Champions League: Semifinals - Leg 1 - April 28, 2009 - FC Barcelona v. Chelsea FC [R]

[I-Got-The-BLUES]

http://www.lavidaamimanera.es/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/fc-barcelona-crest-150x150.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JLk8Lxt59tw/SFAZJVRSWwI/AAAAAAAAAMo/kP7RcGK7lS0/S150/150px-Chelsea_crest.svg.png
7:45 PM GMT
2:45 PM EST

US TV: Live ESPN2 | ESPN2 HD | ESPN Deportes | 5PM Tape Delay ESPN Classic
UK TV: Live ITV1
CN TV: Live TSN2 | 12AM Tape Delay TSN (April 29 2009)

<HR>League Table Position

Barcelona 26-4-3, 82 pts, 1st Place (+4 pts) (La Liga)
Chelsea 21-8-5, 71 pts, 3rd Place (-6 pts) (Premiership)
<HR>Live on Big Blue (http://tv.chelseafc.com/)

Official Chelsea FC Website (http://www.chelseafc.com/page/Home/0,,10268,00.html)

News on Soccernet (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/team?id=363&cc=5901)

Team Talk Chelsea (http://www.teamtalk.com/football/news/0,16370,1773,00.html)

BBC-Chelsea (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/default.stm)

Latest Chelsea News From Google (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=UTF-8&q=Chelsea+)<HR>
Other Fixtures (EST) US TV

Wenesday, April 29, 2009
2:45 ET Manchester United v Arsenal Live ESPN2

[I-Got-The-BLUES]

<B>Useless Stats, Facts, & Numbers</B>

Useless Facts:

- This is the 12th meeting between the two clubs;
Barcelona with 5 wins, Chelsea with 4 wins.

- Barcelona have scored in every Champions League match played thus far this season, and also are the highest scoring team.

- Drogba has scored in each of the last 5 CL matches.

- Chelsea haven't lost to Spanish opposition in the Champions League in the past 7 matches. While Barcelona have only won 1 out of their last 6 matches against English opposition.

- This is the first match Henry will play against Chelsea since leaving Arsenal.

-This will be the first match that Deco will <s>start</s>, <s>play as a sub</s>...errr.....this is the first time Deco will be around his former club. Gudjohnsen, Belletti, & Quaresma have each played for both clubs


Useless Club Stats in the CL:
GF GA Poss% Corners Fouls Yellows Reds
Barcelona 29 12 62% 66 114 16 0
Chelsea 19 12 52% 49 173 24 2

Top Scorers:
Messi: 8 goals
Drogba: 5 goals

Top Assistants:
Xavi: 6 assists
Lampard: 5 assists

Shots on Goal:
Lampard: 17 SOG
Henry: 13 SOG

Offsides:
Anelka: 11 offsides
Messi/Henry: 4 offsides

Yellows:
Deco: 3 yellows
Marquez: 3 yellows

Reds:
Deco/Lampard: 1 red

[GPK]

You're good at this. :)

Go On Chelsea!

[I-Got-The-BLUES]

You're good at this. :)

Go On Chelsea!
Just using the masters blue print. ;)

Didn't see you around on the weekend for the Hammersthread, so I thought you were busy.

[yasik19]

It will be interesting to see how Hiddink approaches the away leg. I won't be too disappointed if we are down 1-0 after this game.

[sportscribe]

An away goal is almost a necessity, but not entirely so - easier said than done. The Nou Camp pitch just seems huge and they are very good on it, especially when it comes to keeping possession and taking play away from their opponents.

4-5-1 flood the midfield, counter-attack approach I'm guessing. Hoping for the best, but not entirely confident going into this one.

1-1 would be a good result, although 1-0 would not be the end of the world. It would just make our task at home that much harder. Have they failed to score in any game this season apart from their opener? I doubt it.

Still, for all their prowess in attack, their defense is no different from what we would encounter in a top tier Prem team. Puyol and Marquez who I think will play will have a tough time with the Drog. If his hold up play is on point I expect to see a lot of long range efforts coming in from Lamps and Ballack and knock-ons to Nicolas if he plays.

Come on Chelsea!

[Juanele]

How do you think Hiddink will approach this game? The English teams that have been successful versus Barcelona all have played a very defensive, almost bunkerish, game in Nou Camp.

[Rman3349]

You're good at this. :)

Go On Chelsea!

Seconded, well done IgtB

[Kazuma]

Waiting for the obligatory comment from Cruyff about us. He always has to get a word in.

[sportscribe]

How do you think Hiddink will approach this game? The English teams that have been successful versus Barcelona all have played a very defensive, almost bunkerish, game in Nou Camp.
Yeah, a good example of this would be Barca vs Man U at the Nou Camp last season. It is the most defensive I have ever seen United play. They played with 2 defensive mids (Scholes and Carrick) who were in their own half AT ALL TIMES. They had very strict roles to sit back and break up play while leaving all the attacking to the quartet of Rooney, Tevez, Park and Ronaldo up top. As you are well aware it worked well for them.

I don't believe it is in Guus's nature to be overly defensive. In fact, that was his major critique of the team when we went down two goals to Liverpool in the last round. I was thinking may be he would go into the game with a Mourinho-styled 4-5-1 where we just hoof balls up to Drogba. I was thinking Essien may be put out right for his defensive qualities as he could help out the RB to track Henry or Messi when they switch flanks. If Anelka is out on the wings, then the RB will not have adequate cover. That may be his line of thinking going into this game. On the other hand, he may see an away goal as a necessity and start both Drogba and Anelka as support wide right. We will be sacrificing defensive security however and we will likely concede. He will have to decide whether openeing ourselves to Barcas rampant attack is worth the risk of an away goal. I think he will fell that it is worth it. He'll probably leave Essien in the middle of the park to man mark Xavi...or Iniesta as Xavi tends to operate from deep a lot of the time.

[Ben7021]

We certainly have the players to play a 4-5-1 like Man U did last year

Ivan----Alex-----Terry----Bos
-------Mikel-------Ess---------
Kalou/Anelka--Lamps---Malouda
------------Drogba------------

If we had everyone healthy and available and could put in both Cole's in, that would be a pretty good line-up for a trip to Camp Nou.

[tony montana007]

We certainly have the players to play a 4-5-1 like Man U did last year

Ivan----Alex-----Terry----Bos
-------Mikel-------Ess---------
Kalou/Anelka--Lamps---Malouda
------------Drogba------------

If we had everyone healthy and available and could put in both Cole's in, that would be a pretty good line-up for a trip to Camp Nou.

I agree with your 451 but I will be shocked if Ballack does not start this game. Thus, allow me to tweak your lineup:


Ivan----Alex-----Terry----Bos
--------Mikel-------Ballack---------
Essien------Lamps-------Malouda
------------Drogba------------

[leftwing]

Yeah, a good example of this would be Barca vs Man U at the Nou Camp last season. It is the most defensive I have ever seen United play. They played with 2 defensive mids (Scholes and Carrick) who were in their own half AT ALL TIMES. They had very strict roles to sit back and break up play while leaving all the attacking to the quartet of Rooney, Tevez, Park and Ronaldo up top. As you are well aware it worked well for them.

I don't believe it is in Guus's nature to be overly defensive. In fact, that was his major critique of the team when we went down two goals to Liverpool in the last round. I was thinking may be he would go into the game with a Mourinho-styled 4-5-1 where we just hoof balls up to Drogba. I was thinking Essien may be put out right for his defensive qualities as he could help out the RB to track Henry or Messi when they switch flanks. If Anelka is out on the wings, then the RB will not have adequate cover. That may be his line of thinking going into this game. On the other hand, he may see an away goal as a necessity and start both Drogba and Anelka as support wide right. We will be sacrificing defensive security however and we will likely concede. He will have to decide whether openeing ourselves to Barcas rampant attack is worth the risk of an away goal. I think he will fell that it is worth it. He'll probably leave Essien in the middle of the park to man mark Xavi...or Iniesta as Xavi tends to operate from deep a lot of the time.

Can't say I see us playing away against Barca with 2 up top. Our defense has been shaky for awhile and with A. Cole out, I would think Guus would be OK with holding the score down. I figure 2-1 to them. Henry has a great record against us. I wish I could say it will be good to see him again, but he and Messi are very scary. Who knows, maybe Ivanovic has a couple headers in him again.

[Ben7021]

I agree with your 451 but I will be shocked if Ballack does not start this game. Thus, allow me to tweak your lineup:


Ivan----Alex-----Terry----Bos
--------Mikel-------Ballack---------
Essien------Lamps-------Malouda
------------Drogba------------

Yeah, I doubt we will see that line-up, but it would be one of the more defensive line-ups we could put out. My guess is we will see the same as Pool minus Ashley.

[nicephoras]

Pretty nervous about this one.........not sure which Barca will show up. The one that thumped Bayern or the one on a diffident run of form in the league. Lets hope its the latter.

[sportscribe]

Can't say I see us playing away against Barca with 2 up top. Our defense has been shaky for awhile and with A. Cole out, I would think Guus would be OK with holding the score down. I figure 2-1 to them. Henry has a great record against us. I wish I could say it will be good to see him again, but he and Messi are very scary. Who knows, maybe Ivanovic has a couple headers in him again.

No not up top, but in the same position he has been plauying in since Guus arrived.

[Andy Fox]

Not nervous at all yet. Was squirming for days before the Liverpool tie. Just really looking forward to it.

[leftwing]

No not up top, but in the same position he has been plauying in since Guus arrived.

You know what I meant. Anelka is not a player played in a defensive formation. He's certainly not a wing either. I will be shocked if he starts.

[nicephoras]

Not nervous at all yet. Was squirming for days before the Liverpool tie. Just really looking forward to it.

Interesting - I was the other way around. Shame I won't get to go to this one - going to the first leg when we played Barca 4 years ago (the Drogba/Valdes incident) was a very cool experience.

[Yaroni]

i cannot wait

2-2