A game of 2 crucial defensive errors
The buildup and the hype to this game at Stamford Bridge was
enormous as the press worked overtime on the historical facts that favoured
Chelsea when it came to facing FC Barcelona in the Champions League. The Blues
have traditionally been a tough opponent for Barca. Obviously the fact that Messi had never scored
against Chelsea in the past 8 meetings between the two clubs and how well
Chelsea could defend against him based on past experience was given more coverage
than the game.
Conte came in with a ultra-defensive strategy which saw Barcelona
possess the ball for most of the match. But the moment they went forward they were
crowded out by heavyweights like Rudiger, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Moses,
Kante and Marco Alonso. Almost all 6 of them were into defending against the
likes of Messi, Suarez and Iniesta. Willian and Hazard were the two main attacking
options for Chelsea with Kante and Fabregas trying to link up with them. It was
a ploy that worked for Chelsea fantastically.
Luis Suarez cut a sorry and lonely figure up front for Barca
as he was not getting any balls with so many blue bodies around. Hence the Chelsea
goalkeeper Courtois was never tested much. The Barcelona midfield was teaming
with players - Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Paulinho, Messi and Alba. No one was
allowed to move forward by the Chelsea
defenders.
In the meantime, with whatever possession they had, Hazard
and Willian managed more shots on the Barca goal – all of them long rangers. Willian
was unlucky to rattle the crossbar twice. But there was no chance of getting
closer to the Barcelona D as Pique, Umtiti, Sergi Roberto and Alba with the help of Busquets and Rakitic
were working their hearts out in defense. Despite the heavily crowded midfield and
lots of aimless passing, Messi managed a perfect cross which landed on Paulinho’s
head but his effort on goal was too tame. Barca also managed to get a couple of
corners and free kicks without much success.
The 2nd half started in the same fashion with Barcelona
holding on to the ball most of the time. Willian was surprisingly left free by
all the Barca defenders despite him being the most dangerous of the Chelsea
forwards in the first half. That was a huge slip-up. The relentless Willian was given a great cross by Hazard, who deservedly
found the bottom corner of the goal from another wonderfully executed long
shot. Third time lucky! Chelsea took the
much required lead with about 20 minutes of play left.
Going down, Barcelona seemed to wake up and attacked with a
bit more intent. Then came the 75th minute and Chelsea’s impenetrable
defensive backline blinked for a moment. Christensen played an ill-timed side-pass
in his own D to Azpilicueta who was a tad slow to get to it, unaware of the little
guy who was running in. The 33 years old Iniesta out-sprinted his younger
opponent, picked up the ball deftly and raced into the Chelsea D. Then he did
something that was totally unexpected. Iniesta gave an immaculate back pass to
the one guy who read his mind like a book – Messi, who was at the expected spot
at the expected time. Messi with a powerful shot slotted the goal past the
imposing Courtois. Thus ended, the so called, scoring jinx of Messi at the
Stamford Bridge and the game. One should never go by the sweet-looking Iniesta
and the baby-faced Messi. They may look unassuming and ineffective, but they are
a special duo who can destroy the opposition any minute and Chelsea learned it
the hard way in the 1st leg. (By the way, when he scored that goal Messi
was sprinting in practically free. How did he manage to break free from all
those towering defenders, in blue, who surrounded him like bees throughout the
game is something I need to go back and re-watch, to understand.) There was not
much left after the Messi goal as Barcelona saw off the rest of the game
without much trouble.
Chelsea might feel that they were unlucky to finish the
match on 1-1. But they were playing the unluckiest team this season. Despite
all his goals, Messi had hit the crossbar 16 times. Their carefully groomed next
big hope for the future – Neymar - ditched them for a bigger paycheck. Their first big buy - Dembele couldn’t get integrated
into the team because of injuries. Their next big buy – Coutinho is cup tied in
the Champions league. The La Liga games this season are much more strenuous and
back breaking than any other league in Europe and the likes of Iniesta, Messi,
Luis Suarez and Busquets are aging. So, as far as the - ifs and buts are
concerned – there should not be too many complaints. Also this is the Champions
League where nothing comes easy. This FC Barcelona may not be the most emphatic
or classy of teams, but it’s an efficient unit that had rarely thrown in the
towel in tough situations.
Conte’s defensive tactics worked very well for Chelsea until
the 75th minute. Valverde’s
selection and tactics (wonder if there was any?) were baffling and at times perilous.
FC Barcelona was ineffective by a long distance. Despite having more than 70%
of the ball, Barcelona was frustrated in attack by the choking defense of
Chelsea. There was a definite lack of energy and aggression. Very few Barca players
except Suarez were trying to attack and a number of good crosses went begging. In
the midfield it looked like a traffic jam of Barca players which had little
impact on the game. The likes of Iniesta, Messi, Luis Suarez and Busquets need to
be rested as the season progresses, so that they are at their best in crucial
games.
With the 1-1 draw Barcelona comes away with a slight
advantage in the 2nd leg. But it will be an exciting 50-50 game
which could go either way. Let’s hope Barcelona puts up a better show in the 2nd
leg at the Camp Nou and it turns out to be positive result for the Blaugrana.
Image Credits - Google Images
Image Credits - Google Images
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