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

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  1. If Barca played in the EPL they would likely end up in­ the bottom half - a team of prima donnas whose­ temperament goes when the other team doesn't let­ them walk the ball into the net- especially Henry -­ loser at Arsenal- loser at Barca - the shirt does not­ change the player- I see Messi as the natural successor­ to Shevchencko and Medev - eternal losers who could­ never have make it in the world's greatest League

    From ruppybear, on Wed 29 Apr 10:15AM

  2. Petko P 529. Agree with some of your comments but I­ think there is a strong possibility that you will see­ another cowardly English team lift the trophy this­ season. Look out for the team shirts ( designed­ especially by the Italians ) that have a yellow streak­ down the back because they will probably be the team­ that wins it. ha ha ha.

    From JOHN I, on Wed 29 Apr 10:13AM

  3. to matevjurman, u are one of the fan who watch footbal­ with ur eyes closed i wonder if u are not a wheel chair­ band. football is about defence not attacking, u should­ be band indefinately from watching any football match

    From bhiyi, on Wed 29 Apr 10:12AM

  4. I DONT AGREE WITH YOU PETKO...THE ENGLISH TEAMS ARE­ STRONG DEFENSIVELY AND IN ATTACK TOO,THATS THE REASON­ THEY HAVE BEING DOMINANT IN EUROPE..WHERE WAS REAL­ MADRID AGAINST LIVERPOOL?DID YOU WATCH BARCA MAN.U­ MATCH HOME AND AWAY? YET THEY DIDNT QUALIFY...I THINK­ ITS GONNA REPEAT ITSELF AGAIN...

    From mss7082, on Wed 29 Apr 10:12AM

  5. Boring,boring,boring Chelsea!!!!!!! Get your team­ sorted!that is why you're not winning any trophies­ because you don't play exciting football!!!!­ premiership nah!champions league nah! fa cup maybe,your­ last chance for trophy!!pls wake me up when the game is­ over...

    From jordan, on Wed 29 Apr 10:11AM

  6. the match hasn't started and its over 500 comments­ already, hehehehhehehe

    From mayne, on Wed 29 Apr 10:10AM

  7. To TITUS N
    U are the most biased football fan, its­ interesting to know that u only watch the game wen­ barca are attacking and not chelsea, this is same for­ all the ignorant comments.
    Have ya'll heard of the­ word strategy, Chelsea had the discipline to follow the­ strategy through the match, missed some great­ opportunities and possession for ur info aint football­ dude, its GOALS!

    From Aikjones, on Wed 29 Apr 10:10AM

  8. comment 520...i believe you're talking out of your­ as's mate! don't try to b all philosophical­ douchebag! chelsea played with 8 defenders last night­ but i wonder if they r gonna do the same at stamford­ bridge...coz if they dare to attack they will get their­ as'ses kicked big time...come on u barca...

    From Abby, on Wed 29 Apr 10:09AM

  9. it was not a bad result for chealse especially that­ they were away,lets see what happnes in the next leg

    From Sydney, on Wed 29 Apr 10:06AM

  10. finally some1 speaking some sense...coudnt agree more­ petko....my god i thought for a second that i was wrong­ about the negative english style against­ barcelona...let's hope barcelona will score in the­ return leg and knock these cowards out of the­ UCL...absolutely disgraceful game by chelsea's­ players and ITV commentators...

    From Abby, on Wed 29 Apr 10:05AM

  11. Can you all for a moment forget that you are English­ and try to describe the last night encounter once­ again? Me being Bulgarian would say this: Chelsea are­ pretending to be a big team, so why did they play like­ the last in EPL with 6 defenders and 4 midfielders? If­ this was a match between Barcelona and Milan let's­ say you were going to use the word FEAR to describe the­ tactics used by Chelsea. Speaking of Italian style of­ play, now the English teams are playing more­ defensivelly than any Italian team, so great job on­ encouraging the dead of Football. The truth is no­ English team can win the Champions league like Real­ Madrid and Barcelona did by playing fantasy football.­ ENGLISH COWARDS!!!

    From Petko P, on Wed 29 Apr 9:56AM

  12. Only an English Person Will Call Cowardice­ intelligence.. Chelsea were Cowards.. Afriad of­ Barca's Shadow,. Kept committing Fouls to stop­ Barca Flow. Chelsea is a Disgrace to Football..

    Am­ Glad, 'cos now at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will be­ forced to come out and attack, and I know barca will­ still have a bigger share or possession, and with­ Eto'o, Messi and Iniesta, Henry, Barca will Attack­ and Attack, And Attack, no matter where they play, and­ THERE WILL BE GOALS.
    First leg, Barca had Possession of­ 70% - Need I say More?

    From TITUS N, on Wed 29 Apr 9:55AM

  13. from nevtral.chelsi shuld be bend from champions lige­ for 10 years for such cowardly game.exept blind funs­ from london evrybadi hates that kind of fudbal.big­ shame for a club, but be realistic chelsi is no big­ club

    From matevjurman, on Wed 29 Apr 9:51AM

  14. Not an exciting game by any means - but what did we­ REALLY expect? Chelsea are the first team this season­ to not concede at the Nou Camp. Against such a deadly­ attack and an intelligent team this was a great­ acheivment. Guss is no fool and the Champions League is­ a tournament that requires a lot of sacrifice in terms­ of entertainment in order to win it. Chelsea will­ surely try to kill barcelona off at Stamford Bridge and­ the game will probably be a little more open and­ entertaining. I only hope that Chelsea don't try­ and nick a goal then revert back to 9 men behind the­ ball for the rest of the game, but if they do and this­ wins them the game then it will be a success for­ Chelsea and thats all that really matters to them -­ obviously.
    Utd for life

    From Dominic, on Wed 29 Apr 9:46AM

  15. As a neutral observer I wondered how it was that­ Barcelona were considered by the football plaudits to­ be unstoppable in the Champions league. Last nights­ game was in the whole boring but the two teams football­ styles were evident. Short accurate passing from Barc­ and an eleven man defence from Chelsea made for a dull­ match. I can see two British teams in the final on this­ showing. Henry should have been awarded a penalty­ without doubt and Ballack given a red card. Cant see­ Chelsea losing the second leg but they will still­ probably have an eleven man defence and hope to break­ away for a quick goal, or win on penalties.

    From JOHN I, on Wed 29 Apr 9:44AM

  16. The Greek Philosopher Protagoras once said that man is­ the measure of all things for the things that are, they­ are and for the things that are not, they are not. I­ don't and I will not blame anybody for talking bad­ about chelsea, just as protagoras said, its is their­ measure and I will give it to them. But for my own­ measurement, I can see what happened to Barca last­ season repeating, when they dominated united at camp­ nou but failed to score a goal ending match 0-0,­ dominated united again at old trafford but rather­ conceded a goal, a cheap goal so to say that sent them­ parking, chelsea will score a similar goal in stamford­ bridge that will settle the day. Next week will speak­ for itself after 90 minutes of play. Bravo the Blues!­ Come on and show them the Premiership power!!

    From lemma007, on Wed 29 Apr 9:42AM

  17. Well done Chelsea i say yous do them at home, from a­ man u fan.

    From Michael F, on Wed 29 Apr 9:40AM

  18. Boring game...had better nights at me Nan's with­ toothache...no attack from Chelsea, no consistency in­ passing, Barca players tripping over the same daisy,­ Messi over-rated piece of dogs doo dah, it was like­ pinball...get the ball and hoof it away into­ nowhere...come on Chelsea you can win this trophy!

    From AdrianP, on Wed 29 Apr 9:33AM

  19. All Barcelona have to do at Stamford Bridge is match­ what Liverpool did there. Liverpool went into that game­ in a far worse position and almost pulled it off.­ Barcelona aren't even behind.

    I think Barcelona­ will sneak through.

    From Kim S, on Wed 29 Apr 9:33AM

  20. what a pile of boring @#$% that was to watch hopefully­ barca will hammer you at the bridge when you try and­ attack you were garbage and i hope you get what you­ deserve ballack should have been sent off and henry­ should have had a penalty abramovich must have paid off­ the ref and linesmen dirty cheating scummers

    From DAZGGMU-RED-LEGEND-OF-YAHOO, on Wed 29 Apr 9:18AM
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