Whichever piece of commentary you prefer, either Alan Green’s “it’s a miracle” or Gary Neville’s cry of “unbelievable” nobody can avoid the astonishing nature of Chelsea’s triumph over the Catalan giants. Ignoring momentarily the result, surely there was no chance that a side could take just 17.5% possession through the game and come out the celebrating team? Following Terry’s red card, Chelsea had just 6 minutes of the ball in the second half, with Barcelona simply refusing to give up the possession game. There are more incredible stats, but the only one that matters is the 3-2 aggregate scoreline which sends Chelsea to Munich at the expense of possibly the greatest club side of all time. So, just how did Chelsea manage it?
Stoic Defending
Some of Chelsea’s rearguard action was nothing short of Herculean, made all the more impressive due to their lack of central defenders after Cahill’s injury and Terry’s moment of madness. With Bosingwa filling in at the heart of the defence Chelsea had to defend manfully, and so they did. Ashley Cole delivered another full back masterclass, but in truth every one of Chelsea’s players put in a mammoth shift at the back. Disciplined defence and committed last ditch tackles were in abundance. The appearance of either Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres in the full back position was truly something to admire, the work rate was un-matched and the desire to succeed could not have been higher.
Cech’s Heroics
While Chelsea did defend extremely well, the Blues will be forever in debt to their Czech shot-stopper after a string of saves kept Barcelona at bay. An early block with his legs to deny Messi was of a high quality, but his fingertip save to prevent the Argentine superstar late on was even better. His distribution was also good, allowing for Chelsea to get out their half and gain some much needed breathing space, albeit not for long.
Restricting Space
In the second half after being reduced to ten men and with the away goal in the bank, Chelsea deployed two banks in-front of their keeper designed to prevent Barcelona from playing in dangerous areas, and it worked. The hosts were restricted to plenty of possession but it wasn’t in particularly threatening areas, and they struggling to get the ball wide to their ultimate downfall. Meireles, Lampard and Mikel did a sterling job in the middle providing spectacular protection to Chelsea’s depleted back four, and this meant Sanchez and Messi rarely had space when nearer that 25 yards to goal.
Luck
Without doubt, Chelsea got that luck they needed. As Ruud Gullit stated, they had that “blue angel” sitting on their crossbar. Lionel Messi, normally deadly from the spot considering his two nerveless conversion in the quarter final against AC Milan, smashed his penalty in the 49th minute against the bar – and it was an obvious turning point. Chelsea started to believe that this could be their night, and re-invigorated their defensive efforts. Add that together with the fortune they got in the first leg too, and you just get the feeling it was meant to be. They would not be denied.
Chelsea – Cech 9, Ivanovic 8, Terry 2, Cahill 5, Cole 8, Ramires 9, Meireles 7, Mikel 7, Lampard 8, Mata 5, Drogba 8
Barcelona – Valdes 6, Puyol 6, Mascherano 6, Pique 5, Busquets 7, Cuenca 6, Iniesta 7, Xavi 7, Fabregas 6, Messi 6, Sanchez 6
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