FC Barcelona vs Chelsea – Opinion on the Champions League 2nd Leg – 14-3-2018



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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