Barcelona vs. Chelsea Leg 1 Recap

The semi finals of the UEFA Champions League kicked off with a match up of two European powers with Barcelona and Chelsea from Camp Nou. This highly anticipated tie matched one of the premier attacks in club football in Barcelona vs. a more physical English side in Chelsea.

 

Barcelona got right to their control of possession immediately and had an instant chance off a free kick that was awarded after Ivanovic took down Henry along the left wing near the area. This 2^nd minute free kick was a wasted opportunity.

 

            Ten minutes into the match Barcelona continued to find their comfort zone as they directed the play led by the skillful touches of Spanish middleman Iniesta. He was magically pinging the ball around the pitch giving his teammates space and opportunities by the handful.

 

            In the 13^th minute Messi was able to win a free kick just outside the corner of the penalty area when a sloppy tackle from behind by Bosingwa brought him down. Messi made a mess of the kick though sending it wide and out of play.

 

            After the first 20 minutes Messi struggled to make the best of his touches and half chances. Barca continued to simply pass their way up the pitch, but no serious chances arose early on. Chelsea seemed satisfied to simply bash the ball up the pitch and hope for the best. Cech wasted many balls, as his punts were often ending in the hands of Barca keeper Victor Valdes.

 

            In the 24^th minute Abidal’s long ball found Henry who was able to dance by Alex deep into the penalty area, but made nothing of it, as Alex was able to lunge back into Henry’s path to block the ball, as Henry surveyed the area searching for an attacking teammate. Soon after Alex and Ballack both were cautioned after sloppy tackles chopping down Messi and Abidal rather obviously.

 

            The 34^th minute sprung another Barca scoring opportunity when Messi chipped Xavi into the area wide where he continued to lay off a drop pass for Henry to smash; giving it a go, but Cech was able to push it wide with confidence.

 

            The official seemed content to let the players play rather physically, but an unnecessary yellow card was given to Toure  for pointing out a cautionable offense made by his opponent.

 

            The 39^th minute brought the best opportunity of the night for Chelsea as a Marquez inexcusable botched back pass sent Drogba in with a threatening opportunity. Drogba smashed his shot directly at Valdes and was denied in his attempt to chip the rebound over Valdes as the keepers reflects were all that saved Marquez from complete shame.

 

            The 44^th minute provided another chance wasted by Barca when Henry roamed free into the area but was way too slow and hesitant to even produce a thought of a chance. Henry needed to be much better here as he was giving at least 7 yards of space in the area and couldn’t make a decision.

 

            At the whistle for halftime both clubs probably felt quite content. Barcelona absolutely dominated the possession and had to feel that eventually they will break through with one because their numerous chances. And Chelsea despite rarely keeping possession were able to keep a clean sheet throughout 45 minutes and still felt that the lurking Drogba could find a goal at any moment of uneasiness from the Barca defense.

 

 

            The 47^th minute presented Chelsea with an early chance when a Drogba free kick found the head of Michael Ballack but his effort was over the target. This got the second half underway just was Chelsea would have liked it.

 

            But it didn’t last long for the Blues as Daniel Alves’ blast in the 61^st minute was batted away by Cech, as Alves was able to dribble himself into space and lash one from the edge of the box. Heads up save from the keeper.

 

            The 67^th minute gave Barca another threat on the Blues net when Lampard committed an obvious foul that gave Barca a free kick from dead center about 25 yards out. Alves bent his effort just over the bar to the relief of Cech and the Chelsea supporters.

 

            Eto’o was finally unleashed in the 69^th minute when he broke free with a marvelous run. He was able to turn and get space from Alex at midfield and nutmeg Terry bursting by him for the first time of the match. Alex then tracked him down once Eto’s run reached the area but a smooth fake left Alex sliding by the striker and with only Cech to beat Eto’o side footed an effort that was impressively kick saved by the last line of defense in Petr Cech.

 

            In the 74^th minute Eto’o and Henry worked a little give and go chemistry between each other that ended in a half hearted penalty appeal from Henry and Barca.  Bosingwa clearly helped Henry the wrong way with an apparent tug in the box as Henry was reaching back to put a shot on goal. Very close call here that could have gone either way, but the lack of a real reaction from Henry tends to show it may have been a right no call from the official.

 

            75^th minute Puyol was booked on a sloppy sliding challenge, which resulted in a suspension from the second leg. Tough break here for Barcelona as the central defense will be a weakness in Stamford Bridge.

           

            In the 85^th minute Iniesta worked a smooth one-two with Messi to get behind the defense but an already booked Ballack swung a hand to obstruct Iniesta just outside of the area bringing him down with contact to his face. A free kick was given and luckily for Chelsea the official didn’t feel it necessary to book Ballack again.

 

            The 91^st minute almost broke the scoreless draw when Daniel Alves swung a precise ball into the area spotting an open Bojan Krkic, but the substitute got under the pass and headed it over the bar. Bojan was devastated by his miss, but he had the option to let the high ball go, as Messi was trailing and had a better angle on the ball at the far post.

 

            The 93^rd  minute gave Barcelona its last opportunity of the night when Hleb was played through and onside because of a laid-out Ballack back deep in the defense, but Hleb failed to beat the keeper as a diving oncoming Cech got his face to the shot and Hleb blasted the rebound well wide.

 

            So the first leg ended in a scoreless draw. Barcelona did well to control the possession as they always like to do, but a strong defensive showing from Chelsea was enough to just keep the Spanish side off the scoring sheet. Chelsea’s congesting style of defense did just enough to clog the space and frustrate Barca sufficiently. No doubt that Barca was given the space and time for numerous direct goal-scoring opportunities, but they weren’t on their game and couldn’t take advantage of these chances. Chelsea should pat Petr Cech on his back and exhale after numerous moments of uneasiness in the back.

 

            Looking onto the second leg at Stamford Bridge both sides will be looking from their positive angles. Barca is sure to be confident to snatch a vital away goal in London. As Chelsea is sure to bring a more positive approach when playing on their own pitch, where they always expect to defeat their opponent.

 

            Barcelona will be without Carlos Puyol (suspension) and most likely Rafael Marquez (injury) too leaving the central defense in doubt. Chelsea will welcome back Ashley Cole from suspension and be feeling confident in defense with all their pieces in place.

           

 

Player Ratings

 

Barcelona

 

Valdes-   6.5       Smothered Chelsea’s lone chance in the first half when Drogba fired a direct shot right at him, was also alert and sharp enough to deny Drogba’s rebound.

 

Abidal-   6.5    Sent a nice long ball to Henry to produce an opportunity. Prevented any attack up his wing.

 

Pique-   6.5   A little shaky early on but efficiently cleared the leftovers from Chelsea’s lone first half chance. Stood up Drogba rather nicely and showed great composure to deny a late Chelsea attack.

 

Marquez-   4.5   Botched back pass created the only scare for his Barcelona side in the first half. Suffered what looked to be a severe knee injury around the 50-minute mark and was subbed out.

 

Daniel Alves-   6.0    Supplied dangerous balls late in the match trying to find a teammate, but wasn’t steady at back as Malouda has his way with him on more then a few occasions.

 

Toure-   8.0      Physical monster in the defensive midfield. Winning balls and linking up nicely to his skillful teammates.  Had his way with any opponent in his path and his presence in the defensive midfield was dominant to say the least.

 

Iniesta-   8.0       Clearly the best player on the pitch in the first half. The engine of the dominance of possession for his Barca side.  Playmaking abilities on full display.

 

Xavi Hernandez-   6.5     Quiet early on but eventually got into the flow of the match and was back to his playmaking abilities.

 

Henry-   6.5    A frequent threat up the left side for Barca but failed to produce anything productive with these supreme chances due to his lack of speed and hesitant mind state. Lacked that final burst needed to finish.

 

Messi-   6.0    Rather disappointing from the Argentine. A ghost for almost the entire second half. Couldn’t slice up the congested Chelsea defense and lacked that brilliance he normally takes the pitch with. Ronaldo takes strangle hold in the world’s point of view for the best footballer.

 

Eto’o-   6.5    Was barely involved in the attack for the most of the match. Unjustly ruled to be offside in what could have been a great scoring opportunity, but was still able to play effective back passes in the attacking hold up role. Had an impressive run around the 70-minute mark where he made Terry and Alex look silly before being robbed by Cech on the finishing attempt.

 

Substitutes

 

Puyol-   6.0      Came in and got right to work with an impressive physical defensive display, but needs to be penalized for his careless tackles that led to his booking that results in his suspension for the return leg.

 

Krkic-   5.0    The youngster botched a glorious opportunity late in the match. Could have let ball go to the oncoming Messi at the far post.

 

Hleb-    5.0    Wasn’t on for long but had the chance and couldn’t finish slotting his shot directly at the sliding Cech and bashing the rebound well off target.

 

 

Chelsea

 

Cech-   7.5    Helped us forget his recent confidence struggles with a strong clean sheet. Numerous key saves worth mentioning like on Alves and Eto’o.

 

Bosingwa-   7.0    Sloppy start but recovered well and played a key role in the neutralization of Messi. Could have been whistled for a penalty when he tugged down Henry in the box.

 

Alex-   5.0    Undone by Henry in the area although he was able to recover thanks to his opponent’s hesitance. Sloppy and booked in a chop down of Messi. Overall not a great showing.

 

Terry-   5.5      Solid leader at back. Kept the defense organized and contained Eto’o throughout until the 69^th minute when Eto’o made him look juvenile with a nutmeg that almost led to the winner if not for Cech.

 

Ivanovic-   5.5    Found himself out of position and beaten by Henry many times throughout the match.

 

Ballack-   5.5     Part of a defensive midfield unit that succeeded. Did nothing productive with the ball and was booked. Also put his club in serious danger when he played Hleb onside for the final dangerous chance.

 

Mikel Obi- 5.5    Barely stood out in the match, but was part of the system that clogged the space up to frustrate the Barca attack.

 

Essien-   5.5    Could have been a lot more useful if assigned a player to shutdown like he did Gerrard last round, but filled his role on the right wing quietly.

 

Lampard-   6.0     Did well to attempt many one touch passes towards the Blues front men. But was basically outnumbered by three every time he had possession. Subbed out around the 70^th minute.

 

Malouda-   6.5   Did well to pressure Alves in the back. Was often pushing to space and played his role effectively.

 

Drogba-   6.5   Won numerous 50-50 balls and held up the attack well, but help rarely arrived. Was missing his normal push through strike, but the second leg awaits.

 

Substitutes

 

Belletti-

 

Anelka-

 

 

Man of the Match-   Iniesta, Barcelona

 

~ by pete1020 on April 29, 2009.