing doing on the corner as Chelsea are called for a foul.
88′ Iniesta and Messi play a one-two on the center edge of the penalty area and Messi takes a tumble. No call, though.
87′ Lampard gets free down the left edge of the box, and he sends it back to a trailing Essien. His shot is easily blocked by Pique, though.
86′ Lampard’s pass to Anelka is poor and Pique cuts it out. Malouda wins it back, but he loses it before he can do anything with it.
85′ Busquets is off for Krkic. Will that make a difference?
84′ Messi with a terrible cross and he’s been mediocre tonight. Let’s say that the score, right now, is Ronaldo 1, Messi 0.
83′ Lampard wins a corner off Pique. Chelsea take their time setting this up, and you can’t blame them. Malouda’s corner is easily cleared away from danger.
82′ Long pass into the box for Anelka, and it looks like Pique hands it inside the box. No call from the ref, and on the replay, it looked like a clear penalty. Pique got away with one there.
80′ Alves whips a cross from the right but Alex heads it away. It’s into some space and Pique gets it. He tries a shot, but it’s just wide of the post.
79′ Toure makes a mistake as he misjudges the long pass to Anelka. The French forward is away from him and he goes down under the contact from Toure. No penalty call, though, and it would have been a soft penalty had it been given.
78′ Alves takes the free kick from about 30 yards out, but it’s just over the crossbar.
77′ Alex muffs his clearance as he slips on the pitch as he tries to kick it away. Messi pounces on it, and Alex catches him in the midsection with a nicely placed kick. That’s a yellow for Alex, and he’ll miss the Final.
76′ Essien plays it through to Anelka and he’s got a great chance in the box. Too bad he’s flagged offside. So much for that.
75′ Messi gets away from Terry and he sends it to Alves. He crosses it into the box, but Ballack is back there and he heads it away.
74′ Essien is booked for a late tackle on Iniesta.
72′ Drogba will come off and he gets a deserved ovation from the Chelsea fans. Belletti, the former Barca man, will replace him.
71′ Drogba is still limping around, and he’s probably going to come off. Lampard takes a good shot from the edge of the box. It takes a bit of a deflection, but Valdes makes the diving save.
70′ So, if Barca make it to the Final, they’ll be missing their starting left-back and their starting right-back. I bet Sir Alex is rooting hard for Barca right now.
69′ Drogba limps off the pitch so it’ll be 10-on-10 for now. Lampard takes the free kick from about 25 yards out, but his low effort flashes wide of the far post.
66′ RED CARD! Pique and Drogba go for the 50-50 ball in the air, and they both miss. It bounces to Anelka, and Abidal brings down him outside the box and he’s off for committing the professional foul! But wait! On the replay, it looks like Abidal barely touched him. It looks like Fletcher isn’t the only one with a complaint about the officiating. Anyway, it’s no matter as he’s off and Barca are in a huge hole.
65′ Messi gets away from Cole and cuts across the edge of the penalty area. He tries a speculative shot, but it’s over the crossbar.
64′ Drogba is giving them all kinds of problems today, and he gets it inside the box yet again. This time, he gets held up and Barca are able to knock it away.
63′ Iniesta makes a nice run into the box and he tries to thread it through to Eto’o. It’s out of his reach, though, and Eto’o has some choice words for his teammate.
62′ Drogba takes a dive inside the box as Abidal barely touches him and he’s clearly trying to win a penalty to make up for that no-call earlier. Like any great actor, Drogba commits to it and Chelsea even bring out their medical staff to tend to him. Not even Daniel Day-Lewis is that devoted of an actor.
61′ Keita with a nice bit of skill to take it on a half-volley, but it’s not even close to bothering Cech.
60′ Terrible corner from Xavi as he plays it low and it’s right to Drogba on the near edge of the box. Pique then sends it through to Alves, but he unleashes a terrible cross from the right wing.
59′ Messi nearly threads it through to Eto’o, and Alex stumbles and falls. Luckily for him, Bosingwa is there to cover for him, and he kicks it away. Malouda then gives away a corner.
56′ Malouda with an optimistic effort from long range, but it’s not even close. Drogba gets it inside the box and Toure is grabbing his arm and shirt. How that’s not a foul, I don’t know. He eventually slides in and knocks it away, and Drogba wants a penalty. No call and I don’t disagree with the tackle in the box, but Drogba was clearly fouled outside the penalty area. Oh well.
55′ Terrible long-range shot from Alves and he’s not winning any admirers tonight.
54′ Great ball by Toure and Alves gets it deep down the right. He sends a cross into the center of the box, but it’s between two players.
52′ Anelka with a nice run into the box and he finds an unmarked Drogba in the box. He eludes a sliding Pique and looks to have Valdes at his mercy. He fires a low shot and Valdes saves it with his feet. Malouda tries to follow up, but he hits the side netting. Wow. Valdes came up huge there.
51′ Iniesta with a clever ball into the box from the left wing, but it bounces awkwardly for Keita, who can’t handle it.
50′ Xavi sends it to the near post again, but this time, Essien clears it away.
49′ Busquets with a nice run into the box, and he flicks it over-the-top to Keita. It’s off Ballack for a corner. Xavi’s corner strikes Toure at the near post and it’s out, but Barca gets another corner.
47′ They’re only about 30 yards out or so, and the free kick will come in from left side of the field. Xavi touches it to Iniesta at the center edge of the box, and he touches it back to Alves. He shanks it wide and Guardiola is incensed. Not their best effort there as they were trying to be a little too cute and it cost them.
46′ Chelsea will kick off and we’re underway! No changes for either side at the half. Iniesta gets fouled close to the edge of the box, and they’ll have a great chance here.
46′ I would have thought that Manchester United would want to face Chelsea, especially with the way they’ve handled them this season. But after that first half, I think they’d take Barcelona in a heartbeat.
Well, as Yogi Berra once said, it’s like deja-vu all over again. Much like last season’s semifinal, Barca were held scoreless at home and then fell victim to a long-range strike early in the second leg to their English opponents. Said English opponents then defended the one-goal lead and held on to eliminate Barca from the competition. Could history repeat itself here tonight? So far, it looks like it will. Barca have yet to solve Chelsea’s defense, and now that Chelsea have a lead to protect, you can expect more of the same tactics that they employed in the first leg. We will see what Barca are made out of as they try to get that all-important away-goal.
45′ + 3 Messi takes on the entire Chelsea defense and he lays it off to Alves down the right. His cross is defected out for a corner. Barca play it short and Xavi eventually gets the shot opportunity on the edge of the box. It’s out and Xavi claims he’s won a corner. No matter, though, as there’s the whistle and we’re at halftime!
45′ + 2 Bosingwa gets it and actually moves back towards his own penalty area. He’s under a lot of pressure from Iniesta, but he gets it away.
45′ + 1 There will be three added minutes.
45′ Drogba gets it to Anelka, and he makes the run down the right. He can’t get away from his defender, though, and he gives it away to Valdes.
43′ Lampard tries to send the corner to Ballack, but he can’t control his header. It’s out for a Chelsea throw.
42′ Toure gives away a free kick, and Lampard will take it from about 35 yards out. He tries to set up his teammates, since Barca are so vulnerable on set pieces. Toure eventually nods Lampard’s freebie out for a corner.
41′ Alves wins a corner as his cross is knocked out by Bosingwa. They take it quickly and Messi eventually sends a long cross from the right to the far post for Eto’o, but gets flat-footed and it’s out for a goal-kick.
40′ Tommy Smyth actually makes a good point (!). He mentions that Barcelona look like they’re getting rid of the ball more quickly than usual and that it’s wrecking havoc with their usual offensive rhythm. It’s like they’re afraid of getting hit by the Chelsea players and are more worried about that than anything else. In other words, he’s calling them soft.
39′ Messi sends it into the box for Xavi, but it’s long and out for a goal-kick.
38′ Messi turns on the wheels and burns Cole down the right. He has Eto’o in the box, but Messi decides to go for goal, instead. He’s got a poor angle and his shot is easily handled by Cech.
37′ Iniesta is fouled by Bosingwa near the centerline. Eto’o threads it through to Messi down the right. He curls a shot on goal that gives Cech some problems. He’s able to handle it, though, and that’s really the first thing Messi has done today.
35′ Cech kicks it away and Drogba gets it on the edge of the penalty area. He heads it forward to Malouda, but Valdes is out to take it.
31′ Lampard is on the ground after he catches an elbow from Keita. He looks like he might be bleeding from the mouth. He’ll come off to receive treatment, but he should be okay. He’s been excellent, thus far.
30′ Alves gets booked for a flying elbow on Cole. Stupid play and he’s suspended for the Final if Barca make it. Well, it was coming.
29′ Xavi with a nice pass to Iniesta and he tries a shot that’s well off the mark.
28′ Xavi chips a great pass from the edge of the box to the right post where Alves tries to head it in. He’s called for a foul, though, and Cech will kick it away.
27′ Great pass into the box by Lampard for Drogba and Abidal grabs him by the shirt. Drogba goes down and Valdes is there to take it away. No penalty call, and I have to disagree with the ref here. Abidal looked like he fouled him.
26′ Chelsea are really taking it to them right now, aren’t they? So much for anti-football.
25′ Drogba fires it to the far post, but Valdes just gets a touch on it and concedes the corner. On the corner, Terry gets his head on it, but it’s just wide of the post.
24′ Malouda makes a run down the left and Alves fouls him on the edge of the box. It looked like the foul might have occurred in the box, but the ref won’t award the penalty. Now, Chelsea will have a free kick from the lower left corner of the penalty box.
23′ Lampard flicks it forward and Drogba gets behind Toure and Pique! Drogba has a chance, but Valdes is alert and kicks it away. Great play by the keeper, because Drogba could have chipped it past him and had an open net to shoot at.
21′ Iniesta is fouled from about 35 yards out by Anelka. They’ll have a good chance here, especially with Alves kicking it. He kicks it and gets it over the wall. However, it travels well wide of the post and Cech had it well covered anyway.
20′ Messi tries to play it into the path of Eto’o down the left, but Cech comes out to collect it. He almost collided with Alex there, but Cech was able to get to it first.
18′ Alves runs over Malouda and he’s called for a foul. No booking, though.
17′ Malouda gets it and he’s got a ton of space along the left. He lays it back to Lampard, and he tries a shot from inside the box that is just wide. He was unmarked and probably should have done a little bit better with that shot, but Valdes closed off the near post well.
16′ Messi and Xavi try to play a one-two on the edge of the box, but Xavi loses it. He takes a tumble, but no call from the ref.
15′ Iniesta passes it long into the path of a hard-charging Xavi, but it’s just beyond his grasp and it’s out for a goal-kick.
14′ Eto’o tries to make a move inside the box, but he loses it. Anelka takes it, but he’s run over by Busquets. Yeah, both Anelka and Drogba are back defending, so I guess we know what they’re going to do here.
13′ Bosingwa gives away a free kick from about 40 yards out on the left flank near the end-line. Xavi’s free kick is easily cleared from danger, and he’ll have to do better than that if he wants to make Chelsea’s defense sweat.
12′ Xavi tries to pass it to Eto’o at the left edge of the box, but the pass is behind him and out for a Chelsea throw.
11′ Barca win a corner but Drogba clears it away. Will Chelsea go into their shell now?
9′ GOAL!! Xavi tries a long pass to Keita, who gets in front of Alex. However, the pass is long and Cech will kick it away. Chelsea come back as Cole slides in a pass into the box for Lampard. He tries to turn and fire, but his shot is blocked. It’s deflected out off Toure’s back to the Essien, who volleys it from outside the penalty area, and he clips the shot under the crossbar and it bounces over the line! Wow! What a shot form Essien!
7′ Messi plays it through to Alves, who makes the run down the right. He tries to whip a cross to the far post for Iniesta, but it’s out for a Chelsea throw.
5′ Alves is inside the box and he chips it to Messi deep down the right edge of the box. Messi tries a cross, and it looks like it may have gone off Ballack’s hand. No handball, though, and Bosingwa eventually clears it away.
3′ Messi makes a run into the box from the left, but Terry closes him down and makes the great defensive play to take it away.
2′ Terry plays Drogba through the middle, Drogba’s touch is poor and he gives it away. He would have been through on goal if he hadn’t done that. Eto’o then comes back and tries a long-range shot, but it’s well wide and doesn’t trouble Cech.
1′ Barca kick off and we’re underway! Tom Henning Ovrebo is our referee. Messi tries to get around Cole, but he has him well played. Ballack is also back to help out and they take it away.
0′ The Chammmmm-pionnnnns!
0′ Let’s hope that the presence of Anelka means that Chelsea are going to actually play some offense today. I don’t have a problem with what they did in the first leg, at least not compared to some people who have labeled their tactics as “cowardly,” “negative,” or “anti-football.” I mean, you have to put your team in the best position to advance, and they certainly did that. If they had gone with an open-approach and lost like Real Madrid did over the weekend, then that would have been foolhardy, right?
0′ From the “Let’s Not Get Ahead of Ourselves” Dept. A lot of Barcelona fans think that, just because they thrashed Real Madrid on Saturday, that they’ll be in great form for this match. Not so fast. Real Madrid’s defense is hardly anything to write home about. Plus, Barca have not faced stiff competition in Europe, thus far. They took out an overmatched Lyon side in the Round of 16 (and couldn’t win on Lyon’s home pitch), and outclassed a Bayern Munich side that recently fired their manager and may not qualify for Champions League play next season.
0′ One last note about yesterday’s Arsenal/Manchester United match. We knew that the Gunners were caught with their pants down, but Nicklas Bendtner seems to have taken that literally. Apparently, he wears briefs, which is more than I ever wanted to know about him.
0′ One word about Darren Fletcher, because I didn’t think of it until after the game was long over. You have to feel for him as a human being. Burglars broke into his house when he was out of town, getting ready to play at Inter Milan. They held his family at knifepoint and threatened to cut his fiance’s throat. Fletcher could have gone home and left his team, but he was professional about it. Not only did Fletcher play against Inter Milan, but he did a decent job. I remember thinking that he looked like he was about to break down and cry during the playing of the UEFA Anthem before the match. You had to feel for him then, and you certainly have to feel for him now. For him to miss the Final, on a disputed foul no less, seems incredibly unfair after everything he’s gone through.
0′ Who will join Darren Fletcher on the sidelines if they pick up another yellow today? For Chelsea, Michael Ballack, Alex, and Nicholas Anelka had better be on their best behavior. For Barcelona, Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves better watch themselves.
0′ Welcome to Soccerlens’ live coverage of the UEFA Champions League Semifinals between Chelsea and Barcelona! The winner will face Manchester United in the Finals from Rome on May 27, 2009! I’m Victor and I’ll be your liveblogger! I’m watching this match on ESPN. However, this match is available, on-line, at ESPN360. For information on how to access that fine service, feel free to consult this article. Click here for other, free, options.
Match Review:
Chelsea dominated the entire match and looked set to book a Finals rematch with Manchester United. Then Iniesta scored and Barcelona pulled it off. Chelsea are right to be upset with the officiating, as they were denied a clear penalty on Pique’s handball and should have had a penalty when Alves fouled Malouda in the first half. However, they also showed why you have to keep playing until the referee blows his whistle. They had chances to put this out of reach and they were unable to. As such, they have only themselves to blame for giving Barcelona a chance to steal this one.
As for Barcelona, they’ve won the match, but it could be a Pyrrhic victory. They won’t have Alves and Abidal due to suspension, and they showed that all it takes is a little physicality and their entire offense gets thrown out of whack. Obviously, the buildup to the Final will feature the Ronaldo vs. Messi angle, but the real key will be whether Barcelona’s defense will be able to stop Manchester United’s offense. They’ll have a huge hole to climb from, and I don’t envy Pep Guardiola’s task. Still, getting there is half the battle, and they deserve credit for doing that much. They showed a lot of heart and tenacity, especially when it looked like they were dead and buried in this match.
Man of the Match:
Didier Drogba
Drogba can be so confounding and mercurial that it’s hard to see why Chelsea put up with him. Well, he showed why tonight. He gave Barcelona’s defense so many problems and he was a nightmare matchup for their center-halves. He looked like a threat to score every time he touched it. When he exited the match, you could immediately see the difference as Anelka lacked the same kind of power and presence inside the box. Lampard also played well, as did Cole who did a number on Messi that will probably be studied endlessly by Patrice Evra over the next few weeks. As for Barcelona, Iniesta was, once again, their most influential force as he continues to show why he could be the most underrated player on this squad. Messi, Eto’o, and Xavi, however, were underwhelming and will need to step up their games significantly.
THIS IS GOING TO BE A CAGEY ENCOUNTER. AS A CHELSEA FAN I FEEL A LITTLE BIT APPREHENSIVE OF OUR CHANCES DUE TO WHAT I SAW OF BARCELONA IN THE EL CLASICO LAST SATURDAY. THEY MADE MINCE MEAT OF REAL MADRID. IF CHELSEA SHOULD GO PAST BARCA THEN THEY MUST ABLE TO MARK OUT THE THE “TRINITY” WHILE AT THE SAME TIME DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO EXPLOIT WHAT APPEARS TO BE THE DEFENSIVE WEAKNESS OF BARCA. IT MEANS THE BLUES MUST FIND A WORKING BALANCE BETWEEN ATTACKING AND DEFENSIVE PLAY. WISH THE BLUES THE BEST.
CHELSEA WILL THRASH BARCA LIKE WE THRASHED LIVERPOOL. WE ARE THE UNDERDOGS AND THAT ALONE GIVES US AN EDGE! HOPE TO SEE MAN UTD IN THE FINAL ONCE AGAIN…….
chelsea will dominate barca at home. they had their chance ddnt take it now it we will repeat our 2005 heroics. no team is the best in Europe until you have beaten and english team and with the last two meetings with an english team ending in a 0-0 they aint got no chance. chelsea 2-0.
NO ONE CAN PREDICT THE MESSI’S MOVEMENT,FOR BARCELLONA IT’S MORE THAN ENOUGH THEY GOT THE CONFIDENT BY BEATING RAEL.SO NO ARGUMENT REGARDING BARCA’S ENCOUNTER.
IT’S JUST FANTASTIC. IF THEY (RARCA) DO AS THEY DID ON SATURDAY THEN THEY WILL SCORE AND GO THROUGH. SO SIMPLE…….
Barca is more dan a club,dey have all wot it take 2 qualify 4 d final.I’m looking onto Barca vs Arsenal in final.if u can imaging a team playing in 29 matches & forwarded 97 goals among Eto’o,Henry & Messi.So u all shud watch out.
Haha…dont you guys realise Barca have a HUGE advantage here…the onyl way Chelsea can go through is by a WIN…meaning actually having to score goals, meaning they will open up for Barca.
On the other hand Barca only need a score draw or a win…i hope they draw 1-1 and defend with 10 players just to show Chelsea how bad their technique was…
Also you cannot underestimate Messi at all…Bosingwa was not lucky with him, he had to study his videos for hours and analyse his movements! This shows that Messi is not as easy to handle as people think he is.
Yes, he was terrible in the first leg but the great thing about Messi is that hes unpredictable..he can spring anything on the defence. And coming form a 6-2 thrashing, hes as strong and as energetic as ever.
i will like to predict today’s match
man u will trash arsenal by 4-0
GOOD LUCK TO THE MIGHTY BLUES, WHO COULD OF PREDICTED THE 0-0 DRAW, THERE ARE A LOT OF FANS THAT WISHED THERE TEAM WHERE IN IT,YOU CAN PREDICT WHAT YOU LIKE BUT WHEN THE BLUES WIN ALL WE WILL HERE IS LUCKY,ONLY BEATEN ON PENALTIES IN LAST YEARS FINAL, THE ENGLISH LEAGUE IS BY FAR THE SUPERIOR
1-1, Barca to go through on away goals. I don’t think Chelsea have enough to get a win here.
Lots of entertaining comments from obviously dedicated fans.I’m a Barca fans through and through but I’m worried about defense. Pique must have an immense game. My call is that Barca will come out insanely ravenous for the away goal. But they couldn’t get a goal at home. The first minutes are key for Barca before the game settles in a bit. If Barca does not score within the first 10 min or so during either half, it will be pretty tough for them. I really hope Valdes doesn’t blow it because if he does I will be stark-raving mad. The Barca goal(s) (hopefully) should go something like this – Xavi to Messi back to Xavi to Iniesta to Eto’o to Xavi to Messi. Bang. Goal.
MY TEAM CHELSEA IS THE BEST OF ALL AND I WISH THEM THE HAPPY WIN TODAY, THE GAME WILL BE 2-1 AGAINST BARCELONA, DROGBA AND ANELKA. HIDDINK THE BEST COACH OF THE TOURNAMENT. THE WORLD BEST MUST BE GIVING TO MESSI NOT C.RONALDO NO C.RONALDO MORE!!!!!!!!!
That was a massive boost. they’re going to London with great spirit and desire to fight and with a lot of belief that they’ll go through. they’ve come out of that with a renewed confidence and strength
CHELSEA WILL DEMOLISH THEM
today’s clash is predictable and more over even final is also predicable as 2-0 against ManU by naughty barca…..let’s C
Catalunyans, you are Barca-ing up the wrong tree.
Chelsea will send the spaniards home with the BLUES.
The question is not how Messi it will be, but who let the Drog out?
Chelsea will come to my home and win to make up for last year.
The mystics have spoken.
Chelsea will win today’s match 2 : 1 against Barcelona.Barcelonab is to be deatroyed tonite.
Stanic, Ghana
They say:”He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.” Tonite’s match between Chelsea and Barcelona will be a cracker.The 1st leg was just a mere show.No team ever survives at the Stamford Bridge.Barcelona is to be whitewashed.
Sir Stanic, Akomadan SDA JHS
I wonder how chelsea plans to win playing a 10-0-0 formation?? oh wait thats right hope barca doesn’t score go to penalties and get lucky…..oh wait that might work in barca’s favor if terry is gonna take a pk he’ll just choke again like in last year’s final haha
GO BARCA SHOW CHELSEA HOW TO PLAY THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
Chelsea looks strong, specially at home
Prediction would be a Minimal of 2 – 1 To the home side.
Go Blues. Show em whatcha got
)
barca will suffered chelsea 2 barca 0
barca will win with score 1-4
To penalties.. then god knows who will win
It will be a draw and chealse will win on penaltys
united will win evrything anyway
boring!!!!!!!!
wow
Chelsea should have had AT LEAST two pens, the ref was on crack
How does Barcelona go on to the finals if they tied 0-0 in the first game and 1-1 in the second game. It was a 1-1 aggregate.
No, the ref was probably thinking about that Little Caesars pizza that he was picking up after the game. Potbelly couldn’t stop thinking about food.
WELL GUTTED, can’t blame it all on the ref, he sent off a Barca player, Chelski had loads of chances, even without the pens!
so wait, forgive my stupidity here, but why did barcelona move on with just a tie? why did chelsea need the win? on what was that based?
BARCA IS BACK!!! IS THIS A CASE OF WHO LAUGHS FIRST, LAUGHS LAST
Ohh Myy Dayyss.. Thatt referree wass completelyy andd utterrllyy rubbishh.. I meann iff thatt wasn’tt a hanndd ball thann whatt iss ! :L Drogbbaa juss couldn’tt keavee the situationn alonee tehhee whichh I amm gladd bouhh cozz he deservedd to havee a goo cozz Barcelonaa DIDN’T deservee to winn att all.. cozz likee Chelseaa hadd the moree shotss and Barcelonaa onlyy scoredd on extraa timee.. Ass well ass thatt Barcelonnaa triedd to wasteee as muchh time as they cud cozz theyy were scaredd chelsseeaa wass goingg to scooree..
Ass youu cann tell fromm abovee .. I amm a truee chelseaa fann
Get in Drogba hahahahhahahhahaahhahahaha
I felt this game was not clean. Probably they wouldn’t like two English teams on the finals.
Pitty because Barca was a better team, but not on this game. They simply got pushed. Chelsea would have scored 6 goals, but they got stomped by the ref.
Reminds me how Korea got 4th in 2002. OK team, but come on. The same things happened in their games vs Italy and Spain.
Such a shame
Barcelona did not deserve this win. They played rubbish the entire match. All credit to Chelsea who played and defended well only to lose because the refereee was incompetent. This refereee should not work again!
Oh my word…
What disgusting behaviour…unbelievable. Like it or not, the ref’s decision is final. Absolutely appalling behaviour. This was a victory for football, from the way Chelsea played, to the gamesmanship of Anelka’s blatant dive, and now these outbursts from the Chelsea players. I am disgusted in the Chelsea players involved, to the point where as an avid Liverpool fan, I was preparing to get behind Man Utd in the final. But, Go Barca!! Should be a cracker.
No!
hahaha…
here you go, blaming the ref…. yes, chelsea should have had a penalty for the handball, but the rest of the appeals were mainly for drogba’s dives.
if chelsea had wanted to win, they should have played football, barca had way more shots (admittedly fewer on target) and higher posession: they are the better footballing side.
besides noone wanted to see another chelsea united final, every neutral and united supporter was rooting for a barca win, so that we can all see a proper game of football, not just ballack and drogba being arrogant diving bastards
Chelsea should have scored from the spot AT LEAST once to go two up, expect the ref to be punished severely, and I am so tired of Barcelona getting all of the luck, especially after Alves, Xavi, Messi, and Eto’o all played average at best.
Dont moan chelski guys abt refreeing . The ref was poor but pls answer me whether u are a football team? huh…having Ballack , Essien Terry Lamps on the pitch and playing like this at home u deserve no more . Coming to refreeing decisions u should have got a couple of pens on the other side u should have conceded a pen at Nou camp and Ballack should have been off . I was really inpressed by your away performance but at Bridge such a performance is unacceptable. You couldnt have two passes strewn together . Except the long ball tactic nothing seem to work . Make no excuses for the defeat . U r defeated not because of bad refs but by DIDIER DROGBA . He has missed 4 chances in total.The last bit was a great act of playacting . Barca vs man utd final wat a dream come true . Win or lose it will be a great final for purists. Note chelski fans: We were praying u should get into finals simply because we fancy u rather than barca . Long Balls will be eaten up by vidic unlike Barca CB’s and u should rely on defelections for ur goal
wow that was the worst refing ive ever seen…..
now i gotta hear fifa 09 barca fans have fantasies about beating manchester united….
ronaldo will roast that back 4 berbatov rooney the final might be a blow out….
i hope united wins barca looses abidal and alves for the final!?….
oh my god your playing arsenal all over again!….
Disgraceful refereeing.
I’m a Barça supporter, and I certainly did my share of cheering when Iniesta shot that ball into the goal (first shot on target), but when it’s all said and done, the referee has a lot of explaining to do. I would concede that there should have at least been 2 penalties awarded to Chelsea and certainly the red card to Abidal was unjustified (as was the red to Fletcher yesterday). This referee was calling fouls that didn’t exist and ignored offenses that were blatantly clear. I’m glad for the result, but I’m not going to say that it was deserved.
I think many Barça fans (self included) got a little delerious with the 6-2 spanking of Real Madrid. I’m not sure if it’s a fair result. It’s a result that makes me get excited for the final, but if I’m a Chelsea supporter I would be absolutely livid. Pity this happens in football.
To CW3 and Tim:
First leg tied 0-0.
Second leg tied 1-1.
Aggregate score 1-1. In case of tied aggregate, the deciding factor is away goals. Only Barcelona scored an away goal so they advance. Game only goes to penalties if the aggregate is tied and away goals are tied also.
This was dissapointing to watch upset me seeing a ref act this way
i’m sorry people but you can’t blame the ref for chelsea’s loss WHY doe nobody mention the harshness of decisions against barca most of you seem to think that chelsea is the be all and end all of football WAKE UP they are not MESSI was clearly and blatantly tripped in the box so much it took two attempts to do it also barca had player sent off and he wasn’t even close to chelseas player the ref made bad decisions both ways at the end of the day barca won and there is nothing you can do about that at least they didn’t throw their dummy out of the pram and chase the ref down the pitch having a tantrum and as for drogma he spent more time on the floor after his overacted dives he is so good at.
i am more than happy to have barca in the final it will be a much more exciting match in my opinion barca did seem off today but you have to remember they usually play to a much higher standard
the best two teams in europe are in the final and that is how it should be
i look forward to the final with anticipation i just hope barca pick up a bit and get into the right zone to give united the challenge they don’t often get
Chelsea got exactly what they deserved,NOTHING. They were so negative in both games it was a farce to call it a football match when only one team were playing football. If it was the case that UEFA didn’t want two british teams in the final then why didn’t Henry get the blatant penalty at the Camp Nou & why did Abidal get sent off for nothing. Chelsea should have had a couple of pens but it would have been an injustice to real football if they had gone to the final.
Drogba the cheating c*nt man of the match!!!
hahahahahhaha surely having a laugh!!!
WOW!!!!! admittedly barca was not at there best and man than ref sucked while I am happy that barca won being a fan and all I am not at all happy about the way they played …. alot of credit goes to chelsea for disrupting barca’s play I think the goal chelsea scored was lucky but that happens in football and at least they actually attacked this time and not sat back and defend all game …. back to the ref at least one penalty could and probably should have been given that ref needs to be fired for incompetence anyway as I stated I am happy barca won they played there game as much as possible even after going down a man it was hardly noticeable that they were a man down i would like a rematch though because while i do feel that barca is the better team i would like it to be proven on the field and as much as i hate chelsea even i have to admit they played a good game.
how can you people say that chelsea didn’t deserve to win? 4 shots on target to barca’s 1, and if that isn’t enough 3 clear penalties robbed from us, but even one of those could’ve been the decider, yet ref who was staring at the hand- ball in the replay didn’t call it, twice in 5 minutes, despicable. And who ever said Drogba dived, are you kidding me in first half he was robbed of an opportunity, I don’t know if u people play soccer but when someone is tugging at your shirt, especially like that no way way you can get a shot. Today Barca were out-classes, out played, and just got brilliantly lucky (except for Iniesta’s goal which was a beauty). In other words despicable ref, bad play from barca, and just bad luck from chelsea, just like last year’s final.
Now I understand why it is not over until the final whistle..
Grow up Barca bashers… nobody is talking about the obvious penalty last week that wasn’t called against Chelsea. Chelsea had plenty of opportunities and did not take advantage.
How can some of you even be trying to justify Drogba’s behaviour? Regardless of how bad it was, and it was, what happened to respect. Ballack manhandled the ref and looked like he was going to drag him off the field for a seeing to. Bad refereeing, but that stuffs not on.
Poor post Match comment!
Kyle, if the whole year you had been working to reach a goal. Not just a goal, but a dream, and keep in mind Drogba’s age means this could very likely be his lost shot at that dream, and the reason you can’t reach it is because of the misjudgment of one man. Would you not be a little frustrated with him?
I guess the referee was bought .. It was disgrace .. Anyways, you will be crucified at Rome..
Was gutted that Drogba or Ballack did not slap the referee before million fans..
ohHH no.!! my Chelsea. They thought will win this game but this is a football. Anythings can happen.
Iniesta late goal really crushed The Blues..
Poor for Chelsea..
I agree with Victor’s assessment that Chelsea dominated and I say that in context of all the ‘anti-footbal’ rubbish that has been written in the last week.
Barca had 70% possession but did nothing with it. Chelsea had far more opportunities and should have scored 2 or 3. It also makes the point that teams can dominate WITHOUT the ball.
UEFA need to introduce a new line on the pitch similar to the half-way line but 25 yards out from goal. This can be called the “messi” line, so named as all he has achieved in 360 minutes (4 semi-final ties) against quality English defences is to run back and forth along this line flicking the ball from one foot to the other. Zero impact!
I believe that 2 of the penalties were certainties. The problem is that in big games like this the referees won’t give the decision unless they are certain.
Abidal’s sending-off was a disgrace. Totally accidental contact.
Drogba makes Ronaldo look positively statuesque! His antics both on and off the field were an utter disgrace. I honestly don’t believe this guy is playing with the full deck!
I fully understand how gutted Chelsea fans feel though. A terrible way to go out!
@BD Condell
But Messi’s pass to Iniesta had the biggest impact on the match, no?
disgraceful! that ref should never work again. Ballack and Didi should have slapped him senseless!! what a way to go out. Barca were just pushed into the final coz Barca v Man U is a more popular final. This is not football. it’s utterly disgusting.
i can sympathise with the chelsea fans, but at the end of the day, the opportunities were there for them to take and they didnt take it. who knows what the outcome wouldve been had they tried to play proper football in the first leg.
congrats to barcelona who always go for the win and never “park the bus in front of the goals” like chelsea do frequently. imo barca are more worthy european champions and hence deserved everything that went their way today. justice was done.
Chelsea were ROBBED of the finals, that’s a certain. FIVE penalty appeals, and NONE awarded? I can understand once, or even twice, a referee might be lenient or didn’t see clearly. But five times? Fuck Henning. He’s a disgrace to every referee. Go jump off a cliff and die.
And Victor Li, you call this match reporting? It’s clear how biased you are, loser. Barcelona won because of the referee and you know it. Drogba and Ballack didn’t even touch the referee, although in all honesty I wouldn’t have blamed them if they did. It wasn’t a match at all, it was referee-ing disgrace.
Well Ryan, how about Abidal? He’s working towards a dream of playing in the final of the biggest club competition and he gets sent off because Anelka felt a slight breeze and decided to dive through the turf. Whilst he protested, which i don’t like, he went nowhere near the level of Drogba and Ballack. I’m not saying he can’t be frustrated, but there’s a line. You know it, we all know it. Next time you’re off at Sunday league and you get a bad decision, try a Drogba, and see what everyone thinks. They’ll think your a nutter. I don’t always agree with refs, but there really is no point blowing up about it. It achieves nothing, and only sets a bad example and is disrespectful towards another human being.
On another note, has anyone ever seen a player cross as poorly as Dani Alves?! He was just about sending the ball into its own orbit around the earth!!
Two semi-finals, two very average refereeing displays.
When are UEFA going to give the referees the support of some technology so that they won’t be scared of giving a big decision? How different would it have been if the referee had given the Pique handball and sent it to a video ref just to check that he’d given the right decision (if he hasn’t then it’s an indirect free-kick to the defending side). It has to be worth a minute or so in order to get the correct decision.
Barcelona shouldn’t have even had a chance of a win by the end of that game, but because of the impossible situation UEFA put referees in they benefitted from the ‘err on the side of the defence’ mentality that plagues all refs in big matches.
@Daniel: Essien sliced a clearance, he was 1 inch of a stretch away from preventing that goal. Such are the margins. Iniesta had it all to do and it was a great strike. But as I say, Messi has been toothless against the best 2 defences in Europe over 4 games now.
@Kyle: Totally agree. Alves constantly gets into the lists of ‘best team’ of the year recently, mainly based on his attacking prowess. He was utter rubbish last night!
barca play like european champions. the same cannot be said about chelsea.
hey tom! what was it that you did yesterday? refereeing? you simply can`t make a panelty and redcard decision, barcelona played nothing to have earned them that passage to the final if not a plot to get off the english dominance in the champions league. much to it is the fact that a ghanaian died in the wake of the outcome all in the name of the stolen verdict, and his ghost will not even permit you a relative comfort. is this the performance you put up that has swept you all the norwagian referees awards? i am sorry you are miles off.
yesssss barcalona r up wiv man utd!!!
‘glory glory man utd! glory glory man utd!’
the match was very intereting. chelsea should have gone through tp the final but grogba who calms to be a star keeps on falling like a pragneny woman. what a shame on him.he should be sell. very disapointed with his reaction after the match. hw has no spirit of sport manship. to bad for him. barce made his fans to be happy. they will take the cup.
While I am a Barca fan, i do feel that Chelsea was robbed. I do not feel as though Chelsea deserved to make it to the final especially on the run of play in both games with Barca, the clearly dominant team. Barca (I adit had some terrible shots) controlled the ball majority of the game. The fact that Chelsea had trouble with them while missing two key defenders from the very start shows that they didn’t deserve a match in the final. Even when Abidal was set off and they played with 10 men they still had control. Abidal being set off on bogus call y the way, ifyou do not agree then watch the replay and ou will see for yourself. Chelsea had plaenty of chancs but as “basil brown” stated bove he falls everyhere and screws himself over. Chelsea lost the game for them selves and had absolutley no class at all about the loss.
and yes Alves sucked that game but Barca still controlled possession and won
BD, I thought Messi played well enough. Barca on the whole were pretty toothless, partly because of the quality of Chelsea’s defense, partly because they were too rough and the ref allowed it.
Anyway, Chelsea should have had 4 PKs IMO. Barca also should have one, Drogba climbed on his opponent in min. 13 to clear that Xavi free kick. Interestingly, theirs would have been the first so it might have changed the game completely.
That said, I still don’t have the over-all feeling that Chelsea were robbed in this game. Even if on FairFootball they win, because these are the rules. But the play was exceedingly rough in both legs (much more so in the second), and both refs allowed it. Of course Chelsea started it and did the bulk of it because it benefited them most. A decent ref would have called a zillion field fouls, a dozen yellow cards and maybe one or 2 red cards in the first half, so they’d have cooled down and allowed Barca some play. So I don’t know, in the end it looks like the right result. Even if on FairFootball Chelsea win. Strange.
Anyway, horrible game. Disgustingly rough, and the ref was a shame.
And I forgot, the red card was clearly bogus.
Nonsense! Penalty kick? The referee did not see it, neither he saw that Anelka tripped down with himself!
@FF: Messi always looks good and nobody can deny that he’s a class act but in 4 big semi’s against the best defences in Europe he has had little (telling) impact.
By the way, I’m amazed your not all-over the video technology argument that this throws up??
Well, for one thing, as I said I’m not sure at all the end result wasn’t the right one. Besides, and more importantly, I’m a bit tired of repeating this. I assume most regular readers here know it without me needing to tell them.
Of course, it goes without saying that any game with so many ref errors and uncertainty cries for the video ref, especially at this level.
The Referee of the game between Chelsea and Barcelona was fare for both sides even though Chelsea’s supporters are complaigning about the referee.
I enjoyed the game because it was the tough game.
Something stinks here, Uefa bring in an Eskimo to ref a semifinal European cup,, clearly biased towards Barcelona, he gets it all wrong, and disappears back to Coldland and retires.A few extra thousand in the bank, job done Uefa gets the final they want. As Drogba said a F****** disgrace.
it was broad day robbery on chelsea s side
Alves, Messi, Eto’o and Iniesta were the reason that goal was scored so stop acting as though they did nothing.
Alves corssed to Eto’o(this was the point where the ball could have been defended by Chelsea) it went to Messi who made the clever decision of passing it to Iniesta(who had all teh space in the world and NO defender to steal the ball, he had the time tot think about the shot and thats why chelsea lost)
Barca have a reputaion for being unpredicatble…in the first leg, they dominated, had a million chances but didnt get them in and chelsea will regret not taking advantage of them in the first leg. The second leg, Barca had no shots but it only took them one shot because of Chelsea opening up.
They said themselves that they will make Chelsea regret that they didnt score any away goals…
I think Barca defended quite wrll actually and i was especially impressed by Pique, Toure and Abidal and especially Valdes who took care of all the Chelsea shots.
Its a shame that 2 of the defenders wont play the final but Man u have Fletcher red carded as well so Barca can take advantage of that.
I espect the back line to be something like :
Toure
Pique
Puyol
Sylvinho
The return of Puyol will pretty much make the back line a lot more confident!
The one to blame here other than the ref is the UEFA because they will NOT do anything about it and it is because every week they have full stadiums, full seasons sold to TV and they “know” that the next week everything will be forgotten with the next match: the UEFA have no one to oppose them, plain and simple it is a MONOPOLY with the fact that they do not take any actions to improve their product. Most professional sports take care in having ref’s in every reasonable place where there could be a source of problems to have it as close to the real facts as possible (like in basketball where there are 3 ref’s all the time). Yes footbal has 3 of them but only one is really close to the action and he is not always that close and can’t see everything and the other two are too far for these close calls, most of the time they guess their calls. Just think for a moment what about having a second ref running the court, my guess is that it will help more than hurt and could bring a more realistic result to every game.
The game is over and can not be replayed, the chances to be in a UEFA Champions final is over for some players that even with the right of been there won’t be because the poor calls from a person that maybe doesn’t even play footbal. All people that has the power as a unit or a group should push for actions from the UEFA and from the FIFA.
It is a shame that winners of football games are decided by men in suits at UEFA and by referees paid by them. That Norwegian referee was corrupt.He should never be allowed near a football again.
c
that is football. sometimes these things go the way of your team and sometimes it doesnt. i doubt the chelsea fans would be whining this much if the ref made some decisions in favour of them.
I am a Barcelona fan, but still think what happened at Camp Nou was horrible…
I think it is time cameras are offcially installed to help refs do their work.
About 6 pens were not given to Chelsea there…
meant to say Stamford bridge…
Damn! You guys still rilling about this chit?! Get over it… Barza won, that’s football! Now, enjoy the Final!
And to that mate and Barza’s ‘fan’ name ‘christos’, somebody ought tell him that the controversial game took place in Stamfordbridge! Not at Camp Nou…
UEFA should do something about officiating next time