If you watched the semi-final clash between Barcelona and Chelsea on 24th April 2012 at 08:45pm GMT, I would like to congratulate you for coming alive out of it. If you did not, you saved yourself from the extreme emotions that were experienced throughout the game to see Chelsea reach the finals of this year's Champions League campaign. It was a hard fought battle between both sides who were in it for their own pride and glory; Chelsea have been eagerly wanting to lift the Champions League since like forever... whereas Barcelona wanted to defend their title from the previous year.
Chelsea went to Barcelona's home Camp Nou for the second leg of the semi-finals with a 1-0 lead from the first leg at Chelsea's home Stamford Bridge a week ago. There was too much pressure on Chelsea players to perform at an intimidating location such as Camp Nou. Infact, Barcelona were favorites to go through into the finals since they were playing at home in the second leg.
It was time to stop talking and start playing. Chelsea and Barcelona kicked-off the semi-finals and right from the start Barcelona went for the kill as they were lagging behind in the tie. Chelsea suffered a big blow when their central defender Gary Cahill had to be substituted for a groin injury in the earlier part of the game. Barcelona kept on pushing into Chelsea half trying to rip apart their defense time and over again. Chelsea finally succumbed to Barcelona attack when Isaac Cuenca's cross was calmly finished by Barcelona's central mid-fielder Sergio Busquets. Barcelona were 1-0 up and roaring in the match. Chelsea's captain John Terry would not have received even a little sympathy from anyone when he kicked Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez only to be sent off in the 37th minute of the match. Chelsea were now down to 10-men, as a result Barcelona capitalized on their lead to go further ahead by yet another calm finish by Andres Iniesta which was setup by Lionel Messi. Barcelona were now 2-0 up and leading in the clash, noise at the stadium was almost deafening.
But Chelsea's mid-fielder Ramires, who had assisted the goal in the earlier leg, was not too much keen to hear the Spaniards roar, so he silenced the Camp Nou crowd just at the brink of half-time by scoring an excellent chip goal which was passed by the master Frank Lampard. Both the teams went into the halftime with a scoreline of 2-1 to Barcelona and a man down to Chelsea.
During the interval, for Chelsea it was just a matter of another half to see them go through and for Barcelona it was just a matter of a goal to see them go through. At the start of second half, the game was perfectly poised for both the teams. The second half promised to test the prowess and valor of each of these teams. Second half started pretty much as expected with Barcelona going all guns blazing. Continuous attack after attack from Barcelona was thwarted and cancelled by the handicapped Chelsea defense, who were missing both their key central defenders. Barcelona were given a lifeline when Chelsea's Didier Drogba brought down Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas in Chelsea's box to concede a penalty. Lionel Messi stepped up to take the penalty, but his shot hit the woodwork to fall back safely to one of the Chelsea defenders who cleared it out of Chelsea's half. Chelsea survived a big scare during this time and if Barcelona would have scored, then Chelsea's chances would have seemed bleak. Both the teams exhausted their substitutions when the final substitution came from Chelsea side to replace Didier Drogba by Fernando Torres. Torres was very much keen and eager to play in the clash and was ready to prove his worth after he did not get his chance to play in the previous leg. Barcelona failed to net the ball, thereby reducing their chances with every attempt towards goal. Finally in the dying minutes, Chelsea fate was sealed when Fernando Torres scored another goal on the counter to give Chelsea the much required air to breathe and to comfortably see through them through in the remaining seconds of the match. The game ended with a final scoreline of 2-2 to both the teams with Chelsea advancing into the finals with an aggregate scoreline of 3-2.
Chelsea's journey to the finals has been more like a fairy tale, winning difficult games like Napoli (round of 16), Benfica (quarter-finals) and Barcelona (semi-finals). It remains to see who will their next opponent be in the finals. If they have to face Bayern Munich, who will play hosts to this year's final in Munich, they will surely be in for yet another round of intimidating fan support in the stadium. If they have to face Real Madrid, who is currently managed by Jose Mourinho, they will come against an opponent not in the form of a club but in the form of a manager who knows literally everything about Chelsea. Whatever the case is, Chelsea is in for a match of a lifetime and with crucial players like John Terry, Raul Meireles missing from the final, Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich will be betting eveything he has to see Chelsea lift the cup on 19th May 2012 in Munich, Germany.
Picture Source: http://www.tws3d.com/wallpapers/champions-league-final-munich-1280x800.jpg
Chelsea went to Barcelona's home Camp Nou for the second leg of the semi-finals with a 1-0 lead from the first leg at Chelsea's home Stamford Bridge a week ago. There was too much pressure on Chelsea players to perform at an intimidating location such as Camp Nou. Infact, Barcelona were favorites to go through into the finals since they were playing at home in the second leg.
It was time to stop talking and start playing. Chelsea and Barcelona kicked-off the semi-finals and right from the start Barcelona went for the kill as they were lagging behind in the tie. Chelsea suffered a big blow when their central defender Gary Cahill had to be substituted for a groin injury in the earlier part of the game. Barcelona kept on pushing into Chelsea half trying to rip apart their defense time and over again. Chelsea finally succumbed to Barcelona attack when Isaac Cuenca's cross was calmly finished by Barcelona's central mid-fielder Sergio Busquets. Barcelona were 1-0 up and roaring in the match. Chelsea's captain John Terry would not have received even a little sympathy from anyone when he kicked Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez only to be sent off in the 37th minute of the match. Chelsea were now down to 10-men, as a result Barcelona capitalized on their lead to go further ahead by yet another calm finish by Andres Iniesta which was setup by Lionel Messi. Barcelona were now 2-0 up and leading in the clash, noise at the stadium was almost deafening.
But Chelsea's mid-fielder Ramires, who had assisted the goal in the earlier leg, was not too much keen to hear the Spaniards roar, so he silenced the Camp Nou crowd just at the brink of half-time by scoring an excellent chip goal which was passed by the master Frank Lampard. Both the teams went into the halftime with a scoreline of 2-1 to Barcelona and a man down to Chelsea.
During the interval, for Chelsea it was just a matter of another half to see them go through and for Barcelona it was just a matter of a goal to see them go through. At the start of second half, the game was perfectly poised for both the teams. The second half promised to test the prowess and valor of each of these teams. Second half started pretty much as expected with Barcelona going all guns blazing. Continuous attack after attack from Barcelona was thwarted and cancelled by the handicapped Chelsea defense, who were missing both their key central defenders. Barcelona were given a lifeline when Chelsea's Didier Drogba brought down Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas in Chelsea's box to concede a penalty. Lionel Messi stepped up to take the penalty, but his shot hit the woodwork to fall back safely to one of the Chelsea defenders who cleared it out of Chelsea's half. Chelsea survived a big scare during this time and if Barcelona would have scored, then Chelsea's chances would have seemed bleak. Both the teams exhausted their substitutions when the final substitution came from Chelsea side to replace Didier Drogba by Fernando Torres. Torres was very much keen and eager to play in the clash and was ready to prove his worth after he did not get his chance to play in the previous leg. Barcelona failed to net the ball, thereby reducing their chances with every attempt towards goal. Finally in the dying minutes, Chelsea fate was sealed when Fernando Torres scored another goal on the counter to give Chelsea the much required air to breathe and to comfortably see through them through in the remaining seconds of the match. The game ended with a final scoreline of 2-2 to both the teams with Chelsea advancing into the finals with an aggregate scoreline of 3-2.
Chelsea's journey to the finals has been more like a fairy tale, winning difficult games like Napoli (round of 16), Benfica (quarter-finals) and Barcelona (semi-finals). It remains to see who will their next opponent be in the finals. If they have to face Bayern Munich, who will play hosts to this year's final in Munich, they will surely be in for yet another round of intimidating fan support in the stadium. If they have to face Real Madrid, who is currently managed by Jose Mourinho, they will come against an opponent not in the form of a club but in the form of a manager who knows literally everything about Chelsea. Whatever the case is, Chelsea is in for a match of a lifetime and with crucial players like John Terry, Raul Meireles missing from the final, Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich will be betting eveything he has to see Chelsea lift the cup on 19th May 2012 in Munich, Germany.
Picture Source: http://www.tws3d.com/wallpapers/champions-league-final-munich-1280x800.jpg
