FC Barcelona vs Chelsea 2-2 - How Chelsea's Strategy Paid Off

Last Wednesday the Blues pulled off a remarkable win at Stanford Bridge, setting the stage for what promised to be a sure comeback by Barca at Camp Nou.  After all Barca had had 83% ball possession and the Chelsea goal appeared to be a stroke of luck.  Not so, there was disappointment by football fans around the globe, when Chelsea pulled off an upset victory yesterday at Camp Nou. 

Busquets got the go ahead in the 35th minute for Barca, which pointed toward a determination by Barca's star line up to win.  37 minutes into the match, John Terry was send off, leaving Chelsea to play shorthanded for 53 minutes.  To add insult to injury Iniesta made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute, which seemed to settle Chelsea's fate.  Hard defensive work, with a limited amount of counters paid off at 45+1 when Ramires narrowed the score to 2-1 just before the half.

In the second half Chelsea kept the rear tight and a few faux pas by Barcelona, including a missed penalty shot by Messi and a few more spoiled attempts at goal, finally gave the aggregate success to Chelsea.  Fernando Torres, who was subbed in the 80th minute, finally gave the final blow to Barca with his breakaway goal in injury time, making the comeback complete.  Chelsea did the unbelievable and defeated what is arguably the best  team in Europe, if not the world.  How did that happen?

Sepp  Herrberger, the post World War II coach of the 1954 World Cup winning team once said, "A game lasts 90 minutes and the ball is round."  In other words, "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." 

Chelsea's game strategy was a strong defence with limited counters.  That strategy worked.  Barcelona was unable to jump out of its box, continuing to try to penetrate and almost impregnable defence with short passes in very tight areas.  While it permitted them to break through occasionally it wasn't what was needed against Chelsea.  A few longer passes, shots from the distance and spreading out Chelsea's defence may have been a little more effective.

After watching the last three Barca games, two against Chelsea and the Spanish league match against Real Madrid, it is clear that Barca's strategy changes little.  It is hard for the team to go out of the box and adjust in what has been a successful strategy.  The other team managers noticed too. 

Chelsea, with just 28% of overall ball possession, took on a giant with defence and breakouts.  It is hard to argue that that strategy didn't work.

Chelsea Depite All Odds Defeats FC Barcelona 1-0

After yesterday's FC Bayern's win over Real Madrid with goals by Ribery and Gomez, today Chelsea hosted FC Barcelona at Stanford Bridge in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.  Frank Lampard, Chelsea manager said it was all about "Belief" prior to the match.  Chelsea started the match as the underdog.  In their respective leagues Chelsea is sixth in the English Premier League, while Barcelona is second, trailing Real Madrid in the Spanish league.  Real and Barca meet this weekend in a head on head matchup in league play. 

Barcelona started the match as the dominant team with a ball possession of 83 to 17%.  In the 9th minute Alexis Sanchez hit the crossbar after the ball came to him with a lofty pass from Iniesta and there was no one between him and Cech.

While Barcelona was the dominant team in the first half, Chelsea create plenty of opportunities and their counters eventually paid off in 45+2 minutes.  Frank Lampard stole the ball from Messi and send a long pass to Ramirez on the left side who pushed it to Drogba who transported the ball into the net for an unlikely 1-0 Chelsea lead.

Although Barcelona had more passes, more ball possession and put the pressure on Chelsea, the Spaniards were unable to penetrate and when they did they were stopped by Chelsea's keeper Cech.
Even the three free kicks that were executed in the first 75 minutes, two went into the wall set up by Chelsea and one went well over the net.

In exta time Chelsea's lucky star shone once again when Barcelona hit the post just before the final whistle.  It was definitely Chelsea's night.

Despite 71% ball possession and Chelsea seldom venturing into Barcelona's half, the English side managed to defend successfully to maintain the lead in the second half.  A well defended lead, which gives them a one goal advantage for the second half.


Chelsea:  1.  Cech - 2. Ivanovich 3. A. Cole 24. Cahill 26. Terry 7. Ramos 8. Lampard 12 Mikel 16 Raul Meireles (Bosingwa 88th)10 Juan Mata (Kalou 74th) 11 Drogba

Barcelona:  1. Victor Valdes, 2. Daniel Alves, 5. Puyol, 4. Fabregas,(Alcantara (79th) 6. Xavi Hernandes, (Cuenca 87th) 8. Iniesta, 14. Mascherano, 16. Busquets, 21. Adriano 9. Alexis Sanchez (Rodriguez 67th) 10. Messi

Champions League Semi-Final - Difficult Tasks for Chelsea and Bayern

 Leg 1 of the Champions League semi-finals get underway next Tuesday, when FC Bayern meets Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena in Munich.  Chelsea hosts the other Spanish team FC Barcelona on Wednesday. Arguably Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are the top two teams in Europe.

Munich will most certainly rev up its effort well above the performance displayed in yesterday's game against Borussia Dortmund.  Players like Arjen Robben can't afford to miss penalty shots or empty nets from just a few meters away.  Real Madrid with players like Ronaldo and Mezul Oezil will challenge Bayern's defence and Manuel Neuer.  Leg 1 is a must win for Bayern, without any goals by the Madrid side.  The odds are relatively low for this to happen.

Chelsea will be facing record scorer Messi.  This again appears to be an impossible task for Chelsea.  Not unlike Munich this is a must win, while Chelsea will have to contain Messi.  The odds again are very low.   

Having said that, soccer is a game that is full of surprises.  If the outcome were certain, no game would be necessary.  As a fan, let's hope that the games are both exciting and interesting.  Of course a final with Real Madrid facing FC Barcelona in the final in Munich would be a delight for all soccer fans, regardless of which team they support.  

UEFA Champions League - Semi Finals  Leg 1

17 Apr 2012

FC Bayern Muenchen vs Real Madrid

18 Apr 2012

Chelsea vs Barcelona

UEFA Champions League - Semi Finals Leg 2

24 Ap;r 2012

Barcelona vs Chelsea

25 Apr 2012

Real Madrid vs FC Bayern Muenchen

Champions League Group of 16 Draw

The stage is set for the Champions League Group of 16 competition, which will be played as a knock out.  Teams will play an away and home match during the periods 14-22 February 2012 and 6-14 March 2012. 

Bayern Muenchen should be able to get beyond the Group of 16 with its fortunate draw of FC Basel.  The operative word is "if" though.  After all FC Basel knocked Manchester United out of the competition.  Bayern will have to remain focused, even though they emerged the winner against Basel in the qualification round 3-0 and 2-1. 

Bayer Leverkusen drew FC Barcelona and Leverkusen's fans will see stars like Messi and Xavi and Iniesta.  David Villa will be out with an injury.   Barca is the clear overwhelming favourite.  Regardless, the games need to be played and surprises are always possible. 

Chelsea drew Napoli and all bets are off in that competition, while Arsenal meets AC Milan.   CKSA Moscow drew the other power house Real Madrid and Marseilles is matched with Inter Milan.

The Matches for the Group of 16:

FC Basel vs Bayern Muenchen

Bayer Leverkusen vs FC Barcelona

Olympic Lyon vs APOEL Nicosia

SSC Napoli vs Chelsea

AC Milan vs Arsenal

CSKA Moscow vs Real Madrid

Zenit St. Petersburg vs Benefica Lisbon

Olympique Marseilles vs Inter Milan