Chelsea could not have found a more dramatic way to clinch
Tuesday’s game, with one of the greatest draws in the club's 107-year
history. With 95,845 strong at Camp Nou,
Chelsea went head-to-head with football powerhouse – arguably the best football
club in the world – FC Barcelona. With
the odds stacked against them and the football world watching, the boys in blue
played a terrific match, in which their heart and their resilience were
demonstrated on the field. Even after
being reduced to 10 men on the pitch after the expulsion of captain John Terry halfway
through the first half, in addition to being down 2-nil, the Blues fought valiantly
and gave tremendous effort. Their effort
would prove fruitful, resulting in Chelsea leaving Camp Nou with a ticket to
their second Champions League final.
The first half kickoff belonged to Chelsea, and, within 18
seconds, the Blues would have the ball inside the Barça penalty area, but
Ashley Cole’s kick proved too powerful for Ramires. The match’s first free kick was awarded to the
Blues for a foul committed on Juan Mata. Barcelona would then attack and it would be Lionel
Messi’s first chance to score. However,
his attempt would only go as far as hitting the side-netting from inside the
area. The Blaugranas continued to keep
the pressure for the majority of the first half.
A problem arose in the 6thminute for the Blue Crew
when Gary Cahill attempted a block on the ball.
The Chelsea defender slipped, coming close to doing the splits, but with
treatment and a brief rest was able to continue the match. Jose Bosingwa would eventually replace Cahill.
With 19 minutes gone by on the clock, it would be Chelsea’s
goalkeep's time to be the difference maker, as an exchange of passes between
the Catalans ripped through the Blues defense.
Fabregas back heeled the ball into the path of Messi, who had every
intention of scoring, only to have Petr Cech's extended leg block the shot,
making the pivotal save. It wouldn't be
until the 35th minute of the first half that the ball would find the
back of the net in favor of Barcelona, the Blues finding themselves outnumbered. The ball was played wide to the left after
Drogba headed away a corner when Barcelona's Isaac Cuenca took control at first
touch, squaring it off to teammate Sergio Busquets, who side-footed the game’s
first goal from six yards out.
If going down 1-0 wasn’t bad enough, referee Cüneyt Çakir
presented John Terry the red two minutes later.
Officials decided that Terry kneed Barça's Alexis Sanchez in the back along
the edge of the area in an off-the-ball incident. Tough break for Chelsea. They would have to continue playing the match
a man down.
Barcelona
continued to dominate in possession and, with a mere three minutes left in the
half, went to work as Meireles lost control of the ball, which allowed Messi to
slip the ball to Andres Iniesta. This
put the home team up 2-nil and for the first time in the CL, Chelsea was behind
on aggregate. However, Chelsea responded
two minutes later in the 45th minute with a goal of their own, as
Ramires drove the ball into Barça's net.
Frank Lampard would collect the pass, slotting the ball perfectly to the
Brazilian, restoring hope to the Blues, who were beginning to look a little
blue themselves.
The
second half was where the excitement began for the away team. Messi was aimed to put Barça up 3-nil as he
stepped up to take a penalty kick conceded by Didier Drogba for tripping of
Fabregas inside the area. The
Argentinean set to kick the goal that would put his team further ahead, only to
send the ball straight at the crossbar.
This would be his biggest miss of his young career.
The most
exciting moment of this match for the Blue Crew began at the 88th
minute when Meireles picked up his fifth booking for a trip, which resulted in
a suspension. Cech pushed Javier
Mascherano's shot around the post, literally one minute from stoppage time,
which led to one of the most dramatic finishes.
As
Barcelona was so committed forward when the ball cleared up field by Cole, Fernando
Torres was left with absolutely no one between him and his only obstacle,
Victor Valdes. Torres took possession of
the ball and dribbled past Barça's keeper before delivering the finishing blow
to, not only the match, but also Barcelona's hope of seeing Munich in the
Champions League finals. In tying the
game, this put Chelsea back up on aggregate.
This
match proved one thing and one thing only. The night belonged to the best football team,
and it wasn’t Barcelona. The Blue Crew
made sure to prove who was best this time around. A well-played game on both ends, dominance
shown by both clubs, each player giving his best respectfully, but at the end
of the night the sky was still blue.
Real
Madrid played today April 25th against Bayern Munich, a game that
was brought down to penalties. It would
be Bayern Munich that would cash its ticket to the UEFA Champions League final
against Chelsea May 19th in Allianz Arena, Munich. Chelsea's next match is at home against the
Queens Park rangers in the Premier League on April 29th.
written by Jesus Bedoy
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