UCL: Chelsea v Barcelona

BarcaLearning wrote:Seriously what do u all think Chelsea's tactics will be? Same park the bus and counter like they did 4 years ago?

Not to underestimate them, but I fee confident. If we play a gg, without being too defensive, we should win this by 2 or more I hope

Not sure what they're tactics will be tbh, I'll let other (read:more experienced) members say how they will play the game.

I can however say that sitting back deep in the box is a really risky maneuver for Chelsea, they hardly have a good enough defense for that. I can see Messi, Iniesta and Xavi exposing that defense all day long if they take that route. They aren't the same team (especially defensively) as they were 2-3 years ago.

This is the lineup I think we will see tomorrow:

--------------Valdes
Alves - Masche - Pique - Puyol
------------- Busquets
-------Xavi --------- Cesc
Alexis ------- Messi ----- Iniesta

I for one would rather not waste Iniesta on the wing and play him in midfield with Pedro at LW and Cesc to the bench. Maybe even Cuenca or Tello instead of Alexis. Anyway I have a feeling Cesc will score tomorrow if he starts.

Prediction: 1-2

Would rather let Cuenca start over Iniesta on the wing, so when Cesc and Xavi come around the 70th month switch in Iniesta and thiago. That is if they play Iniesta on the wing ;o
We have to rotate these players so they are rested for Madrid!

Like you said, Munchen won so the pressure will be on them for the Champions League, Madrid need to win to get to the final and they need to keep out Barca in the league. A win for us in the Champions League (preferable good win) than the pressure will be on Madrid as we can 'relax' more in the second leg and focus on winning against Madrid.

of course we want width when our deadliest attacks come from center (aka Messi attack) and most teams know that so they pack the center. We need width to create space in center so Messi and co. can do their magic.

Some interesting facts from Chelsea section.

Match Statistics
Barcelona is playing in its
fifth consecutive Champions League semifinal, the longest run in the
history of the competition (since the tournament was renamed in
1992-1993).
Chelsea and Barcelona have each reached the
semifinal stage of the competition six times in the last nine seasons
(since 2003-2004)—the best tallies in that period.
Chelsea and Barcelona have played each other 10 times in the UEFA Champions League, with each side winning three times. The other four games were draws.
Both have played each other 10 times in the UEFA Champions League, with each side winning three times. The other four games were draws.
In the knockout stages of the competition, Barcelona has progressed three out of four times over Chelsea.
Chelsea has never lost in the semifinal round at Stamford Bridge (two wins, three draws).
Lionel Messi is the first player to score 14 goals in a single UEFA Champions League campaign. He has 32 goals in his last 27 UCL games.
Chelsea is the team that Messi has played most against without scoring (six games, zero goals).

Bleacher/

Despiadado.Maleante//

"Dont worry much about Xavi" says Hasslebaink.

I hope Chelsea think the same, I fancy him to score tonight.

im expecting chelsea to dominate possession but barcelona to win the game with counters 2-4

Be quite and stop wasting our time with your useless posts.

u have the right to ignore it u know

I also have the authority to tell you not to post in here if your going to post utter crap like that.

You, I and everyone knows what you wrote was bullshit.

doesnt matter.. it was an opinion.. crappy or not i had the right to post it and i did

is there a rule saying dont post crap?

Its not your real opinion, stop playing around here, stop arguing.

If you want to post on here, do so in a respectful way.

And its not respectful to waste our time having to read your waste of time post.

Last that will be said on the issue, you have been warned.

I am going to shit on my tv if Keita starts.

Affelay is back to training, I'm interested to see when he returns

The Franchise wrote:"Dont worry much about Xavi" says Hasslebaink.

What the hell was that? If a team plays an open game it has virtually no chance against the maestro no matter which team it is.

deadrave wrote:im expecting chelsea to dominate possession but barcelona to win the game with counters 2-4

Anyone remembers when was the last time a team dominated possession against Barcelona?

Our Lineup (twitter / bleacherreport) - Valdes; Alves, Mascherano, Puyol, Adriano; Xav,i Busquets, Iniesta,; Alexis, Messi, Fabregas

Yes that sounds likely but I think it makes for a sort of a lopsided formation that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Hence at the moment it becomes even more difficult to predict how well we will play.

Just came here to say good luck, guys

Drogba vs masch... Shit.

Drogba in his prime never bothered us, why so worried now?

Omfg... Alexis... So damn close. Sooo unlucky.

Looking very shaky at the back... Mascherano owned early by Drogba. Got to be tIghter.