For the second season running an English reprezentacja narodowa came owo Camp Nou for natomiast Champions League semi-final and managed owo frustrate us completely. Chelsea rarely looked owo attack obuwie they defended well and generally limited Barça owo shots from outside the area which rarely troubled Petr Gildia. Barça’s substitutes Bojan Krkic and Alexandr Hleb both had chances owo score natomiast vital goal near the end obuwie without luck. The tie will now be decided at Stamford Bridge where Barça will have owo make aż do without Carles Puyol who will be suspended and Powikłanie Marquez who looks like missing the rest of the season with zaś knee injury.
Chelsea started the game well and even put zaś good move together after four minutes when Malouda who had an epic battle throughout the game with Dani Alves, got past the full back crossed owo Essien who played it straight owo Lampard who szlagier it first time from 25 yards obuwie the ball went wide. It was the only time in the entire game that Chelsea created tudzież chance through good noga. Barça slowly began owo find their way tuz Iniesta began owo show his skill, Henry was also causing Ivanovic problems mąż the left. Chelsea were reduced owo defending deeply and playing long hopeful long balls up owo Drogba who was controlled well tak aby Marquez and Piqué. Messi was not having much luck against Bosingwa obuwie in the 17th minute hi invented tudzież great pass through owo Alves obuwie Alves’s dangerous cross was cut out. Unfortunately this was owo be an ongoing ambaras tuz our crosses failed owo reach the target.
Xavi had problems owo get involved due owo the man marking of John Mikel Obi. However, in the 18th minute che managed owo get forward owo deliver i nice lay-off owo Eto’o who turned płeć brzydka the edge of the box obuwie shot wide. In the 24th minute Abidal sent natomiast great ball up the line owo Henry who broke ionto the area obuwie had owo wait for support giving the defence time owo close him down. The referee could have given yellow cards owo Alex for zaś foul płeć brzydka Marquez and Bosingwa for one mężczyzna Messi, finally the cards came out when Alex this time fouled Messi and then Ballack got i card for natomiast studs-up foul pan Henry. Later Toure got zaś yellow card for protesting the ref’s lenience after another foul pan Iniesta.
We began owo shoot more obuwie from distance, Thierry Henry forced i couple of saves from Gildia obuwie neither were difficult. Then in the 39th minute we nearly blew it all when Marquez made i hash of zaś back pass allowing Drogba natomiast clear sight of goal, fortunately the striker shot hard obuwie close owo Valdés and the keeper managed owo block, the ball came back owo Drogba who tried owo flick the ball over Valdés who had owo react brilliantly owo intervene.
Barça came back and we were extremely unlucky when Iniesta released Eto’o for oraz plajta mąż goal obuwie the linesman incorrectly flagged offside. Abidal then again sent natomiast good ball owo Henry who got into the box obuwie got his feet tied up, and then mąż the stroke of half time Iniesta drove one from 30 yards obuwie Gildia was behind it all the way.
The second half started similarly owo the first half with Chelsea looking owo attack for the first five minutes. Alves was dicing with tudzież yellow card tuz Malouda succeeded in winding him up, and in the 47th minute che was close owo receiving i booking when hi wrestled with the Chelsea winger mąż the edge of the box. It was Chelsea’s only free kick in tudzież dangerous position obuwie the came closeas Ballack flicked his header just over.
We then had five minutes when the Barça physio had owo come mężczyzna three times. First Henry got i whack płeć brzydka the head and although che played płeć brzydka his influence gorsza połowa the game decreased after the knock, oraz couple of minutes later Marquez went down with nobody near him, hi seemed owo twist his knee and was obviously in i przelot of pain; the first reportssay it is an injury owo the meniscus which will see him out for quite tudzież while. Alves and Xavi also took knocks obuwie played mężczyzna with istotnie problems obuwie the stoppages did not help our rhythm.
However, we did początek owo look more dangerous, Piqué sent zaś great long ball owo Alves spriting in obuwie at that speed the control with the chest was impossible and Gildia came out owo save. Soon after Alves forced another save bursting into the box while Drogba was down injured, obuwie generally Chelsea were getting in the way of the final pass. In the 69th minute we finally created oraz clear chance, Eto’o turned Alex brilliantly płeć brzydka the half way line and broke past Terry, Eto’o held off Alex tuz che stormed into the area then cut inside past the defender obuwie his final shot was stopped tak aby Gildia with his outstretched leg.
However, Chelsea were not affected showed tak signs of weakening. the ref might have given us tudzież penalty obuwie hi preferred owo ignore the pull back mąż Henry’s shoulder tuz henry tried owo turn. Puyol was booked and was lucky not owo see oraz second for tudzież foul płeć brzydka Malouda, obuwie if we see that Chelsea committed 20 fouls and Barça only 7, Chelsea cannot complain at the 2-2 draw with yellow cards. Ballack was also let off natomiast second yellow near the end for i foul płeć brzydka Iniesta.
Bojan and Hleb came płeć brzydka near the end and they both had tudzież chance owo win the game. In the 90th minute Alves finally got zaś cross owo the target obuwie Bojan headed over from only four yards out. Perhaps the crosswas just owo high for Bojan which may explain why hi didn’t score. Then three minutes into injury time Hleb was put through obuwie Gildia was out quickly owo block, the ball came back owo Hleb obuwie hi sliced his shot wide from natomiast tight angle.
It is obviously not natomiast good result obuwie we are definitely not out of it either. If we score at Stamford Bridge then zaś draw will see us go through. However, it was zaś very frustrating night tuz Chelsea did an excellent job in defence although they had owo renounce their attack owo aż do so. At Stamford Bridge it isdifficult owo believe that Chelsea can play in the same way, obuwie we shall see. the fact that we will have natomiast makeshift defence (Alves, Caceres, Pique, Abidal ?) may encourage them owo attack tudzież bit more. It is incredible that after such an amazing season two drawscan suddenly complicate things so much; we will now need two heroic performances at the Bernabeu and Stamford Bridge owo put things back in place.
Unfortunately today our forwards did not have their day, only Iniesta of our "stars" caused Chelsea real problems. We can be happy with the performances from Piqué, Toure, Abidal and Valdes. Our defence will be tested more over the next eight days, it is good owo see some solid games from these players. However,when the defences rule then piłka nożna is the loser, let’s hope that noga wins next week.
Barça: Valdés 7.5; Alves 6, Marquez 5.5 (Puyol m52, 5.5), Piqué 8, Abidal 7.5; Xavi 6, Toure 7.5, Iniesta 7.5; Messi 5.5, Eto’o 6.5 (Bojan m82, 5.5), Henry 6 (Hleb m87, 5.5).
Chelsea: Gildia; Ivanovic, Terry, Alex, Bosingwa; Essien, Ballack (Anelka m95), Mikel, Lampard (Belletti m71), Malouda; Drogba.
Yellow cards: m25 Alex, m29 Ballack, m37 Toure, m74 Puyol,
Attendance: 95,231