However, they have practically no chance of progress now they come up against Barcelona. Of course, there is always a chance. And particularly with Chelsea’s players and their experience, that will help. Chelsea know when to go down and stay down, how to play out the clock, how to defend under pressure.
But this was all true last time Chelsea played Barcelona in 2009. That time, they had better players, were in optimum form, and still lost. Barcelona passed the ball around them home and away and were deserving winners. How a Barcelona team, which is still similar in quality to that one will not destroy a Chelsea side considerably worse now, is hard to fathom. Particularly over two legs.
Chelsea have been rather fortunate in their run so far. They were lucky in many ways that Bayer Leverkusen were unable to beat Genk away, thus meaning they won their group. And then drawn with Napoli, they lost 3-1 away and were completely out played at home. They were fortunate that the Italians made a number of key defensive mistakes which made their dominance pointless, as it allowed Chelsea to take advantage and go through.
Similarly, Chelsea sat back against Benfica home and away. At home even with a man advantage Chelsea were outplayed by the Portuguese side. They have been the worse team over 180 minutes and have gone through in the last two rounds, but that is mainly down to their experience. Barcelona have that too, and more class than most.
Chelsea can expect to have very, very little of the ball against Barcelona. They lack a midfielder who can really break up the play, though ironically it may be their best bet to play the Catalans’ former defensive midfielder Oreul Romeu, who has a buy back clause to return to Barcelona – so he will want to impress. But a weak defence will almost certainly be taken apart by Leo Messi and co. This team took Manchester United to pieces last year, and they were the English champions, and will be again this year in all likelihood. This team take apart Real Madrid often, the second best team on the continent.
Chelsea came close against Barcelona in 2009 but they are no where near the same side now. This team are far weaker, far less capable of dealing with the passing and probing of the Catalans. That day they cried foul about the referee but the fact was that Chelsea had favourable refereeing on their side in the Nou Camp. That was conveniently forgotten in the aftermath of their defeat.
How Chelsea expect to go through this time – no one knows. You can’t blame them for trying. But they won’t get much further than that. Barcelona are on another level entirely and if Chelsea go through, it will be because the Catalans quite literally don’t turn up.
