What a night at Stamford Bridge! Roberto Di Matteo’s brave Chelsea lions defeated Pep Guardiola’s majestic Barcelona side by virtue of a solitary Didier Drogba strike bang on half time. The big, bustling striker spent large parts of the first half writhing around on the floor looking for cheap free kicks and then, in one swift moment when he was on his feet, finished off an incisive Chelsea move to give the west London side a slender advantage in this mouth-watering Champions League semi-final tie. And who’d have thought that the man to gift the London side possession in the build-up to the goal was one Lionel Messi? It was just one of those nights; a night when everything happened and nothing happened, particularly for Barca who tried everything to find the Chelsea net but failed to breach a resolute Chelsea defence, marshalled superbly by John Terry and Gary Cahill.
When the semi-final fixture was set up by virtue of both clubs despatching their respective quarter-final opponents, Benfica and AC Milan, Chelsea in particular would’ve been rubbing their hands together in anticipation of this tie. And why might that be? Well, only three seasons ago the same two sides squared off at the same stage and Pep’s men came out on top, by virtue of a late Andres Iniesta away goal at the Bridge and some very generous refereeing. Lest we forget, Chelsea had about three decent penalty claims waved away that night. Decisions which proved costly and ones which striker Didier Drogba did not handle too well, reminding all at home watching on national TV that the man in charge was a ‘f***ing disgrace’. Certainly a score to settle before this tie, it would seem.
The night itself (Wednesday just) panned out exactly how all would’ve expected it to do so – with lots and lots of Barcelona on the ball. So much so that they enjoyed around 83% possession after only the first five minutes or so. Chelsea are no fools though, they would’ve expected such an onslaught and with Drogba as the lone target man, they set their stall out to frustrate Barcelona and try and find gaps at the back to hit them on the break (there is always chance of this given how high a line Pep’s men play).
Barca created more than enough chances to win comfortably.