I didn’t see Barca battering Chelsea. I didn’t see them smash Londoners out of the park. I didn’t see them humiliate the Blues. Well, also I didn’t see them scoring at Nou Camp and I didn’t see a certain Lionel Messi on the pitch! We all must be laughing at all those journos who predicted a 4-0 and 5-0 wins. Get real guys! As I wrote in the preview post, you must be rather naive to expect a Chelsea team to be dominated like that. While the hype-loving journos were expecting to see an attacking masterclass from Barcelona, what we all saw was a defensive masterclass from Chelsea.

Five minutes into the match, I was thinking ‘Barca are not scoring tonight’. Half hour later, I realised this had a striking similarity to the last season’s semi finals against Man Utd at Nou Camp. The tactic from Chelsea was pretty simple. Allow Barca to play their game and intervene when it matters most. Don’t allow the final ball. And get physical as much as required. Break Barca’s rhythm. Chelsea just did a very fine job of achieving what they wanted to.

As you’d expect Barca had all the possession, they passed all night but they just didn’t threaten us. This is an unusual thing to say about any Barcelona attack. But this attack that comprised of Eto, Henry and Messi plus the midfield of Xavi, Iniesta and Toure just did not threaten Chelsea at all. If you look at the real chances, probably they had three and we had two. Actually, they were more threatening when Alves started to cross it in towards the end of the game than they were all game long.

Defensively, we were top class. Completely nullified Barca and had them run out of ideas. I was pretty impressed with Bosingwa’s work with Messi and Ivanovic’s marking of Henry. Terry was a bit suspect but was not too much to worry. Overall, we simply owned them with our defence. What was more heartening to see was Cech’s performance. He is certainly getting back to his usual best. He got most of the things right. In the first half, he went out of position for a improbable catch and popped out a ball that he must have comfortably caught. Other than that, he was spot on. The saves that he produced against Eto and Hleb were real class. Our midfield appeared a little lost because we weren’t keen to attack. When we are not planning to attack heavily, when you have Mikel in the team, the midfield of Ballack, Lampard and Essien would certainly struggle due to the lack of purpose and that’s exactly what happened.

But if had one gripe from this match that was the way we attacked whenever we had the ball. It was pretty much as per plan that we saw less of the ball but when we did have it, we were awful and careless going forward. I know most of them were busy in defence but in such cases you may not go for a counterattack but normal slow build-up attacks must have happened much better.

Barcelona have scored 100+ goals at an average of about 2.9 goals per match this season, which is a phenomenal record. Their goal tally and goal difference is the biggest in the whole of Europe. They have scored in every single match at Nou Camp this season. And against Chelsea, they scored none in front of their fans. Before someone jumps to ask ‘how on earth can you be proud about not conceding’, let me say ‘we got what we wanted’. We wanted to take home a draw. A goal draw would have better but goalless is fine as well. Though this result does not confirm anything at all, this certainly is a set back for Barcelona.

This weekend, Chelsea would play Fulham in the premier league. Hiddink can afford to rest key players this weekend ahead of the second leg next week. Meanwhile, Barcelona have their most important league match of this season – the el clasico. To play against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu must be the last thing Guardiola wants between two Chelsea matches, especially after the first leg at Nou Camp ended at 0-0. This weekend’s result in the el clasico would have a huge impact on the second leg. If Real Madrid wins, that would completely unsettle Barca. And, they might then have to play a well-rested Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Plus, Puyol is now suspended and Marquez seems to be out for a few weeks. And Ashley Cole would be back. Messi was invisible tonight even when Barca were longing to score. When Ashley’s back, I’ll have no worries.

To summarise, at kick-off, Barca had an objective and Chelsea had one too. Chelsea achieved theirs and Barca did not. It’s as simple as that. If you want to understand this better, suppose Barca wanted a goalless draw and Chelsea wanted a goal. Chelsea would have still achieved their objective leaving Barca disappointed. 0-0 is never too comforting but there are so many other factors that make me more comfortable – Real Madrid’s possible win this weekend, key injuries/suspension in Barca and the general set back and understandable low morale of high fliers that are brought down to earth.

Peace Chelsitos! We are winning at the Bridge!

1.70 for Barcelona. 5.50 for Chelsea. Those are the odds. Barcelona are an overwhelming favourite to sweep Chelsea aside, as per the bookmakers. If you want to make some quick money, trust the Blues. Sometimes, it good to go with the ‘underdog’ tag, especially when the first leg is away. I don’t mind when Barcelona are being considered the favourites for this match but it would be a bit naive to say that the gap is as large as 1.70 and 5.50. Absolutely not. If there is one team in Europe that can stop Barcelona at the moment, it’s gotta be Chelsea.

Let’s do a quick SWOT analysis for Chelsea. You know SWOT right? A grid of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This is actually a very balances match up. Chelsea vs Barcelona matches have always been classics and if you look at the SWOT, you’ll see the result could go any which way!

Strengths

Drogba has been terrific form. He is a big match player. So if the occasion is big and opponents are tough, you get to see the best of Drogba. His power and skill could trouble any defence. His aerial skills are going to be very useful and dangerous. When Chelsea played Barcelona last time, Drogba scored home and away. With Essien settling down, Lampard has got more freedom to go forward and attack. This has made our attack more lethal. He is a big match player as well and the goal he scored at Camp Nou in 06-07 was one of the best champions league goals you would see.

Essien’s tackling, marking and covering will be a big strength. I think he would be marking Xavi or Iniesta, which makes his role even more crucial. In matches like these, Essien is very very dependable. Our back four is much better than the Barca back four. In our defensive line-up, we have experience and maturity like very few other teams. Our defence has handled Barcelona before and knows exactly which traps we should fall into. Our important strength is our ability to play aerial balls and turning them into a real weapon. We should use this every now and then to keep their defence guessing. You never know, that could just be the clincher. Remember that ball from Ashley Cole to Drogba at Stamford Bridge?

The uber-penalty-saver Petr Cech must be brimming with confidence. After a few poor matches, he’s had a couple of good matches at the right time. if you’ve seen Barcelona, they don’t score in such a way that a better effort from goalkeeper could have stopped the goal. They pull the trigger only when they’re fully sure that the shot goes in, which normally leaves very little to do for the keeper. We must force Barca to play unlike them so that they take shots from unlikely spots and situations because we have one of the best shot-stoppers in Petr Cech.

Set pieces? Did anyone else think we’re superior to Barca when it comes to set pieces, especially corners?

Weaknesses

With no Ashley Cole, it could be Bosingwa in the left back. I’d put Bosingwa as a weakness even if he is playing right back against Messi in the left wing. With Messi playing in the right wing, anyone other than Ashley Cole would be a compromise and hence a weakness. Guus can play Bosingwa in the right and probably, Ivanovic in the left. Between Bosingwa and Ivanovic, I’m more comfortable with the latter to handle Messi.

The other weakness could be the midfielder who plays alongwith Lampard and Essien. Be it Ballack, be it Belletti or whoever. In order to boss the midfield, we need that third midfielder to match Lampard and Essien. For some matches now, this has been a worry. Lampard has started going more and more forward. When he goes to play behind the strikers or positions himself within the box, if there is a counterattack, the other midfielders must be upto the task. The one thing that Lampard has and the others don’t is his commitment in defence.

Opportunities

So where are the opportunities against this Barcelona team? I don’t think this Barcelona team is mentally very strong. They can be shattered. For some reason, I feel they don’t have a leader in their team. You batter them and then you’ll start seeing them a bit clueless and restless. They don’t have the calm of Chelsea. So does that mean we need attack them relentlessly? Well, yes and no. If we can attack them without weakening our defence, that’s a great opportunity.

Their defence is weak. Drogba is too hot to handle for Puyol and co. They have not faced a Chelsea-type of attack so far this season. Chelsea’s attack is a bit unique because it is completely freestyle. The goals can come from anyone and anywhere. There is no single way of playing football unlike Barcelona. When it comes to the aerial balls, they’ll get beaten.

I feel Daniel Alves could be a weakness too. He is way too attackminded. If Malouda can exploit the space created by Dani Alves, you can put Barcelona under tremendous pressure. Also, I never rated Victor Valdes as a good keeper. I strongly feel he is a weakness too. That’s why we should have Lampard and Ballack try those 30-yarders and keep Valdes’ heart beat at 250 per minute.

Threats

Barcelona are a complete team. You can’t keep them quiet by keeping one or two players silent. They have talent and class everywhere on the pitch and they can hurt from anywhere. That’s why I think if we are too obsessed about keeping Messi quiet, we’d be shooting ourselves in the foot. Nevertheless, Barcelona minus Messi is beatable for Chelsea. Messi is one who can produce magical moments. He would be a big threat. But remember, the English teams have always handled Messi rather well – Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool. In Messi, Eto and old Henry, they have one of the best attacks in Europe. If they get into their rhythm, it’s going to be very difficult to stop them.

Losing possession cheaply and in wrong areas would be punished by the Barcelona team. We simply can’t lose possession in our half. I don’t want us to try anything tricky or funny in our half. We should just get the ball to the final third and start playing our football.

Tactics

Chelsea must play 4-3-3 with Malouda and Anelka in the wings. The midfield must be Lampard, Essien and Ballack. I’d put Ivanovic in the left wing and Bosingwa in the right. Barcelona would end up having 65% of the possession. That’s the way they play. We might have to play counterattack. The big question is if Chelsea is going to let Barcelona play their game. Barca are way too accurate for us take risks. You’d see Chelsea trying and succeeding in breaking their rhythm. Chelsea would also play a very physical game to achieve this. Even players like Xavi and Iniesta are light. If it’s a physical contest between Xavi and Essien/Lampard, you know who’d win. We should force them to get into these physical battles as much as possible.

In terms of how Chelsea should play, we can surprise them. Generally teams don’t surprise Barcelona. They always admit and accept that Barcelona are a far superior team and allow them to play their game while they just try to defend all game. Back in 04-05, at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea chose to surprise Barcelona. We attacked them with some force and determination and you know what happened. You can very easily catch them by surprise, if you attack them with quality chances.

I’d like to see most of our attacks come through the wings. There’s no point in  trying to playing to Barca’s strengths by playing through the middle. We should use our wing play effectively and deliver crosses in the middle. Lampard and Essien would be in front of the D, just in case they are to be gifted with a sweet loose ball.

Barcelona are on a champions league record running streak of 103 matches without receiving a red card; current coach Josep Guardiola was their last player to be sent off. I truly hope and wish Puyol breaks that record tonight. I’m sure he has it in him to do that.

The one thing Chelsea must do is not to take the initial 20 minutes lightly, as they have done very often. Even a momentary lapse of concentration could prove costly. The whole Chelsea team must be at their best level tonight. There should not be any lacklustre performances. If we see someone to be a serious weakness, we should be subbing them. I’ve seen Guus do that. No back heels, flicks, 360 degree spin and all that in our own half plus no losing possession in our own half.

Finally . . .

I have full faith in Guus. He seems to be someone who studies and understands the opponents strengths and weaknesses to devise the tactics on a match to match basis. I fully believe that he can take us through. That’s why I like Chelsea to be known as the underdogs. I want Barcelona to underestimate Chelsea. That’s one easy route to surprise Barca. I call upon all the big match players at Chelsea to deliver – Drogba, Lampard, Essien, Terry, Cech and Ballack. We don’t even have to win this match. An away goal what we need to put the fear in the minds of the Catalans. I’d happily take a goalless first half. Sometime in the 70th minute or so, we must take the lead. That would force Barca to go for a mad rush for goals and probably we can nick another one through a counterattack.

Prediction:

I’m going against all the odds and other predictions. 1-1 would be the score. Drogba to score. Be there at BC Shout!

I just put this post up to say there is no post for this match. I’m on a short trip and I’d be back only this weekend. That means no Everton preview, no Everton match reaction and no West Ham preview. I’m not sure if I’ll be watching the Everton match. You can rightly guess that I’ll use all my efforts and powers to dedicate those 90 minutes for live football.

I gotta run now. On the Everton match, I’d say that we’ll win and rather comfortably. I see 2-0 with Lampard and Drogba in the scoresheet. This is a must-win and that’s what we keep saying for all premier league matches. But this one is really a must-win because Portsmouth can hold Man Utd and Arsenal can beat Liverpool. Great time to put immense pressure on the top two and also maintain the momentum.

I almost forgot. Did you see the PFA awards nominees list? It is half of the Man Utd team plus one Steven Gerrard who gets the man of the match even if he doesn’t play. Atrociously, there is no Frank Lampard there! As a midfielder, he has got 19 goals and 11 assisting 40 games this season. That’s a bloody conspiracy! And the young player PFA list has Johnny Evans and Rafael but there is no John Obi Mikel!

Wait for Chelsea to win some trophies this season. You’ll see all awards coming  this way. Anyway, it is the popularity that gets awards than the performance. In the champions league, I’d love to see this Chelsea team demolishing the Man Utd team, half of which are nominated for the PFA awards. That is, we’ll knock the PFA United after we are done with FC Joga Bonito.

See you then. Help yourselves at BC Shout, as you always have! Cheers!