FC Barcelona vs Chelsea Pictures

FC Barcelona Player Rating against Chelsea on 28/04/09

Valdes - 7.5 - Had kind of a quite night apart for the double save against Drogba. That denied Chelsea an away goal. How valuable was the save we can say only in the second leg.

Alves - 7 - Was theatrical throughout the match. But defended well. He should stop his unnecesssary play acting as it cuts the rhythm of the side. His crosses were poor apart from the one which set up Bojan header.

Marquez - 5 - Not much to do throughout the match. But his mistake which put Drogba infront of goal could have been worst had Valdes failed to deny him. And the night was made worst by his injury.

Pique - 7.5 - Decent performance, especially against the might of Drogba. But like his partner he also gave away the ball in a dangerous position.

Abidal - 7.5 - Solid performance. He was good in the left flank cutting down Essien's every effort. Most probably will have a greater job in the second leg.

Xavi - 6.5 - Obei Mikel marked him out of the attack. Could not find the usual self in attack, but was good in defense and regaining possession. But in a high profile encounter like this we expected much more from him.

Toure - 7.5 - Solid as Usual. Cut off most of Chelsea's attack and always won well against a defensively minded Cheslea midfield. But held the ball a bit longer when Barca ventured to attack.

Iniesta - 8 - Was decent in attack and defense. May not have created havoc as expected. But was a constant menance for Chelsea. He was the only one in our attack who used a bit of imagination.

Messi - 6.5 - A bit of run here and there, and some shots from outside box, that summed up Messi's day. Bosingwa's decision not to get out of their box meant he had no space to maneouvure with.

Eto - 6 - Never linked well with any of the players. But created a gem of a chance, should had the composure to pass the ball to Henry who was left unmarked.

Henry - 6 - Not a great performance and faded rapidly after the injury. But did troubled Ivanovic with his pace early on.

Substitutes:

Puyol - 6.5 - He looked confident when he came in and almost had a good game but for that yellow card. Now he will be missing the return leg.

Bojan - 6 - Should have done better with the header, otherwise looked lively than Eto.

Hleb - 6 -Had a great chance but was denied by Cech.

Man Of The Match - Peter Cech

FC Barcelona - 0, Chelsea - 0, Champions league Semi-Final First Leg ends in Stalemate

For the first time in this season, FC Barcelona were unable to score a goal at the Camp Nou. A boring but disciplined Chelsea held FC Barcelona to a goal less draw, now they have the advantage of playing the next match at their home. Both the coaches had earlier promised an open encounter but Hiddink realised early that attacking against Barca at Camp Nou can be of dangerous proportion. He send in a formation whose first look suggested that the only goal Chelsea had was to deny FC Barcelona a goal; and have to admit that they achieved the same. FC Barcelona player's post match comments had a touch of frustration to it, but they should really remember that a nil-nil result keeps the tie very much open. That means Chelsea cannot afford to park the bus and watch the game; they have to get out of their half and try to score a goal. Only thing we should be careful would be, not to allow a silly goal like the scholes one last season. If Chelsea venture forward we will have our chances and it was proven right by the two clear chances we had towards the end. But the problem for Barca is that within the next eight days they had to play two high profile away tie, which will define our season. To make matters worse, Marquez has been ruled out of the rest of the season with a knee injury and Puyol is suspended for the return leg.

Guardiola decided to drop Puyol for Marquez in the defense and the rest of the team was as expected. Valdes kept the goal; Alves, Marquez, Pique and Abidal formed the defense. Xavi, Toure and Iniesta formed the midfield. Messi, Eto and Henry formed the attack line. The Chelsea started the game well. In the 4th minute hit a shot from 25 yards out wide of the goal. That was really the only time we can say Chelsea created something. But Chelsea held their formation well and restricted Barca to long range effort. In the 18th minute Eto shot wide after Xavi laid of the ball to him from an Iniesta pass. Messi and Xavi shot wide from outside in the 20th and 28th minute respectively. In the 31st minute Henry tested Cech with a shot from outside the box but Cech was upto the task. In the 34th minute Cech brought out a good save to deny Henry from outside the box. Chelsea meanwhile was trying to feed Drogba with long balls without much success. In the meantime Alex and Ballack got themselves booked for stupid fouls and Toure also got into referee's book for arguing. Then in the 39th minute Marquez nearly conceded the goal when his back pass allowed Drogba to get ahead of him and have a clean shot at goal; Valdes who is one of the best in one-to-one pulled out a double save to deny Drogba. Barca immediately responded with Iniesta releasing Eto for a run on goal but the linesman incorrectly flagged offside.

The second half started the same way with Chelsea venturing forward to see whether they can have a go at Barca goal. Once they found that it is difficult , they retrieved back to their shell and defended all the night out. But for Barca the half started horribly. First Henry was injured in the 48th minute from a whack from Alex. Then in the 50th minute went down after it looked like he has twisted his knees. Guardiola had to bring in Puyol for him. In the 58th minute Pique released Alves with a great ball into the box, but Cech came forward to clear the danger. Then in the 59th minute Messi's volley went high from a Xavi corner. Next was the opportunity of Alves to test Cech in the 62nd minute, but Cech did well to block a powerful Alves shot. Then in the 68th minute Eto who had a quiet night till then, turned past Alex brilliantly in the halfway line and fed the ball forward through Terry's leg and stormed forward; Eto then cut past a back tracking Alex but his shot was saved by Cech with his out-stretched leg. He should have looked at an option of passing the ball to Henry. Then in the 74th minute Eto's great pass found Henry in the box in a promising position, but Henry was pulled down by Bosingwa but the referee overlooked that foul. We had a clear cut case of a penalty there. Towards the end of half Guardiola brought in Bojan and Hleb in place of Eto and Henry respectively. Both of them had clear cut chance to put Barca ahead. The best fell to Bojan in the first minute of injury time, but he could only head high from an excellent cross from Alves. Then in the third minute of injury time Hleb had a great chance but was denied by excellent keeping of Cech.

FC Barcelona would have to find a centre defense combination against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The best option would be to have Abidal and Pique as the CBs. If our midfield controls the game like they did in Camp Nou, the centre defense pairing will not be put under great pressure. But again Barca players have to be at their best at Stamford Bridge. Everyone expects the game at Stamford Bridge to be an open one, but I doubt. Atleast the first half will resemble this match and if we can remain without conceding a goal the Chelsea will open up. They will not prefer a penalty shoot-out as they may not be that confident with after the Moscow debacle. But I believe Barca has a better chance in the second leg than Chelsea. But we would definitely prefer a referee who is not so much in for physical play.

A Must Win Match; FC Barcelona vs Chelsea UCL Semi-Final Preview

The mouth watering Champions League clash between FC Barcelona and Chelsea is upon us and if you are still sleeping wake up. For FC Barcelona this is a much win match and they should also make sure that they don't concede against Chelsea. But with FC Barcelona's defensive fragility and aerial weakness, that is going to be difficult. So we have to realistically hope for Barca not to concede more than one goal and most importantly hope that we are able to have a two goal lead. Stamford Bridge would be a difficult place to score a goal, so we have to grab the tie in this match. FC Barcelona surely would have preferred to get into the match with a win at Mestalla, but that was not the case to be. But the tough draw at Mestalla might have given them enough preparation for the tough encounter against Chelsea. Especially the fight and spirit shown to grab a vital point against Valencia would have done the team some good. There is nothing to separate between these two teams when it comes to head-on-head record. But FC Barcelona definitely hold an advantage against team's managed by Guus Hiddink. Hiddink have only managed to win twice against Barca in nine encounters. So Barca will be hoping that he keep in line with that record.

Guardiola will have only one decision to make as far as team combination in tonight's line-up. Puyol had a terrible night against Valencia and the huge sentiment in the blogosphere is to rest him and play Marquez. I don't subscribe to this thinking. There are three reasons for this - first the last time Puyol played was against Getafe as Left-back. Now he has been shuffled all over the place in the defense and I have belief that he will come good in this match. Secondly, I have already said that our defense works well when our midfield is in control; against Valencia our midfield failed and our defense simply wilted. Thirdly we want our Captain on the field for such an enormous encounter, absence of Captain definitely will send in a negative message to the rest of the team. So I expect Puyol and Pique to start as centre backs infront of Valdes. Dani Alves and Eric Abidal should play their usual full-back roles. The midfield is the most important section for tonight's encounter and Guardiola should be shot if he decides to have any other formation that a Xavi, Toure and Iniesta in midfield. The forward line-up has to be made of Messi, Eto and Henry. Eto has been poor in last match but we need him there to lead the attack.

The main battle will be held between Barcelona's midfield duo of Iniesta and Xavi against Chelsea's. They both have to be in top form if Barca needs to win this game comfortably. Messi has been not in his usual top form for last couple of matches but should be motivated to play well against Chelsea. Yaya Toure would be the key to stop Chelsea's direct play and guard the defense from extreme pressure. Another key battle will be between our centre back and Drogba. Drogba has done always well against Barca and would be looking to repeat the same. But one thing is for sure anything other than a victory will put Barca seriously on the backfoot in the Champions League and maybe in the league also. I predict a very tough match but Barca should emerge victorious by 3-1.

Valencia vs Barca Pictures on 25/04/09

Barca Player Rating against Valencia - 25/04/09

Valdes - 5.5 - Made some crucial saves. But his blunder which gifted Valencia the equaliser was the turning point of the match. If he had shown a bit of sense to punch the ball away rather than try to catch it, Barca would have heading to half-time with a goal lead. He was not the only one responsible for the poor game, but he played a big part in it.

Alves - 6 - Went forward in many occasion but also showed a tendency to leave his flank empty. Most of Valencia attack came from that flank. In defense he made some crucial intervention but stood as a mere spectator in the second goal.

Puyol - 5 - A very poor game. Was very clumsy with his challenges and should consider himself lucky to not been awarded a yellow card. Had me worried when it appeared that he had brought down Villa inside the box, the replays showed Villa went down easil. Distribution of ball was poor.

Pique - 7.5 - Much better than his captain. There were many crucial interventions. But his ball distribution was not upto the mark.

Abidal - 6.5 - Was decent in defense but was quiet going upfront.

Xavi - 5.5 - The general ahd a very bad night. Valencia closed down him too easily and the fact that Busquets had a poor night put too much pressure on him.

Busquets - 4 - Played a great part in the equaliser. Otherwise the worst player on the pitch. Never looked in control, gave away possession too cheaply and held on to the ball for long drawing challenges and breaking rhythm of attack.

Keita - 6 - Had an ok night interms of presence. But he couldn't produce anything from the middle.

Messi - 6.5 - A poor night by his own standards. Took his goal well. Made some great runs but was always cut off by the defense.

Eto - 6 - Worked hard but was very poor upfront. Gave away balls cheaply. We need him to show his class but he failed.

Iniesta - 8 - The best Barca player on the pitch. Great assist for the first goal and had some delightful ball played into box. He was handicaped by the fact that he had Busquets and Keita in the middle, hence he has to drift to middle to create anything.

Substitutes :

Henry - 8 - Great match turned the game with his intervention. Did well with goal.Was always involved from the moment he was brought in.

Gudjohnsen - 7.5 - Linked well and helped to tore the Valencia defense. Showed the presence of mind not to rush and touch Henry's lob for qualiser to goal as he would have been clearly offside.

Man Of The Match - David Silva

Draw at Mestalla; Valencia-2, Barca-2

FC Barcelona grabbed a point from the match against Valencia with a late goal from Thierry Henry. FC Barcelona now moves seven point clear of Real Madrid, but Madrid can cut that lead back to four points tonight. The pressing and quick counter attack from a very talented and in-form Valencia side troubled throughout the match. FC Barcelona players were sloppy in passing and they have to pay with two dropped points. Guardiola have earlier called this game the pivotal game as far as La Liga is concerned, but he didn't show the respect for the game. FC Barcelona coach and players had their encounter with Chelsea in mind and almost paid dearly for that. Two seasons ago we started a spectacular catapulation after a defeat at Valencia and handed the league title to Madrid. But this time we came out with a precious point from Mestalla. Guardiola decided to rest Toure and Henry and that cost us the win. In my preview to the match - Valencia vs Barca Preview I emphasised the neccesity to start with the best side against Valencia, but we started with a ultra slow midfield and gave up the match because of that. Guardiola paired Pique and Puyol in the centre and had Abidal and Alves as full backs infront of Valdes. The midfield was made up of Busquuest, Keita and Xavi. The atatcking trio was Iniesta, Eto and Messi. The fact that we ahd Busquets and keita in midfield means that we never had a constant service to our front three nor did we controlled the possession.

The match started off with both team wrestling hard to retain possession without any success. But Valencia was taking control of the game slowly. As expected with an ultra slow and defensive midfield we were losing the midfield battle; there were many sloppy passes and nonsense defending. In the 11th minute Alves has to come and clear a great ball toward Villa from the left. Barca's first shot came in the 15th mimnute when Messi shot high from an excellent Iniesta pass. Then against the run of play Barca went ahead with a goal from Lionel Messi. Messi and Iniesta exchanged a couple of passes to split Valencia defense , Iniesta held onto the ball to draw the defense and then squared the ball to Messi who made no mistake. The goal looked to have calmed Barca nerves and the next 5 minutes saw total dominance by Barca. In the 27th minute Keita got into the box and squares the ball to Messi, who shot straight at the Goal keeeper, Cesar. In the 28th minute Eto's shot from outside box goes just wide. But Barca again reduced their intensity and that resulted in relentless pressure from Valencia. In the 29th minute Valencia had a double penalty claim by Villa and Silva, but the referee turned down the appeal. The replays showed both players went down easily. In the 43rd minute a great header from Silva was plamed away by Valdes for corner. The resulting corner resulted in the Valencia equaliser when Maduro got to the end of it. Valdes went for the ball and as expected completely missed the ball and collided with his captain; Valdes for some reason decides to catct the ball rather than punch it away. If he has decided to punch it away that would have been the most harmless corner. FC Barcelona were still reeling from the effect of that equaliser when Valencia took the lead. In the 1st minute of injury time Pablo exchanged passes with Villa to break Barca defense and shot low past Valdes to make scoreline 2-1 in favour of home side. Puyol and Alves stood there watching the entire move.

As expected Barca came out with more determination to win the match. But for some starnge reason Guardiol decided to continue with Busquets who has been poor through out the match. In the 53rd minute Iniesta send in a great ball but both Eto and Messi were not able to reach it. In the 61st minute Valdes comes to rescue a great counter by Valencia. Guardiola finally decided to take Keita off and bring in Henry in the 63rd minute. In the 64th minute Henry shot straight at Cesar from outside the box. In the 66th minute a great shot from henry was saved by Cesar. In the 76th minute a below-par Xavi was taken off and was replaced by Gudjohnsen. Then in the 86th minute Barca found the much awaited equaliser with the help of a huge blunder from cesar. Messi sent in a free kick towards a diving Busquets,; Busquets completely missed the ball but his dive confused Cesar and he failed to hold on to the ball, the ball lobbed back to Henry who lobbed it above the defense into the goal. In the 88th minute Valdes saved a great shot from Villa from the tightest of angle.

Barca has been poor in this match. One of the reason for that was Guardiola's decision to put Busquets in this match ahead of Toure. He might have rested him with Chelsea in mind. But he should have started the game with his best side. In the end he had to bring in Henry, Messi and Iniesta got no rest. Eto was poor throughout the match so was Xavi and Puyol. But a point from Mastalla is not a bad result. Especially it makes sure taht even in the worst case if we lose to Madrid we will stay clear of them by one point. Real Madrid will be playing Sevilla tonigh away, but I don't expect them to drop points tonight. The best thing this season is that we have our destiny in our own hands. The clash at Bernebeu will be the most crucial match of this season. BUt Guardiola has a job in hand re-energising his troop from this tough match so that they look focussed against Chelsea.