Champions League - Chelsea hold Barcelona

Eurosport - Wed, 29 Apr 10:15:00 2009

Chelsea held Barcelona to a goalless draw in their Champions League semi-final first leg in the Camp Nou.

FOOTBALL 2008-09 Champions League - Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes saves a shot from Chelsea's Didier Drogba as Gerard Pique looks on during their semi-final, first leg - 0

The Blues defence held firm in the face of the Catalans' majority of possession while the best chance of the night fell to Didier Drogba.

With time ticking down in the first half, his shot was blocked by Victor Valdes; and the keeper got back up to knock away his chipped rebound (pictured).

Substitutes Bojan Krkic and Alexander Hleb moth missed chances in injury-time for Barcelona, who failed to score in a home match for the first time this season.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had promised to seduce the world with his team's brand of attacking football and they went at it immediately, Thierry Henry breaking down the left to earn a free-kick on the left side of the box.

Xavi whipped in a cross and Samuel Eto'o headed the ball back across goal where right-back Branislav Ivanovic missed it and Drogba turned his back; fortunately for Chelsea, Rafael Marquez could not steer it home at the far post.

All eyes were on the mercurial Lionel Messi but the spritely Argentine found his route to goal blocked time after time while Henry disappeared from the match for most of the rest of the half.

Andres Iniesta was all over the pitch for Barca as deep-lying trio Jon Obi Mikel, Michael Ballack and Michael Essien worked to deny him and his team-mates space.

Jose Bosingwa, deputising on the left side of defence for the suspended Ashley Cole, did a good job on Messi, with Alex and John Terry throwing themselves into blocks around the area along with the visiting midfield men.

Alex and Ballack were shown yellow cards for bad tackles on Messi and Henry respectively while home midfield destroyer Yaya Toure was also cautioned for dissent.

With Eto'o and Xavi shots from distance the closest Barca had come, Drogba found himself through on goal after Marquez messed up a backpass from the right.

Valdes, an excellent shot-stopper although suspect on crosses, stood tall to keep out the first effort while Drogba did not shoot properly with the second, allowing the keeper to dive out and reach up to tip the ball away.

Two minutes into the second half Florent Malouda, who along with Drogba conducted a running battle with flying Barcelona right-back Daniel Alves all evening, went down in a similar position to where Henry had been fouled early in the match.

Drogba bent a great cross into the danger area only for the unmarked Ballack to head wide.

Henry, Marquez and Alves were all hurt in the following minutes, although only the Mexican - who collapsed while on the ball - had to be replaced, club captain Carles Puyol stepping in at centre-half.

Marquez will miss the rest of the season after damaging the external meniscus in his left knee, while Puyol was later booked for a late tackle on Malouda and will limit Barca's defensive options further for the second leg as he is now suspended.

On 62 minutes Alves found a rare strike on goal, surging down the right and smacking the ball towards the near post where Petr Cech was equal to it.

Eight minutes later Eto'o could have opened the scoring when he expertly turned away from Alex on halfway and nutmegged Terry before bearing down on goal; with Henry in the middle he cut back inside the retreating Alex and shot instead - Cech made the save low down.

Henry appealed for a penalty as he turned in the box when Bosingwa had hold of his shirt, but Wolfgang Stark ruled that it was a fair challenge; he was on his way down anyway, but there was definite contact.

Bojan and Hleb appeared for Eto'o and Henry while before that Barca's 2006 Champions League-winning goalscorer Juliano Belletti came on for Frank Lampard to a rapturous reception from the home fans.

Iniesta was furious after Ballack held him back as he sought to burst into the box from the left, but there was no second yellow card for the German.

The kick was cleared as Guus Hiddink's side held their positions once again, although they were almost undone in a flurry of late chances inside the allotted five minutes of time added on.

First Alves provided a perfect cross for Bojan to arrive and head over before Hleb was played onside by the injured Ballack - on his feet quickly again to cover - but could only fire at the feet of Cech from inside the penalty area on the left.

Alves then whipped in another with his left foot which just evaded Gerard Pique and Bojan - and that proved the final attack of the match.

The second leg will be held at Stamford Bridge next Wednesday.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport

Comment 496 - 515 of 555

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  1. AC MILAN FANZ..

    chelsea should be shamed with their­ strategy...
    where the spirit of football player...
    they­ want win but they are loser...
    they can attack­ liverpool but not barcelona...
    they know barcelona is­ more great than all the club in europe..
    so they must­ use their boring strategy...

    CHELSEA MUST KNOW THEY­ NEVER BEAT BARCA AT NOU CAMP BUT BARCA WIN IN STAMFORD­ BRIDGE 2006..

    THEY CHANGE LAMPARD WITH BELLETI AND­ THIS SHOW HOW THEY CONTINUE THEIR BORING STATEGY..

    From Muhd, on Wed 29 Apr 11:22AM

  2. COMMENT 551, I'LL THINK YOU'LL FIND THE SWINE­ FLU EPIDEMIC CENTRE IS MEXICO, YOU TOOL! WHERE'S­ BULGARIA ANYWAY, IS THAT A SMALL TOWN IN CROATIA?

    From zyklonb_block11, on Wed 29 Apr 11:21AM

  3. i used to have big respect for a name like petko and­ titus,but i've never knew its now a name for­ fools.u need to learn more about english team what we­ call tactics that is what they used for barca.this­ shows that english team are more proactive than the­ rest of the world.have u ever seen where they are­ playing 6 defenders and 4 midfielders.come to epl and­ learn.lastly i thought messi said he's going to­ mess-up chelsea yesterday night?but where is he? come­ next week and receive the beating of ur life u­ cowards.
    (if God be for us no one can stand against­ us)up chelsea 4 life

    From 4real, on Wed 29 Apr 11:18AM

  4. old spice

    From darix, on Wed 29 Apr 11:07AM

  5. chealse club rules russian money.east europen money...

    From darix, on Wed 29 Apr 11:04AM

  6. Arsenal please make people happy and knock out Man U

    From Godwin, on Wed 29 Apr 11:03AM

  7. FROM A NEUTRALS POINT OF VIEW.... THE SPANIARDS SEEM TO­ THROW THEIR RATTLE OUT WHEN THINGS DONT GO THEIR WAY,­ JUST LIKE THE ITI'S. FACT IS THAT CHELSEA DID A JOB­ ON BARCA LAST NIGHT AND UNTIL BARCA LEARN TO DEAL WITH­ SUCH TACTICS THEY WILL ALWAYS STRUGGLE AGAINST THE­ ENGLISH BIG GUNS. ITS FACT THAT BARCA FAILED TO SCORE,­ ITS FACT THAT BARCA DIDNT GET THE RESULT THEY WANTED,­ AND ITS FACT THAT CHELSEA ACHIEVED WHAT THEY SET OUT TO­ DO. IF UTD PLAYED FOR A DRAW AND GOT IT LAST SEASON,­ WHY ARE BARCA NOT CLEVER TO THIS TACTIC??? ITS NO DOUBT­ BARCA ARE A CLASS ACT AND ITS ONLY HALF TIME BUT FLASH­ FOOTBALL AND A FEW AMAZING INDIVIDUALS ARE A GUARANTEE­ THAT YOU'LL WIN GAMES. AS FOR SOME OF THE OTHER­ COMMENTS ON HERE...LIKE 524 AND 525, BEHAVE YOURSELVES­ YOU IDIOTS! AND ONE I READ EARLIER ABOUT BARCA­ STRUGGLING TO FINISH 6TH IF THEY PLAYED IN THE­ EPL?????...VILLA BETTER THAN BARCA.....THATS THE­ FUNNIEST THING IVE HEARD ALL SEASON!

    From zyklonb_block11, on Wed 29 Apr 11:03AM

  8. i am siting in bulgaria,you @#$%..ha,ha,ha.i never­ would come to swine flue epidemic centre...start take a­ bath you ginger pigs...

    From darix, on Wed 29 Apr 11:02AM

  9. barsa

    From darix, on Wed 29 Apr 10:59AM

  10. Barcelona did show how they are overrated and struggle­ against the top teams.

    2007.....outclassed and sent­ packing by Liverpool.

    2008......outclassed and sent­ packing by Man Utd.

    2009......struggle to score­ against Chelsea and have no intelligence to come up­ with a plan b once plan a doesn't­ work.

    Barcelona..............most overrated team in­ Europe and Messi never does anything special in big­ games against the best teams.

    From Kim S, on Wed 29 Apr 10:58AM

  11. ""Speaking of Italian style of­ play, now the­ English teams are playing more­ defensivelly than any­ Italian team,""

    Haha, I guess you missed­ Liverpool 4-4 Chelsea or Liverpool 4-0 Real Madrid or­ Arsenal 3-0 Villareal etc etc?

    Go back to Bulgaria and­ stop talking about the Champions League. You eastern­ European halfwits aren't even in it.

    From Kim S, on Wed 29 Apr 10:54AM

  12. Man Utd vs Barca Final... just you watch
    utd to­ win 2-1.. woooooo!

    From lee, on Wed 29 Apr 10:52AM

  13. abramovich payed to referes yeasterday...maybe even to­ barsa club asvel...they wont to give some hope to ­ chealse funs on second leg.go make a hair cut like­ tery.gona look stupid as him.ha,ha,ha

    From darix, on Wed 29 Apr 10:51AM

  14. ha ha ha....go barsa go...for chealse no chance...4­ place this season in cemp.league..so shame..ha,ha,ha

    From darix, on Wed 29 Apr 10:47AM

  15. english teams apart manchester-united and liverp.,are­ nothing compare to spanish teams...chealse in spanish­ league never would go up then 6 place...and why you so­ proude?this is russian club,remember?all of you should­ suport west ham...

    From darix, on Wed 29 Apr 10:44AM

  16. 538...what an ignorant bigot you are...grow up and get­ a life; Chelsea dont deserve twats like you as­ supporters...berk!!!

    From Blaster, on Wed 29 Apr 10:42AM

  17. chelsea should be shame of how they played­ yesterday...loosers...Next leg barselona-chelsea­ 3-0.Final barsa-manchester.ha ha ha...

    From darix, on Wed 29 Apr 10:40AM

  18. shocking hypocrisy i nthe media this morning... man­ utd got pillared last year for a draw in camp nou, and­ they played better than chelski did last night, yet­ somehow Chelski results over there is deemed a­ triumph???

    the media are londoncentric as always..

    From lee, on Wed 29 Apr 10:39AM

  19. I stay with an Arsenal supporter who did not give any­ chance to Chelsea to come out even with a draw. He­ prayed that Barcelona would Butcher Chelsea which never­ came. Bravo Chelsea!!

    From Gilbert, on Wed 29 Apr 10:31AM

  20. There will be a clash of the titians next week at­ stamford bridge, but chealsea must be very careful,­ withe the attacking spirit of barca. my advise is that­ they just hold like that till penalty shoot-outs for­ Petro Czec is good at that. Let's wait and see.

    From SCOLA, on Wed 29 Apr 10:30AM
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