Holders FC Barcelona has been knocked out off the Champiosn League by a reselient Chelsea side despite being down to ten man for the majority of the match. A momentary lapse in concentration which lead to the Ramires goal and a missed penalty by Messi in the second half killed Barcalona's comeback hopes. Busquets brought Barca back in the tie when he opened the scoring, Iniesta then looked like have sealed the match but in the first half injury time we conceded again as in the first leg. Torres made sure of Chelsea's progress when he scored deep into the second half injury time, but by that time we had already lost hopes.Chelsea went with an unchanged line-up from the first leg. GUardiola elected for a 3-4-3 diamond formation for this crucial tie. The three men defense had Puyol, Pique and Mascherano. The midfield had BUsquets, Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc. Cuenca, Messi and Sanchez formed the front trio.
In the 3rd minute Lionel Messi had a great chance to put Barca ahead after a brilliant one two with Sanchez, but Messi could only hit the sidenetting. In the 12th minute Chelsea had to make a substituition taking off Gary Cahill due to injury, Bosingwa replaced him. In the 19th minute Cech made a brilliant save off Messi after a beautiful flick from Sanchez put Messi on goal. In the 25th minute Pique had to be substituted after a been almost knocked out by Valdes and was replaced by Alves. Chelsea had almost the entire team in and around the box and it was becoming a trouble to penetrate through them. In the 35th minute we finally managed to break Chelsea defense when Busquets slotted a brilliant ball from the left by Cuenca, and the move came from a corner which we are not supposed to score from. In the 37th minute John Terry was sent off for kicking on Sanchez starting all the conspiracy theories back again. In the 43rd minute Iniesta put us ahead on aggregate taking the score to 2-0 after Messi slided the ball to him on the left. In the injury time of the first half Ramires scored for Chelsea from another counter attack making Chelsea favourite on away goals. In the 47th minute Iniesta's shot was blocked for a corner after Cesc chested the ball to Andres in the box. In the 48th minute Barca was awarded a penalty after Cesc Fabregas was brought down by Drogba in the box. Surprisingly Messi struck the bar from the penalty. In the 54th minute Sanchez had a header which missed the near post. In the 62nd minute Cesc made a good save off Cuenca from a tight angle. In the 67th minute Guardiola took Cuenca off and brought in Tello. In the 68th minute amid all the possession and attack we were almost caught out had it not for a crucial Valdes intervention. In the 74th minute Guardiola made his last substituition of the night bringing Keita in for Cesc. In the 78th minute Busquets shot high from a decent position. In the 82nd minute Sanchez had the ball in the back of net but Alves who made the pass was judged to be offside. In the 83rd minute Lionel Messi shot from outside the box was denied by the post again. In the 90th minute Cech made another save from a thundering shot from Mascherano. In the injury time Fernando Torres sealed the defeat for Barca when he broke from a counter and rounded off Valdes and finished off Barca's hopes of reaching Munich.
So the dreams of successive Champions League glory has come to an end, atleast for the time being. If you are lucky enough to come to Barcelona and watch any of the FC Barcelona matches, I recommend that you stay in a holiday apartment for a more private and comfortable atmosphere. It was once again frustrating to see we failing to convert our chances. Messi not only struck the bar with his penalty, had two great chances in the starting of first half, but put both wide. In then end, looking back at the tie we were made to pay for all the chances we missed. Peter Cech was excellent tonight making save after saves but having said that we were a bit lethargic infront of goal, especially in the first leg. Now a great season is coming to an end and we are left in only one competition. In normal circumstances, with other teams taht's a great result but with this Barca side's success in recent past that looks like a bit of under achievement. However the Copa Del Rey final is going to end, our guys have made us proud .
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