We need to take our chances. In 2009 we didn't actually create that much, in the game yesterday I think we created as many chances as we did in our previous 3/4 games against them.
I believe it's this simple in Camp Nou: - they score first: we're 99% dead. - we score first: we're favourites to advance. - the fact that them scoring once means we gotta get 3 means we have to be super focused in defence. I believe in one or two goals any day, but three sounds like a mountain against a team who has conceded once in our last three meetings. Whether we advance to the final or not, we have to fix our away form somehow for the next season. This season it has more or less cost us Liga (unless we win it, of course) and also we failed to get the all-important away goal against both Milan and Chelsea (even if it can partly be put to "luck", but far from totally). Dunno why it is so hard for us in away fixtures. It's the same game so one assumes it's a mental thing as surely it's not only down to longer grass and smaller pitch etc.
I think this season, more than the last several, we really have relied on Messi's remarkable goal scoring feats to keep us alive in both La Liga and the CL. He can't score in every game and we need someone else to chip in with 20 goals. If you look at LPB, as well as Ronaldo, Benzema has scored 29 goals and Higuain 25, where as our next highest scorer is Fabregas with 15, then Xavi with 14 and Sanchez 13 (these are in all comps). And that seemed to be glaringly obvious in the game yesterday, the chances we had fell to Fabregas (who hasn't scored for a couple of months), Sanchez (who has only scored a couple of goals in his last 10 or so games) and Busquets. We badly miss Villa, teams know that if they can crowd out Messi (also he has the most assists for us as well) then they have a good chance of stopping us from scoring.
And most of Fabs goals have come in the first half of the season. His last goal was in the beginning of January.
This is the dilemma of Messi-as-false-nine against teams that defend deep and narrow. In order to get the ball and create, he has to drop back. Usually, he brings defenders with him, and the rest of our attackers need to move into that space he vacates and make/convert chances in tight areas. They've been very inconsistent at doing this. I would have gone with more width early: Tello, Cuenca or both. Some of our best chances against teams that defend deep arise when a winger takes its to the endline and pulls it back to trailers. We only did this a couple of times yesterday. It will be very tricky at the Nou. I hope the crowd and players are really fired up and push us to an early goal. The longer we have to wait for the first goal, the more tentative the match becomes as Chelsea can afford to just wait us out.
I just wanna say that I can't believe how unlucky we were vs Chelsea and how badly our finishing was. We should've scored 3-4 goals. Sanchez and Fabregas each had two great chances but missed them - both players were our expensive summer acquisitions. Pedro hitting the post, Busquests missing horribly the follow up and Puyol's header that was brilliantly saved by Cech. Unbelievable. And Chelsea scores just before half-time on their only chance of the game. Messi gives up the ball (why did anyone pass to him right after he went down with what seemed to be a groin injury?) and Mascherano makes a horrible defensive mistake (he has been brilliant otherwise). How unlucky?! We will have chances in the second leg, but I just hope our finishing is better.
Aside from what has already been elaborated on: -Missed finishing in front of goal -Drogba diving and rolling -1 shot on goal -Chelsea playing for the long ball up top for a counter attack Not sure if it's been mentioned but the rain and slick pitch were a huge factor working against Barca. What surprised me the most was how clean of a game they played, on both sides. Typically the English, by nature, bully the opposing team all over the pitch, but you have to hand it to Chelsea for playing the game. Next week will be difficult for Chelsea if they park the bus. As much has been lauded about the missed chances in front of goal, at some point 7 missed chances ultimately turn into goal. Yesterday was not Barca's day, these situations have rarely carried over in streaks with this group over the last 4 seasons. Chelsea will be forced to attacked Tuesday, this will prove to be their demise. In the first half, there were three keys balls played over the Chelsea defense, where if the grass were less slick, may have provided fairly easy scoring opportunities for Barca.
Really they won't. The onus is on Barca. The longer the game goes without a goal from Barca, the more packed in Chelsea will be. You better believe that all 11 Chelsea players will be in their own 1/3 of the field from the start of kick off.
Your assertation is a bit flawed, but based on yesterday's display correct. Assuming Barca continue to miss golden chances, then yes, Chelsea need not play for a goal. Do you honestely believe Chelsea will walk away from Tuesday with the same stroke of luck? There was some tongue and cheek in the Chlesea players reaction to the win, they know what happened. The team is too old and just not skilled enough at the back to prevent a goal or two from leaking through. Additionally, if this season has shown me anything about this Chelsea team, once things get tough half the team essentially gives up. Yesterday was a good, but lucky showing. I feel the best teams in the world struggle with parking the bus since it negates the talent of the side. Just my thoughts.
Yeah, Lucho, I don't understand why you think Chelsea will be forced to attack. Even if Barca grab the first goal I would think Chelsea would sit back and look to take the game as far as possible without conceding another. EDIT: posted the same time so you've answered. I admit I haven't watched much of Chelsea/EPL this season. Only saw the FA Cup semi v Spurs and maybe a couple from late last year (Christmas/New Years when other leagues are on break).
Luck has to be on their side twice. I watched the match reacting to the chances missed opposed to the prowess of the defensive scheme and organization of Chelsea. Again, I truly believe the pitch slickness and rain really hampered Barca, so much so, that Tuesday's display will be polarizing.
Do you really think Luck is the right word here? Yesterday's loss was all on Barca, luck had nothing to do with it. If they finish even half of those great chances it is a 3-1 or 4-1 win for Barca. Really they have no one to blame but themselves. Can Chelsea rely on Barcelona missing those chances again? Probably not but if Sevilla can get a 0-0 draw in Nou Camp then Chelsea certainly can. Look, I want Barca to win but Chelsea are not obligated and will not attack unless they absolutely need a goal. I think even if they are losing just 1-0, Chelsea will still play with all men in their own box. A 2-0 scoreline for Barca is what is needed for Chelsea to venture out.
i need to come with an appropriate quote to suit this pic of that disgraceful tard who took over 20min of the game with his time wasting BS
Luck is the right word, what would you propose? Chelsea were lucking to not concede a goal let along potentially 5. It was luck the score line didn't look different. Chelsea were lucky, Barca unlucky. I don't think THIS Chelsea team is capable of parking the bus away from home. Their defense has killed them all year up until Di Matteo took over. Do you think they wanted to concede 3 goals away to Napoli? This team played to their highest potential last night and I highly doubt it will happen twice in a row, along with so many missed chances by Barca. I see your point, but based on what I saw, don't agree.
I was wondering -- why didn't Drogba get a card yesterday for feigning injury? Is that not a card? (Seriously, wondering - I don't know the rules about this). He didn't just dive, he pretended to pull something at least two times when Barcelona was gaining possession or trying to play the ball up. I do think that this goes beyond the usual tricks. It's to be expected, but I was surprised by the brazenness of his antics. Like they were planned out, surely by DiMatteo or the coaching staff. Again, to be expected by that group. But the truth is that our strikers have not stepped up the way they needed to - this is the time when you remember that David Villa is out and Affelay isn't around. I think that Pep relied on Cesc's experience in the prem, and purposely made him point man. But Cesc was way too ponderous on the ball. He was terrible. Alexis seemed too timid. We can't just rely on Messi in these games. He was amazing last night, but he can't score against 4 people in front of him. We really could have scored 3-4 goals last night, and I really can't see us not scoring in the Nou Camp. And Barca usually don't just score one goal. They aren't a 1-0 team. They score in odd number increments 1- 3- 5 scores like that Whatever happens. We can at least have the pride that we actually play football. Barca forces other teams to not play. Millionaires to play lkike donkeys and scream victory. Eeech. Who wants that?
I agree, they played defensively well enough at times to hold a clean sheet, but they were very, very lucky to not concede. Their defense is not Inter Milan of 2010. They can't possibly play Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday (on a big field), with their "old guard" and hold out. When was the last time we were held to zero goals in a two legged tie? Not in the Pep era that's for sure. They know they got away with one. Look at Drogba at the end, he was too gassed to even chase the ball two metres in front of him at the end of the match. I'm not doubting that we'll score in the second leg, especially because they will camp out in their own end. They know its their only way to win. Remember Leverkusen at home? They sat back all of the first half defending courageously and we score just before half-time. Then they come out to attack us and score. Two minutes later we score on them because they changed their shape. Then the rest of the match proceeded along the same lines as yesterday, us getting numerous chances, and them getting none. Simple as this: If they sit back and park the bus, we only need one goal to force extra time assuming they don't score on their one or two shots of the match. They won't be able to throw the ball into the box Delap style either. Once we're in extra time, we just need to hold them out and score once more. The danger being that if they score in extra time, we'd need two.
Agreed. If either Alexis or Cesc put in their first chance then Chelsea would have been forced to open up and surely that would have exposed them big time. I have no doubt that Barca will win this match, but that is not to say I'm sure they will advance.
Huge misconception. I checked this one out today, and it appears the Camp Nou pitch is 1 meter wider and 2 meters longer.
Gilmango said the same thing, but honestly I can't remember the side touchlines looking THAT close to the box at Camp Nou, like it was at SB. I dunno.
The stands are on top of the pitches in England where as Spain, for the most part, has a barrier between field and supporters. The Camp Nou has a good deal of distance from touchline to stands, making it appear larger, although the dimensions are a but surprising.
Lol, it sounds very little if you put that way( which I have been guilty of doing it myself), but the real difference becomes apparent when you use the math correctly : Camp nou : 105*68 m = 7140 sq. m. Stamford Bridge : 103*67 m = 6901 sq. m. Which means the Camp Nou is 239 square meters bigger.
Hey fellas. Bad luck and let's hope for a great game, (with no officiating errors to confuse things as has happened in the past), at your place next time. In that regard I made a little YT vid to show the Iniesta/Cahill penalty 'claim' for what it's worth. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2RjUsW0wMQ"]ci3.avi - YouTube[/ame] To me that looks like maybe a free kick outside the box but I can also see why it wasn't given... YMMV. I've already said on our boards that I expect you to go through because I can't see us holding out for a game without you scoring... UNLESS we grab a goal before you do, (either on a breakaway or a set piece), but let's all hope for a good game anyway.
Hoping for a good clean game. The ref was brillaint too compared to the last one. Personally I think that was definately a foul , a potentially dangerous attack since Iniesta had already beaten Cahill. but the foul itself wasn't a penalty since it was outside the box. The camp nou game its gonna be a tough one, if Barca cannot finish the chances they'll make I think you guys will go through. Very poor performance in terms of finishing but oh well.. good luck.
Barca got nothing to blame but themselves in the first leg (or perhaps the rain). If Fabregas and Sanchez could be more clinical, it should have been at least 2 goals. Chelsea goal was typical how most team in la liga scored against Barca and their coach must have learned it. The only difference is , Barca looks dull in front of goal this time. The key for Barca in second leg would scoring inside the first half, otherwise... Chelsea will running down the clock. Also, losing Abidal, Villa and Pique altogether is a big lost to them. If wasnt Messi 63 goals & 25 assist, I dont know where Barca now at this period of the season.