Chelsea v Barcelona 2nd leg (first leg 0-0 )

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

redout

Well if Chelsea attempt to attack there finished.

No team on the planet can stand toe to toe with this side and win.

Chelsea to keep it tight and try exploit Barca's aerial weakness.

If Barca get one its all over as Chelsea will be forced to take them on and ultimately fail.

CHD

redout wrote: »

Well if Chelsea attempt to attack there finished.

No team on the planet can stand toe to toe with this side and win.

Chelsea to keep it tight and try exploit Barca's aerial weakness.

If Barca get one its all over as Chelsea will be forced to take them on and ultimately fail.

lol

Headshot

I still think chelsea can win this

whats the story with carvalho,will he be back?

JPA

CHD wrote: »

lol

Funny coz it's true.

redout

CHD wrote: »

lol

Lets see who is laughing come tuesday night.

Holsten

Gotta go with Barca, they are immense.

Podge2k7

I can only see Barca winning this.

Boggles

Chelsea for me.

Hoping Barca do it though, wana see United/Arsenal - Barca final.

redout

Henry is rated doubtful for the Chelsea game after coming off at the Bernabeu last night. He had the ice-pack strapped to his knee and didnt look the best.

theteal

redout wrote: »

Lets see who is laughing come tuesday night.

i'm pretty sure it's on the Wednesday, i hope i'm right too as i'll be nowhere near a telly Tuesday

Chalsea can't get through this game, it'd be a crime against beautiful skillful soccer if they do. . .although if they come out and dominate the midfield. . .nah, they tried that with 5 across the middle last week and couldn't get a touch

kinaldo

I expect Chelsea to be given a footballing lesson and for Barca to go through comfortably.

Bubs101

All this is hilarious.

The Spanish league is weak at the back at the moment so obviously Barca's attackers have risen to the top but last week we showed that all you have to do is defend semi well and you stop them. As long as we get more corners than they get free kicks Chelsea will win. Also, Droggy could destroy Pique unless he puts in another Classico-esque performance

Tom65

After the last leg, I was certain Chelsea would win this tie. Now, I think Barca will at least get a draw. Chelsea could play like they did last week, but they need a goal. I think that need to go forward will leave them vulnerable, so Barca should at the least get a goal (and a draw).

CHD

LOL at most of you. Barca win in a game that was pathetic defensively and all of a sudden its OMG Barca are ****ing amazing. Cop on. Chelsea are ten times better defensively than that excuse for a team at Real Madrid, this game is far from over and while Barca have a great chance they still have to go out and beat us or have a score draw at Stamford Bridge, best of luck doesnt usually happen.

Blue is the colour.

Mr.Nice Guy

I'm surprised at some of the comments on this thread. I think Chelsea have a very good chance. If they can supply Drogba I think he'll prove the difference as he'll murder that defence if he gets the service he needs, which I reckon he will.

I'll go for 3-2 to Chelsea.

Headshot

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I'm surprised at some of the comments on this thread. I think Chelsea have a very good chance. If they can supply Drogba I think he'll prove the difference as he'll murder that defence if he gets the service he needs, which I reckon he will.

I'll go for 3-2 to Chelsea.

me too

some people think that barca are untouchable after what they did to R.Madrid
chelsea are a different animal altogether

eZe^

CHD wrote: »

LOL at most of you. Barca win in a game that was pathetic defensively and all of a sudden its OMG Barca are ****ing amazing. Cop on. Chelsea are ten times better defensively than that excuse for a team at Real Madrid, this game is far from over and while Barca have a great chance they still have to go out and beat us or have a score draw at Stamford Bridge, best of luck doesnt usually happen.

Blue is the colour.

When's the last time you ever saw Real Madrid concede 6 goals at the Bernabeu? The people making it out to be easy to score 6 against Real in their back yard are more retarded than the ones making it out to be an easy Barca win at Stamford Bridge. No team in world football bar Barca could have gotten a result like that, so STOP making it seem like that was expected because 'Real are sh*t defensively, bla bla fcuking bla'...

Belittle that Classico game as much as you want, but it was a historical game that will be remembered for the next 20 years.

tony1kenobi

I said it last week and I'm sticking to it.

I think Chelsea will destroy Barcelona.

I just hope they play Arsenal in the final....

redout

You seem confident that once Barca score that you'se to will score and maybe so but the fact is that if that happens it means you'se will be attacking trying to actually play ball with Barca. If that was to happen I have no hesitation in informing you that you will lose. If Chelsea try to play their own game and score some goals which is possible it absolutely will lead to Barca running riot against your back four which will no longer be protected by 5 midfielders. I am not just referring to Chelsea - same goes for other sides. Play ball with this side and you will lose, simple. The attacking five of Xavi, Iniesta, Henry, Messi and Eto'o are better at keeping the ball than any other team. Look at the stats from the 1st leg were Barca dominated possession. Against United in Barca last season the possession was 70-30 and even at old trafford it was 60-40 in Barca's favour. Tell me any other side in the world who can do that to both Man Utd and Chelsea. I'll stick by my assumption that if Barca score they will advance. We'll see who is proved wrong after the game.

Mr.Nice Guy

redout wrote: »

Against United in Barca last season the possession was 70-30 and even at old trafford it was 60-40 in Barca's favour. Tell me any other side in the world who can do that to both Man Utd and Chelsea. I'll stick by my assumption that if Barca score they will advance. We'll see who is proved wrong after the game.

And yet they haven't scored in any of those games against United and Chelsea. So why do people assume Barca will mop the floor with Chelsea?

I do think Barca will score at the Bridge but I'd be amazed if they 'run riot'. They're not playing Newcastle or Middlesbrough, this is Chelsea.

I can see an entertaining game with plenty of goals but if it's one-sided in favour of Barca I'd be frankly astonished.

Bubs101

eZe^ wrote: »

When's the last time you ever saw Real Madrid concede 6 goals at the Bernabeu? The people making it out to be easy to score 6 against Real in their back yard are more retarded than the ones making it out to be an easy Barca win at Stamford Bridge. No team in world football bar Barca could have gotten a result like that, so STOP making it seem like that was expected because 'Real are sh*t defensively, bla bla fcuking bla'...

Belittle that Classico game as much as you want, but it was a historical game that will be remembered for the next 20 years.

It's not about belittling it, it's about people reading too much into it.When Real lost 4-0 to Liverpool they didn't collapse in the league. In fact come to think of it, they got beaten by Liverpool twice and Barca once so maybe they just can't cut it against big teams .From the highlights I saw Casillas had an absolute shocker . Also, when did I say it was expected, I said Real are **** defensively which they are

I have no idea when it was but when was the last time Barca were held goalless at home? We have only lost one match since Hiddink has come in and we have an extremely balanced team whereas Barca's is top heavy. If you look at the comments at the beginning of this thread it's all Barca Barca Barca. Too much respect. I'd be amazed if they destroyed us in our backyard and amazed if we gave them the space to do so

redout wrote: »

You seem confident that once Barca score that you'se to will score and maybe so but the fact is that if that happens it means you'se will be attacking trying to actually play ball with Barca. If that was to happen I have no hesitation in informing you that you will lose. If Chelsea try to play their own game and score some goals which is possible it absolutely will lead to Barca running riot against your back four which will no longer be protected by 5 midfielders. I am not just referring to Chelsea - same goes for other sides. Play ball with this side and you will lose, simple. The attacking five of Xavi, Iniesta, Henry, Messi and Eto'o are better at keeping the ball than any other team. Look at the stats from the 1st leg were Barca dominated possession. Against United in Barca last season the possession was 70-30 and even at old trafford it was 60-40 in Barca's favour. Tell me any other side in the world who can do that to both Man Utd and Chelsea. I'll stick by my assumption that if Barca score they will advance. We'll see who is proved wrong after the game.

If Barca score of course they should advance, if you're making a prediction at least make it a long shot. The thing is despite a truckload of possesion in the Nou Camp for Barca, We had the best chance so you can see why some of us are a little taken aback by your arrogance. The stats tell their own story. Barca had 70% possesion and couldn't score. So much for their attacking juggernaut

CHD

eZe^ wrote: »

When's the last time you ever saw Real Madrid concede 6 goals at the Bernabeu? The people making it out to be easy to score 6 against Real in their back yard are more retarded than the ones making it out to be an easy Barca win at Stamford Bridge. No team in world football bar Barca could have gotten a result like that, so STOP making it seem like that was expected because 'Real are sh*t defensively, bla bla fcuking bla'...

Belittle that Classico game as much as you want, but it was a historical game that will be remembered for the next 20 years.

Eh, hold on a second. I watch Madrid and Barca nearly every week. Madrid were ****e yesterday and were exploited, Chelsea will be nowhere near that bad at the back. The only people talking about that game for 20 years will be barca fans. Everyone else with half a brain can see it was a crap performance from Madrid and on the day Barca turned up, it went right and they did what they had to do very well.

When did i make it out that result was expected? I didn't. I will belittle it because it was a class team doing what they do very well against a decent side who didnt show up. United could do that to Madrid and Chelsea could destroy them too if they played well on the day.

CHD

redout wrote: »

You seem confident that once Barca score that you'se to will score and maybe so but the fact is that if that happens it means you'se will be attacking trying to actually play ball with Barca. If that was to happen I have no hesitation in informing you that you will lose. If Chelsea try to play their own game and score some goals which is possible it absolutely will lead to Barca running riot against your back four which will no longer be protected by 5 midfielders. I am not just referring to Chelsea - same goes for other sides. Play ball with this side and you will lose, simple. The attacking five of Xavi, Iniesta, Henry, Messi and Eto'o are better at keeping the ball than any other team. Look at the stats from the 1st leg were Barca dominated possession. Against United in Barca last season the possession was 70-30 and even at old trafford it was 60-40 in Barca's favour. Tell me any other side in the world who can do that to both Man Utd and Chelsea. I'll stick by my assumption that if Barca score they will advance. We'll see who is proved wrong after the game.

You seem very confident Barca will score first, '' once Barca score''. They havn't yet. You talk about stats, stats looked great for ya didn't they, well i look at this stat - Barca 70% possesion and all over Chelsea. Barca 0-0 Chelsea is the stat that counts. Didn't score with all those impressive stats did ye?

Blue is the colour.

Unearthly

I fancy Chelsea for this.

As much as I admire Barca and players like Messi, xavi etc when it comes to a fight, I'd back the likes of Drogba and Essien to come out on top.

CHD

Barca can prance around and play the lovely football all they want. Gotta score and that will be tough. When this team that Chelsea has is determined to win and full of confidenece they will be very very tough to beat, it would take the worlds best on there day to do it. We have seemingly copped on now and could all come together on wednesday. This game is way too hard to call. People writing off Chelsea is laughable.

Barca could destroy us, We could destroy them. More than likely it will be very very tight, too tight to call. Barca are playing away at one of the hardest places to go in the world against a team who are also one of the best in the world ( we can say stuff like that too).

I hope we win, think we will. If not best of luck to Barca in the final.

Not bothering with this thread again till after the match. Can't stand the mindless fools who talk up Barca and write Chelsea off like there half decent. We are halfway there and have done our job so far, hope we finish it off.

Im going back to the pub. Hope we have a classic!

Panthro

i think we can beat them. we will have cole back, so defensively we are 100%. malouda is on fire, from what ive seen of anelka playing yesterday, him and drogba are very dangerous.essian lampard and ballack are all playing well.and cech...he has his moments but if theres a penalty in it, id back him.

come on the blues!

Mr. Presentable

Unearthly wrote: »

I fancy Chelsea for this.

As much as I admire Barca and players like Messi, xavi etc when it comes to a fight, I'd back the likes of Drogba and Essien to come out on top.

This. This man knows what he's talking about. All the possession is worth nothing if it's in midfield. The sad, sorry, truth is, that while Barcelona are technically more gifted it counts for little against a side bigger, stronger and more athletic.

And that's why football is going down the sh1tter as a spectacle.

Headshot

basically I think who ever scores first wins

chelsea scores first they'll do a 1st leg on it and if barca score we'll i think its over then

barca will pick off chelsea on the counter attacks

lordgoat

Jesus there's some awful ****e being talked in here.

It'll come down to who takes their chance first. Chelsea are never easy to beat at home, to assume the might all conquering barca will score is a bit premature. If they do, i still don't think chelsea will fall apart, they have big game players with the right mentality. I do think that if Chelsea score first that Barca won't come back from it. (i hope i'm wrong about it but as Unearthly said when comes to a fight, I'd back the likes of Drogba and Essien to come out on top.

Who i want to win: Barca (although some of the comments in here make me think otherwise)
Who i think will win: Chelsea 2 or 3: 0

redout

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

And yet they haven't scored in any of those games against United and Chelsea. So why do people assume Barca will mop the floor with Chelsea?

They didnt score because United and Chelsea had everyone behind the ball ! Try scoring with 9/10 players in front of you - it aint easy. United got the goal by a piece of brilliance and then still kept everyone behind the ball. Even still Barca dominated both teams. Just imagine what they would do with a standard defence and not every player on the park back inside their own half.

The thing with this game is that Chelsea need a goal and ideally in the 90mins. Once extra-time appears a Barca goal still counts as an away goal and gives Chelsea far less time to score two hence why I reckon Chelsea will try to attack. When this happens Barca are most likely going to cause chaos for the Chelsea defence. Extra-time is stacked favourably with the away side.

redout

There are some right nutcases on here with 2 or 3 nil Chelsea predictions.

I can only think you'se are hoping for about 20 set-pieces.

kinaldo

Lest we forget that a lesser Barca team (with a much younger Messi) came to the Bridge only 3 years ago and won, against probably Chelsea's greatest ever team, and in the process inflicted Mourinho's sole home defeat whilst in charge at Chelsea.

Many of those players will be playing against each other again on Wednesday, the big difference is Barca have progressed and Chelsea have regressed.

Barca are also coming off the back of one of their greatest ever results, with their domestic league all but wrapped up.

Chelsea will give it their all I'm sure, but Barca's much greater class should prevail.

eZe^

Lol @ blaming Casillas for the 6-2 drubbing, he kept it from being 12-2, made a number of fantastic saves... 5 in the first 20 minutes.


Game will be close, and in no way as open as the Madrid game, but I can see both sides scoring. 2-2 draw, Messi x2 and Anelka/ Drogba.

Bubs101

kinaldo wrote: »

Lest we forget that a lesser Barca team (with a much younger Messi) came to the Bridge only 3 years ago and won, against probably Chelsea's greatest ever team, and in the process inflicted Mourinho's sole home defeat whilst in charge at Chelsea.

Many of those players will be playing against each other again on Wednesday, the big difference is Barca have progressed and Chelsea have regressed.

Barca are also coming off the back of one of their greatest ever results, with their domestic league all but wrapped up.

Chelsea will give it their all I'm sure, but Barca's much greater class should prevail.

Arrogant much. The way I see it is fairly simple. We have a much better defence, you have a much better attack. The midfield is even with Essien and Xavi effectively able to walk into any team in the world and Iniesta and Lampard cancelling each other out and that's being generous. Both keepers are crap, Cech just doesn't have it anymore, Valdes was never close to his level.

What I think it will come down to is the managers and that's why I think we will get a result. While Pep has done a phenomenal job in his first year he has no experience and everything has been smooth sailing for him. He hasn't had to make many, if any, hard managerial changes when faced with an obstacle because Barca have only encountered one this season, Chelsea, and Pep did nothing to change the way they worked in that match. Hiddink on the other hand has faced better teams than Barcelona.He knows how Spanish teams work, he's managed them before while Pep has never even worked in England.

Also, must be said that this thread really paints Barca fans in a new light

redout

Iniesta is better than Lampard hands down.

Closest in the world to being the top player bar Messi in my opinion.

His performances over recent months are phenomenal.

Xavi and Essien cant be compared as they are different players.

Barca main problem is the suspension injury of Captain Puyol and Marquez.

Both CBs out.

Bubs101

redout wrote: »

Iniesta is better than Lampard hands down.

Closest in the world to being the top player bar Messi in my opinion.

His performances over recent months are phenomenal.

Xavi and Essien cant be compared as they are different players.

Barca main problem is the suspension injury of Captain Puyol and Marquez.

Both CBs out.

Don't be so modest, they're both the best players ever.

TBF, if both your Centrebacks are out you're going to get bullied by Drogy

redout

Bubs101 wrote: »

Don't be so modest, they're both the best players ever.

TBF, if both your Centrebacks are out you're going to get bullied by Drogy

Go back to your Serie A bubble brother.........

Toure could become a makeshift CB as his height could well be needed with Busquets or Keita then filling in midfield.

The other option is to move Abidal to CB and the put Sylvinho at LB.

Iniesta is the unsung hero without doubt.

mayordenis

Dropsy hasn't bullied anyone in a long time,
He's run his race a long time ago.

I don't particularily buy this chelsea superior defence stuff either, chelsea's centre backs are all pretty slow, and if they have to move out of there comfort zone they will get assaulted, anything except to banks of 4 and it's good night and season over for chelsea, in my opinion of course.
Xavi, Iniesta, Toure or Lampard, Ballack, Essien. Essien maybe edges Toure out, maybe. The other 2 is a non-event.
Cech had his best game of the season at the Nou Camp, He'll need to top that during the week.

Bubs101

mayordenis wrote: »

Dropsy hasn't bullied anyone in a long time,
He's run his race a long time ago..

He just did it to Liverpool

mayordenis wrote: »

I don't particularily buy this chelsea superior defence stuff either, chelsea's centre backs are all pretty slow, and if they have to move out of there comfort zone they will get assaulted, anything except to banks of 4 and it's good night and season over for chelsea, in my opinion of course.

Fair enough but we have super fast wing backs who tend to cover for J.T. and Ricky C if they're in trouble and if you don't buy that that defence is better than Pique and Abidal than your opinion is nul and void

mayordenis wrote: »

Xavi, Iniesta, Toure or Lampard, Ballack, Essien. Essien maybe edges Toure out, maybe. The other 2 is a non-event.
Cech had his best game of the season at the Nou Camp, He'll need to top that during the week.

"Essien maybe edges out Toure". Seriously? come off it. He's much better and Lampard appears to be criminally underrated in the global scheme of things and of Barca's 6 shots on target I can't think of one that would have gone in against a worse keeper.

redout

If Pique is so bad then how is it you reckon he has notched up 40 appearances this season for a side considered by many to be the top in the world and broke into the Spanish national side with a debut against England then scoring the winner against Turkey in only his second match during the recent WCQ Hardly an easy thing to do one would have thought. Class player totally undervalued by many. I remember an argument with some United supporters not to long agao about Pique and Evans. For me its a no brainer to be honest.

Bubs101

I'm not saying he's crap, he's just not on the level of Terry or Carvalho or probably Alex and isn't experienced enough for a Champion's League semi final

leninbenjamin

redout wrote: »

If Pique is so bad then how is it you reckon he has notched up 40 appearances this season for a side considered by many to be the top in the world and broke into the Spanish national side with a debut against England then scoring the winner against Turkey in only his second match during the recent WCQ Hardly an easy thing to do one would have thought. Class player totally undervalued by many. I remember an argument with some United supporters not to long agao about Pique and Evans. For me its a no brainer to be honest.

He's not crap, but he's not class (yet!). he's still very young for CB and has a lot of experience to get, and even with a near full season of football it's a lot of pressure for someone so young.

remember when Senderos broke on the scene for Arsenal? looked an absolutely fantastic player, until he came up against Drogba**. experience is everything, that's why even on the most youthful flare teams the CBs tend to be 25+.

(** note: i'm not drawing a direct comparison between Senderos and Pique, just giving it as an example)

redout

I would agree he needs some more experience but he hasnt let anyone down this term.

Boggles

I think taking individuals and comparing them directly is as useful as a glass hammer.

The past 3 years has proven that Barca with all there attacking talent can be nullified when they come up against an organised team, especially a higher calibre defense than they are used to playing against.

Liverpool knocked them out
United knocked them out
And Sadly Chelsea will knock them out

Barca have no plan B, they only know A (All out Attack).

theteal

Terry Henry out for 2 weeks according to SSN

who's the automatic replacement? Bojan will hardly start, is Hleb's confidence up to the task?

redout

theteal wrote: »

Terry Henry out for 2 weeks according to SSN

who's the automatic replacement? Bojan will hardly start, is Hleb's confidence up to the task?

Most obvious thing would be Iniesta moved to the left with Busquets and/or Keita into midfield and Toure is moved to makeshift CB. Abidal could also be moved there with Sylvinho taking LB.

PHB

Personally I think Barca are even better with the Iniesta-Eto-Messi combination.

redout

Catalan press are saying Henry will still travel to London and continue to receive treatment for his bruised knee.

keane2097

I fancy Chelsea strongly to progress.

People make a lot of the possession stats, but the fact is United last year were happy to let them have the ball for long stretched cos they were so toothless going forward, creating very little.

Chelsea did the same last week without as much success since Barca created the odd chance, but the possession thing is merely a function of the game plan employed to beat Barca.

It's all very well putting lovely passing moves together in front of a defense, but we keep score by the ball going in the net.

redout

keane2097 wrote: »

I fancy Chelsea strongly to progress.

People make a lot of the possession stats, but the fact is United last year were happy to let them have the ball for long stretched cos they were so toothless going forward, creating very little.

Chelsea did the same last week without as much success since Barca created the odd chance, but the possession thing is merely a function of the game plan employed to beat Barca.

It's all very well putting lovely passing moves together in front of a defense, but we keep score by the ball going in the net.

Hang on a minute. United nor Chelsea did not let Barca have possession. They simply couldnt get the ball themselves.