Barcelona’s season has fallen apart.
Having almost certainly lost their domestic crown to bitter rivals Real Madrid after a 2–1 loss at home on Saturday, the Catalan giants failed to dispose of a heroic 10-man Chelsea side. They crashed out of the UEFA Champions League following a 2–2 draw with Chelsea in the semifinal second leg at the Nou Camp on Tuesday.
England’s representatives in the Champions League semifinal were reduced to 10 men after captain John Terry received his marching orders for an off-the-ball knee in the back to Alexis Sanchez at the 37-minute mark. Two minutes earlier, Barcelona had gone ahead through Sergio Busquets, and when they added a second a few minutes later the writing looked to be on the wall for Chelsea.
Yet Ramires grabbed that all-important away goal in first half stoppage time, which really gave his team the heart to fight all the way to the end.
The surprising Barcelona team news prior to kick-off was that Gerard Pique would be restored to a three-man back line, and Isaac Cuenca was selected to play up front with Lionel Messi and Alexis Sanchez. Dani Alves and Adriano were the players relegated to the bench.
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo kept faith with the same 11 players that had fought so hard to achieve the unlikely 1–0 first leg victory at Stamford Bridge last Wednesday.
Barcelona Confident
Notwithstanding the setback loss to Real Madrid on the weekend, Barcelona had to be confident going into this one. The club had gone 15 Champions League home games without defeat stretching back to 2009, and the loss to Madrid was their first setback at home in 54.
Lionel Messi had never scored against Chelsea in seven games and the little maestro spurned an early chance in the third minute when he sliced a shot into the side netting.
It was a chance he would normally have taken and therefore a good omen for Chelsea. However, the visitors received a very early setback when central defender Gary Cahill slipped and overstretched a hamstring. He could not continue, so Branislav Ivanovic had to move inside with Jose Bosingwa coming off the bench to fill in at right back.
Ten minutes later there was an injury drama at the other end when Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, and Didier Drogba all contested a long clearance by Petr Cech. In a sickening clash, the hip of Valdes crashed into the side of Pique’s head.
The Barcelona defender tried to continue but was clearly groggy and had to make way for Dani Alves shortly afterwards.
All of this was going on while Barcelona laid siege to the Chelsea goal, and the home side finally got the reward they deserved on 35 minutes.
Cesc Fabregas won a corner. Xavi’s kick was only partially cleared by the Chelsea defense and Dani Alves picked up the loose ball just outside the area. He played it through to Cuenca who feigned a shot, then squared the ball to Sergio Busquets who did the business. Cech was out of position and on the ground attempting to save the strike from Cuenca that never came.
