there is no doubt we shouldnt dwell on those chances, however like previously mentioned those chances do prove that Chelsea is not a wall at the back say for a minute we consider that Fab, Alexis and Busquets had all scored, would Chelsea's defensive efforts still be viewed as great? no of course not, those chances clearly prove its possible to have the opportunity to score 3 now the problem is actually putting them away
Depends on the order of goals in the second leg. If Chelsea score first, then getting 3 goals in reply is a massive mountain to climb. On the other hand, if Barca score first (ideally in the first half) Chelsea will need to open up a bit and that will make getting 3 quite feasible.
I disagree, Barca score all the time from those "half by chance" opportunities. Those happen all the time in Barca games and they happen because of the pressure Barca exerts on the defense.
with the exception of the CdR last year, we've won every single must-win match under Pep that I can think of. so coming back home needing to win is not a problem as far as I'm concerned, it's just whether or not we achieve the required margin.
I dunno about that if anything the Pedro chance happened by chance, there was an Alexis chance created by Fab, that wasnt by chance you cannot assume those chances wont either, its more than likely Barcelona will at least get more chances to create, seeing as they will (an assumption here by me) have more off the ball lets not kid anyone, Barcelona were terrible in front of goal, but Chelsea were not fantastic, they did however finish their chance and thats all that matters
Beating Chelsea in aggregate is doable. So is beating LPB in el Clasico. Tough to see failing in both. That said, of course we could very well beat LPB and see them winning their rest matches to be crowned a champion but that's out of our hands. And I agree 100% with the notion that if we don't qualify against Chelsea then it's because we didn't play well enough. We can righteously feel a little disappointed tonight and that we had no luck, but you either kick the ball to the net or you don't, and tonight we didn't. Have to finish better in Camp Nou, and have to create as many chances as we had tonight. Chelsea is far from a CL final still. ...and if we don't make it, it's not like it's the end of the world being in a CL final every year: it's a tough competition that we've only won three times ever. Not making early excuses, but you know, no such thing as a CL final being the default result of a not brilliant performance. Simply: have to step it up or bow out, and I believe we can step it up in both competitions. What else can one do, supporting a team and all?
Alexis had a good game, shame with the chip hitting the post and the chance he had, should have put it away. Just one of those nights. Cesc looked like he was trying to hard. Again a goal from either player we'd be praising them.
Chelsea's tactics, their gross antics (Drogba especially - what a surprise!) all so predictable. I severely doubt they can count on 180 mins of such luck. Now that would be the most negative World select ever assembled.
I was wondering about Xavi during the match but Cesc too. He seemed realy off, even slow. Also, I'm actually happy that the game was, aside from a few too many Drogba naps, rather controversy free. And Chelsea defended admirably so well done to them. But I really hope they don't think it'll be easy to do that for 90 minutes in Barcelona.
Tbh I don't think Fabregas deserves to start. Everytime he starts Iniesta plays on the wings. For some reason Pep gives preference to Cesc to command that midfield with Xavi doing irrelevant passes instead of Iniesta who's with Xavi probably our best midfield combo in history. I'll be fine if Cesc stays in that forward position but the formation change always happens and Iniesta ends up going up front and dissapearing while wasting his dribbling talent in that midfield to create opens spaces to feed balls to the forwards. The Arsenal game comes to mind. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N42dkvKrSj8"]Champions: Gol de Messi en El Barcelona-Arsenal de la vuelta - YouTube[/ame]
I think they both played well except for the sitter they missed, especially Alexis. imo the only significant thing Pedro did was the ball that hit the post and nothing more, i even forgot he came in lol
Look folks, the game's only goal happened on a bizarre anomaly where Messi tweaked his groin, then a minute later received the ball and tried to dribble. Lampard dispossessed him, taking advantage of Messi probably unsure about his own mobility, and the fast break started. Masch missed Drogba's run completely and Ramires found him alone. If anyone thinks a 2-legged tie will be decided by one short passage of strange accident, well, stranger things have happened, I'll admit. But the odds are that we will dominate at home, on our pitch, hopefully in perfect weather conditions. Chaos favored Chelsea today, but Barça are masters of controlling chaos. I've said it before: a 1-0 deficit is sometimes better than 0-0 going home for the 2nd leg. Logically it makes no sense. But psychologically, I think knowing at kickoff we need a goal is more motivating than worrying about a finely balanced tie. It's going to be one of those magical European nights, I can smell it. Now to answer some fan mail: Yes, luck runs out... for Chelsea next week. So strange to see the billionaire with such a big smile over this performance. You'd think spending hundreds of millions on a team would buy you more than that. You are anticipating that Barça doesn't win in 3 consecutive crucial matches? That is a looooong bet, my friend. I thought it was Cahill, but everyone knows that, short of a homicide in the box, there was going to be no PK called for us tonight. Cesc missed a sitter and had his chip shot cleared off the line, but he did create the clearest chance of the game for Alexis with that scoop pass over the defense. So I don't know what you mean by him not being good at breaking defenses. That same scoop pass set up Messi for an early chance vs. Milan. Ahem, 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011 = FOUR
I won't put all the blameon luck today. Pep was very poor today. I can understand his starting line-up but it was evident after few minutes that its not going to work. Enough of this Iniesta on the left. Firstly, Iniesta lacks speed to take advantage of his skills in that position and secondly we loose one important player in our midfield who can penetrate the bunker defence with his dribbles. It was so obvious that we were unable to create anything from midfield and Fabregas was so shit with his general play. Pep needed to sub off Fabregas for Pedro but he took off Sanchez, which I think was the wrong move. He should have moved Iniesta in the middle and put Pedro on the left. Next game I hope to see Fabregas on the bench. This guy ruins our game more than helping it. I just don't get why Pep insists on playing Iniesta on the left to make room for Fabregas. It will be a very hard game next week and I hope Pep uses right player from the start instead of sitting on the bench in the 60th minute scratching his bald head.
Imo the only time Iniesta plays well "on the left" is when Cesc plays and it was the case tonight, and they're always rotating and changing positions which makes it had to defend against them. Offcourse those chances Cesc missed were crazy, but then again he knows how to find himself in those positions better than other barca players not named Messi, and that pass he gave to Alexis who some how didn' score was insane. The starting line up for barca was perfect imo
I think Pep should have started Pedro for the speed on the frantic first half and then sub in Cesc when it slows down and we are firmly camped out by their 18. Yeah, Pep needs to rethink some things ahead of the return leg. Agreed, my thoughts at the time were (paraphrasing) "good. good for them, now they can shut the ******** up about conspiracies and we can have an actual match finally." Which is why I posted that I was much more worried about Messi. He's ok, yeah? He looked okay in the 2nd half.