Chelsea FC: Half the battle won

In one of the most tactically advanced football matches of recent times, Chelsea FC emerged victorious against the mighty FC Barcelona in the first leg of semi-final clash in the UEFA Champions League campaign this year. Chelsea won the game by a small margin of 1-0, but the dedication that the team showed to beat a classy Barcelona shows that English clubs can bring in the flair and spark on a football night whenever needed.
Barcelona dominated the possession, as usual, throughout the entire match but could not cash in on chances whenever required. Chelsea was blessed by 'Lady Luck' as Barcelona hit the woodwork twice to be denied a crucial away goal, that would have changed the entire dynamics of the clash. Having said that nothing and I mean absolutely nothing can be taken away from Chelsea as they produced a near 'perfect' performance as expected by their manager Roberto di Matteo.
A total of 24 attempts on goal by Barcelona was cancelled out by marvelous Chelsea defense along with some unlucky ones by Barcelona themselves. Barcelona did not seem to be in their best stride when they failed to materialize even their free kicks. The torch-bearer of Barcelona attack, Lionel Messi, was literally marked by all the 11 Chelsea players. Lionel Messi was bravely defended with some astonishing tackles from Chelsea players. Barcelona's mid-field did not deliver the usual passes in the box and even failed to execute the 1-2's. All in all, Barcelona's game was pretty unusual from their original.
The tactics employed by Roberto can be deemed to be the best as Barcelona failed to score in the entire span of the match. Chelsea had done their homework very well and that's where they hit Barcelona hard when they grabbed a goal on the counter attack with a pass that was initiated by Frank Lampard. Ramires was on the receiving side of this amazing pass and with his speed he ripped apart Barcelona defense to cross the ball to Didier Drogba, who comfortably finished the only goal of the match. Roberto was successful in this tactical battle because he managed to clinically exploit the strengths of each of the Chelsea players to their very best. Drogba probably had the best match in his recent times, Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole were simply superb in defense and  Ramires was used as a counter-attack resource of the team.
Although it is just half of the story, it remains to see what the other half has in store for us. Playing at Camp Nou, Barcelona's home, will be extremely difficult for Chelsea, as Barcelona will plan to take revenge of the earlier defeat and move on to the finals of the cup. But with such a performance from a dedicated Chelsea side, who have been looking to win the UEFA Champions League forever, no one knows what we will be subjected to on the 24th April 2012.    

Chelsea player analysis:
Didier Drogba - Brilliant in both defense and attack, Scored the goal
Ramires - Superb counter-attack, Assisted the goal
Frank Lampard - Shrewd passing, Good defense
Raul Meireles - Marked the Barcelona mid-fielders very well
Juan Mata - Held the right flank, Did not have much to do in the entire match
John Obi Mikel - Marked Lionel Messi well, Kept possession
Ashley Cole - Brilliant defense, Amazing runs in the left flank, Marked Alexis Sanchez and Dani Alves
John Terry - Brick-wall in defense, Stopped crucial shots from Lionel Messi
Gary Cahill - Superb defensive performance, Brilliant tackling
Branislav Ivanovic - Sloppy defense, Gave away the possession a couple of times
Petr Cech - Extraordinary saves, Kept a clean sheet