A predatory
Barcelona eliminated the fighting Chelsea
Before Chelsea actually touched the ball, like a warm knife, smoothly slicing into a cold block of butter, Barca scored; leaving the Blues dazed and on the back-foot.
To start
with Barca ambled along and passed the
ball around. Suddenly the accelerator button was on, as Dembele burst forward
with the ball and his shot, deflected off Alonso and found Suarez. The ever astute
Suarez passed it to Messi who shimmied forward and from an almost impossible
angle, nutmegged a rather confused Courtois, who was trying to make himself
big, to score the first goal of the match.
It was under
2 minutes and Barcelona were up 1-0. The goal, kind of shook Chelsea awake. Conte’s
men responded fantastically as they went on the offensive with well-coordinated
moves. Willian, Kante, Hazard, Alonso and Giroud – attacked from all fronts. But
Barca’s mean and compact defense withstood the enormous pressure with all their
might. Despite numerous attacks, Chelsea lacked the final finish. As the waves
of aggression from the Blues continued, Barcelona were pegged back in their own
half.
Against the
run of play came the extraordinary 2nd goal. Umtiti blocked a Hazard
shot and sent it into the Chelsea half. As Fabregas was about to take control
of the ball, from nowhere, appeared his best friend - Messi, who nipped the
ball from Cesc. Racing forward, Leo sweetly avoided the diving Christensen and
had Azpilicueta swiping at thin air. As the defenders closed in, he looked up, he saw Luis Suarez
sprinting forward in the middle and Dembele following him at a wider angle on
the right. Messi looked up a 2nd time and Suarez seem to read Leo’s
mind. He raced forward and played a wonderful dummy, with the rest of the Chelsea
defense swarming around him. Messi sent in a dazzling diagonal pass to Dembela.
The young Frenchman, practically free, had a beautiful first touch and followed
it up with a thunderous shot that cannoned into the net with astounding
ferocity, despite grazing Courtois’s
outstretched fingers. It was a goal that was set up by two masters and the
obliging student latched it up, by doing everything right. What an impressive way to get your first goal
for your club (and that too in the Champions League)? Way to go Dembele – a Dynamite in the making.
Then it was
time for some silky magic. Iniesta (didn’t seem fully fit) glided past a host
of Chelsea players and gave an enthralling back heel pass to Suarez, who failed
to score from up close, as his weak shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Presumably
he too might have been mesmerized by the spell that Iniesta cast. In the
meantime Alonso hit the woodwork with a free kick for Chelsea. Similarly Pique
had the ball falling almost at his feet from a lovely Messi kick, but was late
to react.
Chelsea continued
their aggressive tactics in the 2nd half as well. But there was another howler at the back for
the Blues. Courtois’s misplaced pass found the lurking Luis Suarez who once again failed to
capitalize. Courtois made up for his mistake by saving Suarez’s shot.
As Iniesta
and Busquets (who took a heavy knock) were subbed off, in came Paulinho and Andre
Gomes (thankfully there were no jeers). From here on Barcelona started to gain
more possession as the new players added more strength and solidity. Chelsea
rattled the woodwork a few more times and had a penalty appeal ruled out. (The
replays didn’t look too convincing in this case). As Barca continued to defend more, there was a moment when Captain Messi stood in the middle of the field and stared his midfielders down, willing them to move forward. Soon
Barca retaliated on the break with Paulinho and Andre Gomes moving forward. Faced with a wall of Chelsea defenders,Luis Suarez passed the ball to Messi, just outside
the Chelsea D. Action replay!! The
little Superman dropped his shoulder, zoomed past Azpilicueta & Co to score his
2nd of the night, through the legs of Courtois, once again. What an
emphatic way to get to his 100th goal in the Champions League. Take
a bow Messi – the undisputed King.
The 3rd
goal took the steam out of the tiring Chelsea players who had given their
everything till then. By the time Morata and Pedro came in, the game lost its
verve. Paulinho missed an easy opportunity to score from a wonderful corner
kick cross. Ultimately it was the determined defense and the sublime forward
line - on the prowl, that made the difference for FC Barcelona.
At the end
of the game, it was heartwarming to see Conte come over and affably appreciate the
brilliance of their main tormentor of the night. A smiling Messi was quick to reciprocate
his admiration for Conte.
The Positives from the game:
You got to
give it to the Blues for giving their best and fighting till the very end. They
were unlucky to hit the woodwork. Their defensive flaws and their lack of
finishing hurt them badly. Willian, Kante and Alonso were the outstanding
players for Chelsea. The tactician Conte got everything right except for shackling
the King of Camp Nou.
This was not
even close to the vintage, dominant FC Barcelona. Against Chelsea it was more
of a defensive Barca that took centre stage. Pique and Umtiti were obstinate about
protecting their goal, that very few balls got past them to the goal keeper. Ter
Stegen did not let his guard down despite very few shots on goal by Chelsea. Alba
and Sergi were equally good in their support to the big three at the back and
moved forward whenever they had the space. The reliable Rakitic and Busquets lent more
solidity to the defense . Paulinho and Andre Gomes were impressive in their 2nd
half cameos. Despite defending hard Barca created better chances and going by
the number of opportunities could have scored at least 3 more goals.
It was a
match where the young Ousmane Dembele came off age. He still has to improve vastly,
but he looked more confident and emphatic. He linked better with Sergi Roberto
and Messi as the game progressed. His goal was a proof of his ability and clever thinking. He didn’t hesitate to track back when needed.
Dembele made a fantastic last ditch tackle on Alonso that was truly impressive.
The talented young gun has shown the resolve to learn, grow and take his place
in the team.
One Barca player was
guilty of fluffing 2 easy chances. But he was always up-front running like hell
and scaring the wits out of the Chelsea defenders and goalkeeper. He forced
them to make mistakes. He assisted the 1st goal, dummied awesomely for the 2nd
and played a part in the 3rd one. The combative Luis Suarez was very
decisive for FC Barcelona in this game, without scoring.
It was a
night when Chelsea was struck by a hypnotic lightning thrice which ultimately electrocuted
them. Courtois was probably the guy who felt most of the impact as it went
through his legs twice (LOL!). Conte’s following
words sum up Messi’s mesmerizing master-class.
"When
you have the opportunity to make a great compliment to Messi, it’s right to
praise a super, super, super top player. A player who is able to score 60 goals
in every season. Not only for one season. We are talking about an extraordinary
player, the best in the world."
With the
bubbling Messi at its helm Barcelona toiled hard, grabbed their chances and deservedly
earned their place in the Champions league quarter finals with a 4-1 aggregate
over the 2 legs.
It turned
out to be a memorable game that would be savoured by Barca fans for a long time.
#VamosBarca #ForcaBarca
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