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The team had tried to overcome the 1-0 deficit they incurred at the Stamford Bridge a week earlier, but the resilient London club refused to budge to the Spanish side’s constant bombardment and made sure the points were evenly shared.
When the semi-final first leg was won in England, a lot of soccer pundits felt Chelsea’s victory was a flash in the pan. Andreas Iniesta and some of his team mates boasted they were going to teach the London club real soccer at Camp Nou; but that was not to be after all.
Barcelona started with their usual one-two attacking pattern and the blues were also prepared to match them strength for strength. They came with the mind to play a more beautiful football as against the compact defensive tactics used against the Spanish side in London. The first few minutes saw both sides making serious incursions into the opponents’ areas.
Chelsea were now down to 10 men; it was particularly demoralizing because it was their captain that was involved. Cahill’s earlier exit seemed to compound the whole situation. No more central defender for the blues. This automatically changed Chelsea’s game plan to ‘mass defense’ to ensure they did not give away their 1 goal advantage.
Nevertheless, within a space of few minutes, Barca were already 2 goals up. At this time it appeared the blues would never make it again, but they fought back gallantly pulling back a goal at the added time of first half through Ramires, who received a pass from Frank Lampard and looped it over the on rushing Valdes.
The Catalan side became more desperate in the second half. They needed to now overcome Chelsea’s away goal advantage. But in the 2nd minute of the 3 minutes added time of the second half, Fernando Torres who replaced Didier Drogba received a pass from the defenders and overtook an unbalanced Charles Puyol. He took his time to dribble past Barca’s goal keeper and slotted in the ball for an equalizer. It was all over for FC Barcelona. The chance of playing in the finals evaporated with Torres’s goal.
What happened to Barca?
They were obviously in a hurry to win the match. They went into mass attack, making them vulnerable at the rear. The ‘blues’ took advantage of that deficiency to undo them. Chelsea were very disciplined and never lost their focus. They tried not to concede more goals and they also got the important away goal they needed to put Barca under intense pressure.
Barca have not been able to win any of their last three matches (2 in the Champions’ League and 1 in the La Liga), making a lot of people to ask if Barca’s reign has finally come to an end. They have already relinquished the La Liga title to Real Madrid, and now they are out of the Champions’ League race.
I think Barcelona’s pattern of play is now being understood by others and they seem to have found the right key to unlocking their secret doors. What do you think? Is Barcelona’s reign finally over? Have they lost their usual confidence? Should Josep Guadiola change his pattern of play?
