Champions League - Opinion: The dream final

Eurosport - Thu, 07 May 13:58:00 2009

The Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona was like witnessing a fight between a flamenco dancer and a chav.

FOOTBALL Champions League 2008/2009 Barcelona Guardiola - 0

For the majority of the match at Stamford Bridge the action could have been played out in a West London wine bar.

You stand there watching as a beautiful, curvaceous senorita whirls before you, beckoning all the while. You feel small leaps of joy inside your chest.

Yet the large, muscley, chavy girl from your hometown you are ashamed to have taken up with is blocking her path.

You suddenly have a thirst which the margarita in your hand could never quench; as time goes on you start to worry that in fact the big-boned Londoner will prevent any contact between you and the chica.

There is a future date on May 27, in Rome, where an English girlfriend of yours will be present; she and the chav met a year ago in Moscow, and while the outcome of their fight was entertaining, it was not a pretty outcome.

You don't want to go through that again.

And - to dispense with this now-tedious analogy - you find yourself grateful to mistress fate when the chav panics, allowing the senorita to finally break through and provide the match with a finish it deserved.

The lack of penetration was not, for the most part, the fault of Barcelona. Chelsea, commendably solid at the Camp Nou, took their refusal to string more than two consecutive passes together to new heights at home.

Perhaps credit is due: they were a kick away from the final, after all, and denied at least one clear penalty after monopolising the goalmouth incident market.

Either way, it highlights Barca's weaknesses ahead of the final against Manchester United: at the root of these is the realisation that the teams who sit so deep in La Liga, whom Barca nearly always break down eventually, are simply not as good at it as the English clubs.

United will not be as solid defensively as Chelsea were on Wednesday night, but they are strong enough while offering a good deal more going forward - and this against a defence which encountered all sorts of problems with simple, direct tactics and the occasional diagonal ball for Florent Malouda.

Club captain Carles Puyol will be back to fill in at centre-half for Yaya Toure, often out of position against Chelsea and greatly missed in midfield, while Sylvinho will replace the sent-off Eric Abidal like-for-like at left-back.

That leaves the right-back spot to be filled, with Seydou Keita the more likely to deputise for Dani Alves, harshly booked for jumping to head the ball - although Xavi or Andres Iniesta, being the most technically gifted, would do the best job, Pep Guardiola will surely not want to leave his midfield-attack bereft of its two most important components.

Chelsea's goal gave the match a fabulous beginning, Michael Essien's left-footed, both-feet-off-the-ground volley the equal of Zinedine Zidane's strike in the 2002 final at Hampden Park.

However if there was any hope of Chelsea stepping out to attack in numbers, even on the counter, it was effectively killed at a stroke.

We should be grateful for the atrocious defensive positional play of Barca - and the endeavour of Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Malouda - as it gave us an end-to-end encounter where there should have been none.

Whenever Lionel Messi, Iniesta or the disappointing Samuel Eto'o came forward on to the ball, you could count eight men in front of them in two lines five yards apart: the polar opposite of the disjointed away back four.

It was interesting because you couldn't see Chelsea doing that against Man Utd, who also employ two wide attackers and a man down the middle; for Iniesta read Wayne Rooney, for Messi, Ronaldo.

There is great fear of Barca's attacking abilities but United will not sit that deep in a European final; while Chelsea's success from the Jose Mourinho era onwards has been built on percentages.

Alex Ferguson's side pride themselves on their pedigree on the continent and with Ronaldo in the team, they will also look to attack, when it suits.

There will be no Darren Fletcher to deny space in the middle of the park, leaving perhaps Anderson to sit deep alongside Michael Carrick. John O'Shea could do a job, but will Ferguson want to pit him against the Catalan club's midfield?

Chelsea threatened Barca from set-pieces, such as Drogba's narrow-angle free-kick and John Terry's header almost deflected home by Alex, while Frank Lampard caused problems when freed from his defensive shackles and Drogba should have scored in the second half.

That is in stark contrast to Barca - usually so devastating - for whom Xavi disappointed on those rare opportunities to get the ball into the danger area while Alves's final ball was appalling and Iniesta looked for the pass when the goal opened up for a shot.

So back to the senorita: by the time she comes face to face with that attractive, experienced girl from Manchester - herself the vanquisher of a fleet-footed vixen in the semis - it will almost certainly be a case of the queen of one country versus that of another, a battle between the two most respected leagues in the world.

It will be a fitting face-off for the greatest club fixture on the planet, for once a match truly reflecting the Champions League.

Let's hope the match lives up to the billing: for all the tension at the Bridge, the game resembled an attack-versus-defence training session, albeit one with exciting cameos of penalties appealed for and denied.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport

Comment 67 - 86 of 146

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  1. leejthomson, have you been smoking crack? Man Utd have­ been winning but not convincingly!!!!
    show me a more­ one sided semi final in the biggest club competition in­ the world ever?
    Man Utd were absolutely awesome on­ tuesday and blew the gunners away as if they were a­ sunday league side(which we all know they're not).­ wenger has done a great job at arsenal and he is­ respected for his abilities worldwide. yet United out­ played them all over the park and shredded their­ defence on more than 1 occasion.
    please think before­ posting sh@te on here as its just plain embarassing for­ you....

    From eric the king, on Thu 7 May 5:10PM

  2. What a pathetic article. Deserved finish?? Only an­ idiot would say Barcelona deserved to go through last­ night, Chelsea were robbed

    From Martin, on Thu 7 May 5:10PM

  3. In the final, if both teams play the way they did in­ the semis, United will walk it. Barca are over-rated,­ stringing 50 passes together without ever having a shot­ on goal isn't great football, it's pointless.­ Looking forward to Ronaldo & Rooney tearing their­ shoddy defence to pieces too.

    From roon01, on Thu 7 May 5:10PM

  4. Whoever wins now it will be a hollow victory as­ Barcelona should not be there. What a stitch up by FIFA­ and their faithful servant, the ref of the Chelsea v­ Barcelona match to get the final they wanted. I have­ seldom been more angry in my life watching one penalty­ after another being waved away. And I'm a Liverpool­ supporter! Still Fergie has just about every ref in­ Europe in his pocket so Man U. should be assured of­ victory

    From Victor, on Thu 7 May 5:07PM

  5. chelseafc4life86, let's forget about rivalry. I­ want the CL cup goes to England. If ManU lost to­ Arsenal, I would also support Ars to win the CL...even­ Liver!!! I'm a ManU supporter..

    From CHONG, on Thu 7 May 5:02PM

  6. The bloke who's writing this is having a laugh aint­ he? Chelski better at defending the mighty Man u!!!!! i­ dont think so!

    From nugent360, on Thu 7 May 5:01PM

  7. lol ridiculous article, u know nothing man. where did­ u come from :-o

    From Robie, on Thu 7 May 4:59PM

  8. UEFA MIGHT overturn Fletcher's red card!!

    From pegez, on Thu 7 May 4:58PM

  9. What are you talking about Jonathan? Utter boll**ks! Do­ you get paid for this drivel?

    From thepoolster, on Thu 7 May 4:54PM

  10. Man Utd will smash Barcelona to pieces

    From Martin, on Thu 7 May 4:54PM

  11. Who wrote this article? Platini? Gaurdiola? The Board­ of PR Management Barcelona FC? WHat a pitiful and­ pathetic article. They can gloss over it whatever way­ they like, Chelsea were stitched up yesterday and­ Barcelona's "fiesta" is hollow and­ meaningless to say the least- a sad day for UEFA and­ for football. The pundits can also say what they like, ­ practically every fan in the world who isn't­ completely blind or a Barca supporter is saying the­ same thing.
    I am a United fan but on this occasion I­ feel for Chelsea.

    From Tarquinius S, on Thu 7 May 4:51PM

  12. okay.. enough...
    why didnt chelsea go.. because they­ play cynical football.. cant get the ball get the­ player... its a mans game so just take the beating at­ the hand of chelsea monkeys...
    playing 10 man defense­ is footballing tactics? school teams can do that... all­ throughout the game, whenever a barca player had a­ chance at running at the goal, someone would hack him­ down.. this is football? ohh comeon.. give me a­ break...
    barcelona deserve to win because they played­ to win and the players did not complain when hacked­ down.. got up to the business... compare it with­ drogba... gets stolen of the ball in the area and off­ he goes...
    someone show the vids to the academy­ awards.. he would get the best actor..
    football isnt­ just about winning.. its about spirit.. chelsea dont­ have any... they might be fighters but no spirit...
    for­ me, yes a penalty could have been given.. but in the­ first leg barca were denied one... and a red not­ given...
    that would have changed the course of the game­ more than any of chelseas claimed penalties...

    chelsea­ are pathetic... pathetic sore losers.. who deserve to­ lose...
    i blame liverpool for letting them be in the­ competition for this long... they didnt deserve to be­ here..
    liv barca would have been fun..

    anyways.. i am­ a die hard barca supporter...
    lucky, perhaps. but­ poetic justice... and my belief in football­ continues... barca keep true footballing alive.. thank­ you

    From Pallav, on Thu 7 May 4:49PM

  13. HA! love the flamenco dancer and chav line.

    From codonnell95, on Thu 7 May 4:44PM

  14. Barca's 1goal coming from a pity penalty, like the­ gooners had

    From pegez, on Thu 7 May 4:33PM

  15. he!! if Man U can bury all their chances for a change,­ I might even say Man U 8, Barca1

    From pegez, on Thu 7 May 4:33PM

  16. SAF is going to school 'Pep' . Pep, has the­ tactical nous of a lemming!

    From pegez, on Thu 7 May 4:32PM

  17. chelseafc4life86, if I can 'read props'. I can­ read thanks. Its you who can't write properly. Your­ just bitter

    From pegez, on Thu 7 May 4:29PM

  18. trustmutinta,yeah, sure. If they cant score against­ chelski, how are the gonna get past Rio, Vidic, VdS?­ Man U 3, Barca 1

    From pegez, on Thu 7 May 4:27PM

  19. For the way the teams had been playing in Europe I­ believe a dream final would have been Liverpool vs­ Barca. I am not saying this to annoy people but I think­ on the way been playing scoring goals for fun what have­ been a classic. Although Man Utd are winning games its­ not convincing and Chelsea have never had really wow­ football, but time may prove me wrong as a netrual I­ hope it does

    From leejthomson, on Thu 7 May 4:24PM

  20. watching barcelona last night was like watching­ Arsenal, lots of pretty passing, little effect. If they­ play in that manner against Utd they will be taught a­ serious lesson. They will not get the room to play by­ Utd and if they get half the chances that Chelski had­ last night i dont think that they will be quite so­ forgiving

    From steve f, on Thu 7 May 4:23PM
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