Chelsea last night claimed a 1-0 victory over Barcelona in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League.
The Blues were outplayed at times, who aren’t by Barcelona and rode their luck on occasions but managed to hold on to that precious lead.
Outstanding
Chelsea was outstanding as they managed to hold off Messi and Co. for ninety minutes at Stamford Bridge.
A goal from the away side looked almost inevitable, and it looked more like a defence vs. attack on the training ground in the last half an hour of the game.
However, unlike most teams that come up against Barcelona Chelsea held strong. They defended for their lives and now have a one goal lead to take to the Nou Camp next Tuesday.
Fortune
The Blues may have had fortune on their side, with Barcelona hitting the woodwork twice but you need a bit of luck on your side if you want to win the big trophies. You also need a bit of luck when you are playing the European champions and a team considered one of the best ever.
I think they deserved their luck just for their performance. It was performance that reminded me of Chelsea under Jose Mourinho. It was like the team had gone back in time to the Chelsea team that won the Premier League and challenged for the Champions League trophy.
Experience
Chelsea have been criticised in the last few years for being an aging team but they used all their experience last night and had to at times. The likes of Ashley Cole, John Terry and Frank Lampard were superb as they managed to subdue wave after wave of Barcelona attacks.
Then there was veteran striker Didier Drogba. When he wasn’t producing amateur dramatics and lying on the floor, he was a major threat to the Barca defence. His power and strength in the air caused the Barca defence problems, on the Blues rare raids into the visitors half.
I’m sure the Ivorian can cause Barca problems again at the Nou Camp. It’s just a matter of whether Chelsea will have the ball long enough to supply the big striker.
Away
The Nou Camp is a notoriously hard ground to win at, as the pitch is so large and Barca make their opponents work hard for anything they get. Usually the home side manage to find a breakthrough, just like they did against AC Milan in the quarter-finals. A big disadvantage for Barca though is that they didn’t score an away goal.
Bad
The game at Stamford Bridge was one of those rare occasions when Barcelona had an off-night. The European champions don’t have many of them and it’s very unlikely that they will have another one next week.
The likes of Lionel Messi and Xavi wasn’t at their brilliant best but on Tuesday I’m sure they will perform far better than at Stamford Bridge.
Difficult
Chelsea have the lead at half-time, in mission improbable. It will however be very difficult to hold onto that one goal advantage at the Nou Camp. Barcelona are European champions for a reason. They are also regarded as one of the best domestic football teams to ever grace a pitch for a reason, they can be simply devastating with the ball.
It will be a fantastic achievement for Roberto Di Matteo and his team if they do make it through for the final though. However I do believe that Barcelona will have the bit between their teeth in the second leg and recover that one goal margin.
The good news for Chelsea is that Barcelona have failed to recover from a first leg deficit in five European semi-finals. The Chelsea players have kept themselves in the tie and more, but I feel that keeping that lead will be a bridge too far for the Blues. Good luck Chelsea, you’re going to need it!
Can Chelsea progress into the final of the Champions League?
oybek, don’t worry, i’m not offended at all. I’m not saying that Messi isn’t good nor I want to change the world’s opinion. Those statement above are only an opinion of mine. But yes, as expected, there are people like you who would defend to death and never admit that Messi is not perfect. If you read my previous post, I’m brave enough to regularly admit to the faults of the players/teams that I admire.
.. but at least oybek, can you give me your reaction when you saw that KICK INTO THE CROWD by Messi, Is that a gesture of a good sportsman ??
not really, Cloud, but no player is perfect, not even Pele was, and of course, while Barca fans will no doubt disagree, and still do a bad job of it, Pele was- and still IS- the best ever. You don’t need to do anything but look at stats.
Cloud, I am not sure what you are trying to prove by these videos. How much good is it going make for your personal satisfaction if I said “no” to your last question “Is that a gesture of a good sportsman?”
Brad, let me correct you one more time ” …… while SOME Barca fans will no doubt disagree, and still do a bad job of it, Pele WAS the best ever”. Why would you expect Barca fans to accept something they may not be informed of? Most Barca fans including Messi did not have the privilege of watching Pele play. So they are simply unable to compare. Why not ask your little friend cloud to post some of Pele’s games on this site instead of those intended to bash Messi?
.. not being biased; but Brad and Roy seems to be the people who’s fair with their comments. Brad answered my question about sportsmanship directly. But you oybek, you wiggle yourself around. Isn’t that question so simple to answer ?? I don’t want to prove anything, it was only a simple question, why can’t you answer it ??
.. but if you oybek is asking to What I’m Wanna Prove ?? well, i guess it’s you who has proven something; that you will always sway the discussion when it comes to Messi… and regarding Pele and Messi, there was one article about that that was full of nice and clean discussions, just kindly read those
Cloud,
Why do you have to be so negative? You keep denouncing people as unfair or ignorant the moment they cease reacting to your comments or responding to your questions. Did you ever consider that because of your negativity, it could be that people are avoiding you?
You did expect people to be fair with their comments, so why don’t you set an example by talking about Messi’s unmatched achievements from time to time? It wouldn’t hurt, don’t you think? You admitting the faults of your favorites do not necessarily mean that you are always impartial with your comments.
Regarding your question whether Messi’s kick onto the crowd could be considered sportsmanship, my answer is simple- I don’t know. According to a theory “Actor Observer” in psychology, “when observing the behavior of others, we tend to attribute their actions to their character of their personality rather than to external factors. In contrast, we tend to explain our own behavior in terms of situations factors beyond our own control rather than attributing it to our own character. One explanation for this difference is that people are aware of the situational forces affecting them but not of situational forces affecting others. Thus, when evaluating someone else’s behavior, we focus on the person rather the situation ”. Messi must have his reasons for having done that. Who not go back to that game and have another look at the crowd?
.. thanks oybek, that’s all I want, a healthy discussion. That happened at The Bernabeau, it’s easy to assume that the crowd harrassed Messi with chants or boos, but he should never have done that.
.. but, that was nothing compared to Eric Cantona’s flying kick to a fan, he almost ripped off that man’s head. hehe
But in Cantona’s case, racism is so bad that I think some people- particularly those who have been discriminated against- would actually have liked it had that happened, Cloud. I think we should all know by now not to mess with a Frenchman by insulting his mother, his sister, and/or his ancestry.
Papa is back kiddos, nice to see you guyz still have carried on this. “Sorry i was out in Jungles in seek of rabbits and deers like my Leo does for ronaldos and UN-REAL Madrid” is it clear Braddy and cloudy. i hope now u know what ‘UN-REAL’ means in exact ways to me. Why dont you come to papa for all clarifications rater playing touvh and go wid some lousy Oybek guy, hmmm. now oybek you better listen to papa when u can’t debate wid such cheats just don’t coz i m there to take care of my mighty Leo and Barca. Can’t u simply justify their so called expertise as they now have nothing left except balming on some unforced errors that hardly any one remembers including those players or even their opposition. they wont discuss clear cheating from ronaldo, mourinho whom i have proved as biggest worlds cheats pretending to pour blames on decided opposition stars to get them some yellows or reds, they wont discuss mourinho’s shameful act of getting a player down on pitch while runnin on the sidelines and getting insulting b4 thousands of crowds, or they wont discuss the record been broken by mighty Messi for 1924 or 25. they wont discuss the shamefull loss against bayern and much much more rather than some kick made in frustration by the worlds best player ever. Hurray for such punks.
@Oybek, apart for this shame-blame game wid brad and cloud lez both of us pledge and discuss on our mighty hero Messi for having achieved massive heights in world of football and has shut the mouths of so-called critics and answering them not by debates but by performances, as this sensation broke all records time by time. what do think of this little master dominating the excellence?? what do you say for pep on whose farewell billions of people cried wid gracies for him on his departure?? what do u predict for barca in their future and what players should they include in nxt transfer window for sky high achievements ??? Will Messi dominate his position as the triumph card or do u think its any other talent that will overcome as key factor for this incomparable side???
Yeah and one more thing Oybek i think that crowd kick incident discussed in such a chewing gum manner, i thin some thing came on my mind and u know what it was—- i think that kick on ball lead it to hit straight in the faces of Cloud or Brad and thats why they feel so bad. it its like that then kiddos i apoligise in behalf of Mr. Messi. i think i’ve seen you both do u guys look like clowns, if i am not mistaken?? hey i scrolled those tapes and i so some 2clowns crying getting their faces hit hard due to miserable shot by Messi. Boo shame shame why don’t u kiddos sit and watch such games on TV rather crying in such pathetic manner b4 people openly. hi hi hi hi……
I actually laughed when don said that Messi kicked the ball at either me or Cloud. haha, something for once was actually worth the time I spent to read that. . .
.. when i saw that the comments reached 61, i got excited but got disappointed in the end to find out that it was only don. but i had to say thanks to don coz he has to mention that Messi aimed the ball to me and Brad, hehehehehe….. hey brad, isn’t that quite flattering ?? hehe
.. back on topic, the worst i’ve seen of fan anger was when Figo transfered to Madrid from Barca and it was D Classico at Camp Nou. While Figo was taking a corner kick, a fan threw a SEVERED PIG HEAD to Figo. But Figo just calmly pushed the pig head aside and moved on with the game.
.. but Messi’s goal count this year is amazing, but, i doubt he can do the same next year. Even if Barca appoint Tito as coach, he’s not Pep. I guess this is the end for Barca…
What a level of thinking cloud !! Ha! did u heard that guyz record that Messi broke at last which was unbreakable even in the times of Cruyffs, ronaldos, peles, maradonnas, cantonas, beckhams, and even zidanes this mr some Cloud or so, wants this to be repeated by Messi year by year. WOW !! then i think he will think of addressing Messi as best everr. I think this cloud it self defines him as he is hiding behind some cloudy camouflage just typing any thing coming on his mind for messi and barca. I think you are messaging this line from some mental hospital. i think this guy has completely lost it and he really needs some doctor to be properly examined. i have sympathy and mercy for him and i urge u guys to do the same for my kiddo. One more think cloudy you should better keep your tabs on messi’s scoring habits every season as nearly a 60 goals every season. Does this still don’t make him the best player everr ?? Ronaldo scores half of his goals in penalties and while Messi does it whit his excellent abilities, also remember this my puppet.
Cloud,
You keep astonishing me with your developed sense of pessimism. One out of billion odds should your dream about Barca demise come true, what miserable life would you have? Who would you rubbish then? I believe those fans irrespective of their clubs and loving football with unbiased perspecives took a moment of reflection on the legacy Pep is leaving behind and was somehow sad with thought that they would miss the greatest matches Barca had under his leadership. I guess Arbeola, Mou and you are few of those feeling the opposite. I just feel sorry for you guys. Frustration and envy must be killing you!
Don, I suggest you not be harsh and disrespecful to RM fans, which might make you no different from them. Let’s boycott them and enjoy the matches of this amazing team and hope that everything will work out for the best for them!
Oybek u r a great person to know, and of course a true Barca fan. Bro i have a lot of respect for you when u guided me in real way, and only a great human and true Barca fan has such gesture for others and even enemies. Honestly i do believe that RM is a great club but this gun is in wrong hands and people that r cunning, O sorry again but to make them realize i didn’t realized how harsh i might have been. I m not having any venom for RM fans but such odd fans may spoil the reputation of such great club which players like Zidane, Beckham, Ronaldo, Roberto carlos, Ruud Van Nistlerooy kindda players have created. And u r true, Barca will hopefully come back hard on opponents after this bad luck and time. By the way buddy i would wanna know such great human in personal and a true friend in life. My email is asifquadri55@yahoo.in
Oybek you might be knowing about the massive fund raised by barca for upcoming transfer window. what do u think they must go for ?? i think they should be looking for signatures of some frome these : full back johnson (Liverpool), or Ribery(Bayern), Aguero(city) or Mata(Chelsea), Rooney(Utd), Van Persie(Arsnl), kevin Prince Boateng(Milan), Lucio(Inter), Marco Marin(Bremen) etc. kindda players could be helpful in upgrading this outfit. What’s your opinion on this ?? What do u think else on new signings and future tactics and strategies.
.. first off, i would like to apologize to the owners of this website and to the author of this article David Nugent .. i always tried to keep my discussions as objective as possible, even though most of them are against Barca, but I tried my best not to do any personal attacks. But this oybek and don is just too much ….
.. oybek, stop pretending to be a psychiatrist, stop trying to analyze me as a person and stop making comments about my life and stuff coz fact of the matter is, you don’t know me personally. It’s disgusting and shameful on your part when I read your comments about the personal things about me and Brad as if you know us both in real life. And yet, here is don, who’s comments are just ridiculous and way off the mark and clearly childish and yet you continue to ignore him just becoz he’s like you, a barca fan. Stop acting like a self-righteous person.
.. you two might have forgotten that this website is all about football, if you have respect for the admins and writers then keep the discussions solely on football.
Oybeck actually tries to do reason, which is why I haven’t really bothered with him, as he actually tries (and for the most part succeeds) at being reasonable. The only part where I can actually criticize you, Oybeck, is the apparent ignorance of Don’s 10 year old attitude.
Can we talk about football, please? And not the infinite glory of all that is Barca (who are the best club team in the world right now, of course, but not perfect. . . but no one is, come to think of it), something on subject, such as the congratulations and credit we have to give to Chelsea for managing to beat the Catalan side and progressing to the final. Since this means they could win their first title, and also since they’re from the EPL, I’ll support them against Bayern.
Cloud,
I truly apologize if I crossed the line by infringing on your personal life. I never meant to do that. Please note that all my comments regarding your personality were merily assumptions based on your comments on this website and they were meant to be construed around your attitude towards football and the discussions herein and nowhere beyond that. Please further note that I never chose to ignore Don and as a matter of fact I am a psychiatrist.
Brad,
I am flattered by your snobbish remarks, but would you please do me a favor by spelling my name correctly? Oybek is my real name.
Re your favoring Chelsea on the final, I am on board with you in that they have come too far to let it go; plus, they did sacrifice the CL qualifying spot in EPL by being obliged to make a trade-off between CL and EPL this season. Should they lose CL final, they will have to miss CL next season and that would mean a collossal amount of financial loss for Chelsea owners. This may further make it unlikely for Di Matteo to take charge as a permanent coach despite his endavors to spur the revival of this club this season. Love may make the world round but unfortunately for us it is definitely money that makes football round.
Don,
Tnanks for the warm words and all that. I will attend to your kind invitation to disscuss Barca affairs on due course. Thanks for the email too. I will be emailing you soon.
.. oybek, you being a psychiatrist should also note that in every discussion not everyone will agree with each other’s comments. You should have stuck the discussion about football and not have made side comments on a person’s personality. I’ve always tried to limit my rebuttals and arguements solely on football. I gave out interesting issues about Barca and Messi in which we could discuss in a civilized manner. But all i got was a “beat around the bush” arguement from you and doing some psycho-analysis and a lot of nonsense from don. Coz in a forum there’s always a golden rule of: ATTACK THE OPINION NOT THE PERSON. anyway, apology accepted… hopefully next time, everyone here will follow that rule….
Whoops! Sorry, Oybek, I didn’t mean to add the c in! And I didn’t try to be snobbish, I guess what I said was what you can call a “backhand compliment”.
I don’t really like sounding rude here, but I highly doubt that Don will abide by the golden rule of attacking a person’s opinion, not the person themselves.
you guys are wack!!!
MADRID!!!! #1
.. this is what “pure madridistas” such as myself fears, now that Madrid are La Liga champions, there will be JUST-NOW-FANS popping up and do worthless comments such as this creeper sanchez.
OK! kiddos now see if you guyz r hurt by me, papa says sorry. And letz get on to healthy discussions and be friends coz afterall uniqueness about us if we are all football fans and cloudy, brady to patch up, papa will take you both on a long ride and oblidge you in real way. But you gotta play safe as calling papa a child is like putting your hand in the mouth of king of beasts, but still i pardon you, as giving you one more chance to let you kiss my hand and pay me all the respect as don and i promote you both as my left and right Capo’s. one other thing never try to hurt oybeck as he is Don’s friend & he promoted as the underboss of my cartell and concerning protocol you guyz gottta give him great respect in all the ways, I hope you’ve got it, and now you dont need to get afraid of any thing as Don has both his hands on you both lousie rats.
.. oybek, as a psychiatrist, what is your evaluation of Don ??? just base it on his latest comments above…
.. don, thanks for being a clown and making us laugh with your childish comments.
And that’s if we even deem it worth the read.
Cloud,
You were the one to suggest that we not discuss personal stuff here. Why bring up my profession? Is that supposed to be an insult?
If you can’t stand Don, just ignore him.
.. sorry oybek, that’s not an insult. It’s a sincere request since I’m baffled to why this person ( don ) is ALWAYS acting like this and always referring himself to the 3rd person.
.. anyway, the Finals is almost upon us … let the witchcrafts begin. hehe
Please understand that the fact that we support the same club and probably can’t stand RM can’t justify our behavior to be disrespectful to RM fans. They have their own reasons to support their club and to criticize ours just as we do. From what I can see in their comments, they are being really nice to you as opposed to your unorthodox comments adressed to them. If we look to this as a race, you are letting them win! Why not return their favor by focusing on the content of their ideas instead of what they represent?
Please further understand that I can tolerate you referring to me as “lousy, underboss” ( Your vocabulary seems dominated by overly taboo words and all that- honestly I should feel lucky to have deserved less negative ones compared to the others!), but under no circumstances would I ever expect you to protect me from others being convinced that I can do that myself!
Sorry, the message above is meant for the attention of Don only!
It seems like he’s run off again. . .
Thanx oybek, by the way i am actually loving u both my capos. yep i was a bit busy wid my cartell stuff as u guyz only chit & chat instead working on my given assignments to learn something from us and our club and also imprtnt, giving respect to your underboss. Kiddos get changed wid the shirts and clubs and stars as you usually do, coz barca once again have prepared to snatch all the silverware, and often you guyz switch to clubs who succeeds. And the winds have once again changed in favour of catalunyans. Brady and Cloudy good newz for you both is i’ve decided to increase your increments, as you can take those benefits as writing your praises for barce and me and your underboss, so get started and your time starts now……………!
okay, so it turns out he was busy. My mistake on that part.
But the enigmatic nonsense continues. . . .
Also, don, you like to call me and Cloud “rats”, from a previous post. But the thing is, I’ve only ever supported Manchester United, no other team, and I’m sure that Cloud is the same for Madrid. On the other hand, when you. . . introduced. . . . yourself, you claimed to have once been “a Madrid fan, but was wrong” and have changed to a Barca fan.
How dare you call us “rats” who “are the first to jump off the ship” (if I remember correctly) when you fit that description far more correctly than us?
Wow!! I like that attitude, Brad. Hmm, hmm, well well well. Nice, atlast u have started learning your Boss, i am impressed but that after all, don’t you think the credit goes to mighty Barca??? By the way let me add a detail i used to follow the legendary Zidane, \beckham, and ronaldo (Brazil) those days and i didn’t had any option when they all played along in single line up. I still have great respect for RM and always will be, but that reputation is totally crused by their cheating styles frm d pundit mourinho, so-called stars like marcelo, pepe, ronaldo etc kind of crooks incorporated by the board, and you and cloudy follow the same categories of clubs which are almost same but frm different regions. i am not surprised wid you two and your similar methodologies as well. Regret it and admit it and accept it and say it, Hurray for Barcelona………. Rats!
Tisk, Tisk. . .
DON, shut up. You sound like a fool.
Thank you TOP. Just watch out for what he might have in store for you. . .