Nachiket at the Bridge
Aps’ note: Herez Nachi again with his forecast of the Barcelona Chelsea first leg at Nou Camp.
Barcelona v Chelsea (UCL Semi-Final, First Leg)
Date: Tuesday, April 28th 2009
Time: 12:15am IST
Venue: Camp Nou
Capacity: 98800
Telecast: Live on Ten Sports (Indian Sub-Continent)
This match is as good as football gets… this my friends is the big daddy of all the matches in the UCL so far. In my opinion the winner of this round, over the two legs will go on and win the much coveted trophy. A lot has been said in the press about the suspension of Ashley Cole and in turn the marking of Messi in his absence. According to reports, that thankless task of marking Messi has been given to Jose Bosingwa. I am not too sure if that’s the right decision as he will be playing all game with his weaker foot. And if Bosingwa does make forward runs it is unlikely that he’ll make accurate crosses into the box from his weaker left foot. Yes, he did play Left-back against West Ham where Chelsea didn’t concede a goal but I think Louis Boa Morte is hardly the yardstick to measure wingers especially when we are talking about Lionel Messi here!!! Only time will tell if the master tactician Hiddink, has come up trumps yet again!!!
Another way controlling the front three i.e. Henry, Eto and Messi would be to stop the supply to them. Like Chelsea did against Liverpool in the first-leg. The supply to the Liverpool front line was cut-off by the very efficient marking of Gerrard by Essien. The man to mark in Barcelona’s midfield is Xavi, he has the most assists in La Liga this season and the front three of Henry, Eto and Messi have scored more goals than the whole of the Chelsea squad put together. The characteristic of this Barcelona team is that the whole team pushes forward, chasing every ball in packs. The logic being that, if you win the ball higher up the park then it is much easier to score. There is less distance to cover, fewer players to beat and normally the opponents are out of position. This high intensity approach ultimately results in less work. As Cruyff explains, by squeezing their opponents, Barcelona conserves energy. The team is built from the front, the Barca front three, in between themselves have all committed more fouls than the centre-backs Marquez and Puyol, in their quest to win the ball higher up the park.
So what this says about their style of play is that they play higher up the park with a higher defensive line.Moreover Nou Camp being the largest(widest) stadium favours their style of play where they make maximum use of the width available(something which Chelsea lacks). If Chelsea start threatening their goal then they will play a little deeper than their usual positions, and this in turn will mean that they will have to take a few extra passes to get to Chelsea’s goal where Chelsea can try and win the ball back. The strength of this Chelsea side is in its midfield so Chelsea has to make sure that most of the ball is played in the midfield where they can look to control the game. Also Barca is not very astute defensively and Drogba is going great guns. He has the ability to tear apart the best defenses in the world on his day. If he is on top of his game and harassing defenders then the midfield and the wingers will have to back track to win the ball back, this will give Terry and co. more time to re-organize the defense.
Another thing in favor of Chelsea is set pieces. The average height of Chelsea players is greater than their Barca counterparts. They are better at winning headers and that is one area where Chelsea can hope to inflict some damage. I would want Chelsea to get an away goal (if not two) and the match ending in a draw. A lot to ask of Chelsea I think, but possible never the less. Both teams are very good on paper, Barca more so than Chelsea. But the best quality of this Chelsea team is that they deliver when it is asked of its players, and I am hoping that they would do just that tonight and return to London with their heads held high. Is it too much to ask of them? I don’t think so.
KTBFFH
This is going to be one crack of a match!
Just that I don’t see Chelsea winning over two legs. I just hope that Chelsea don’t play the spoilsport (like Real did against Barca) and keep fouling Messi and Iniesta.
Hiddink has assured he won’t resort to such tactics. Let’s see if he is a man of his words..
i agree. Won’t be the 4-0 at halftime rout but i get the feeling we’re gonna see a comfortable Barca win in this tie. a 2 3 – 0 and a 1-1 or a 2-2 at the bridge. Messi, Henry Eto’o is too much to handle for Chelsea. Plus Barca aren’t too bad physically themselves. Yaya and Puyol are oxen themselves.
i think Chelsea have it in them to nick a draw…….very difficult but not impossible. its much like Chelsea being written off before the Liverpool fixture, Liverpool wer on a gr8 run beating Madrid and Man Utd. everyone thot that Chelsea wod be a walk in the park……but Hiddink had different plans.
the key here is to keep Xavi out of the game……and impossible will be possible.
Blue is the colour….
ahem !! ..can we now have ur predictions for the other SF too please ??
the above post was for maddy
Oh Keyur is back. Yay, Welcome back boyo. Woohoooo.
And my prediction still remains the same dude. 1-1 or 202 at the bridge and so Barca move out as not SO comfortable winners.
Arsenal United Game, 2-2 at OT and 2-1 to Arsenal at the grove. This however could go either way unlike your semi final which is headed in only one direction.
Maddy Maddy Maddy…
2-2 at OT eh?…! I ve seen a lot of optimists in my life, but you top ‘em all.
Well, I think they should choke Iniesta. Of late, he has been their best weapon!
Iniesta trivia – Is *NOT* Catalan! He comes from Castilla!
“Initially, the 12 year old Iniesta was supposed to sign for Real Madrid but his parents were dismayed at the proximity of street crime and brothels to the Madrid youth set up” – Wiki!
So, that makes it Eto’o, Ronaldinho, and Iniesta!
Heh. Small difference though. Eto’o and Ronnie were deemed not good looking enough. Now, Iniesta is no Greek God, But i don’t think he’d fit on that list da.
well a decent result for Chelsea……cud have been better but hey i am not complainin cuz we are the first team tht hasnt let Barca score at the camp!!!
their frustration was clearly visible towards the end of the 1st half!!!!
Dani Alves and Drogba had the ‘who is the bigger cry baby and play actor” contest of their own and surprisingly, Drogba lost.
And Chelsea literally parked the bus at Camp Nou. This was worse than what Liverpool usually do because they do attack occasionally with Gerrard and Drogba looking for the odd away goals in UCL fixtures. Why on earth did Hiddink talk about goals in the match?
Barcelona created all the chances here. Three of four for themselves and one for Chelsea. And Messi fired blank again in his ninth game against English opponent. He does perform in big games against Madrid, but the English teams always manage to subdue him. Is Ronaldo the better one, after all?
Well, Messi raped United last year, and was unfortunate not to score. Barca played super football, but the refereeing was way to lax. Ballack could have murdered two players and still gotten away without a booking.
Only one team was playing football that night, much like the semi final last year. Unfortunately, the team that didn’t play football won last year’s semi-final. I hope it doesn’t happen this year too. Teams like Barca (and United, Arsenal etc. when not playing against Barca) play beautiful football, which should feature in finals of such events.
Chelsea tactically fouled, played a ten-man defense, and did everything that Hiddink had said he wouldn’t do. Just a horrible team, with a dishonest coach. Hope they lose by a 2 goal margin in front of their fans. I’m hoping for a nice 1-3 scoreline (just like they dished out at Anfield).
Disgusting!
they did let pool get 4 at the bridge. Barca will be desperate, more than pool, though with marquez and puyol out, they will have problems. pool gave em 3 at anfield barca gave none. comapring these stats , barca played better than pool at least.