CL | 1/8 Finals: FC Barcelona - Chelsea 4-1 agg.

[henias]

If Chelsea decides to press us, we are going to have a serious trouble with playing Paulinho with the slow passing in midfield. They will be out there to take the away goal no matter what. One mistake and we are out. We need to domnate them in midfield and attack and push them deep in their box so they cannot counter.

EV's usual lineup will depend only Suarez to use the space behind defenders since Messi is dropping deep. They can easily counter closer to their goal if Paulinho doesnt linkup properly or go forward effectively.

 

[serghei]

I have faith in our power on Camp Nou. Haven't lost at home in CL since 2013. Don't see us not scoring at least 2 and don't see Chelsea scoring more than 1. We got this. No way we're going out to the 5th best team in England at home.

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

I have faith in our power on Camp Nou. Haven't lost at home in CL since 2013.

2-2+ knocks us out. Fortunately I don't see them scoring 2 on us at Camp Nou. And if it gets to a penalty shootout Mats will win it for us.

What I am worried about is if they get an early goal. If that happens and we play like we did at Stamford Bridge we're pretty much fucked.

We should be able to go through but we need to put up a MUCH better performance than we did in London. One chance against the worst team in the PL big 6 other than Arsenal is simply unacceptable. Play like that against Man City, Bayern or even Real Madrid or Liverpool and they will destroy you. Just like in 2013. Struggle against Milan, learn nothing and get destroyed when you face a real team.

Really, I hope the team realize they need to do better than that in the CL. If they don't, another 4-0 is coming I'm afraid. We'll just have to hope the Stamford Bridge game was a one-off Hlebruary thing.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Last time Chelsea had rested team compared to us. (tough away game vs Eibar with starting eleven.)

I believe we will go through.

 

[BarçaBarça]

Last time Chelsea had rested team compared to us. (tough away game vs Eibar with starting eleven.)

I believe we will go through.

Now we have a rested

I feel confident that we will go through, the question is how, and I really hope to see Dembele get a substantial amount of time - it would do him and the team good.

 

[Barcaman]

Feeling very optimistic about the match. Think Chelsea had a great (smart) match in London but can't repeat such performance.

In Barcelona they will face another scenario and they wont be playing the lead part.

 

[dostoevskij]

Is he good or bad for us. ?

Not familiar with him at all.

he booked messi against juve in the group stage for complaining after getting fouled, didnet book the juventus player though!!!

i also remember him for booking Neymar against gladbach for constant complaining.

and he was the referee in the second leg of the bayern trashing we got in 12/13.

i guess that are his only 3 barca games!

 

[Vilarrubi]

Chelsea can either press high and hope for a mistake from us.. or park the bus and counter. Interesting to see how Conte will set them up.

Either way at some point in the game Chelsea have to attack and we need to exploit that.

 

[Neeraj]

Now we have a rested

I feel confident that we will go through, the question is how, and I really hope to see Dembele get a substantial amount of time - it would do him and the team good.

Funny seeing how everyone thinks we have a rested Messi. He just had a child, I'd think this would be the most sleepless of any period of his life!

He would probably be more rested had he been walking around against Malaga

 

[Neeraj]

Chelsea can either press high and hope for a mistake from us.. or park the bus and counter. Interesting to see how Conte will set them up.

Either way at some point in the game Chelsea have to attack and we need to exploit that.

There's no way they are going to do anything but park the bus and counter. Absolutely no way. He even used the City game as practice

 

[Vilarrubi]

There's no way they are going to do anything but park the bus and counter. Absolutely no way. He even used the City game as practice

That didn't go too well though! The most one sided 1-0 game of football i've ever seen...

Some teams who have pressed us have had success in the past, Atletico, Celta etc

 

[Neeraj]

That didn't go too well though! The most one sided 1-0 game of football i've ever seen...

Some teams who have pressed us have had success in the past, Atletico, Celta etc

True, but I think City are far more dynamic than us, and Conte probably knows that. Somehow, I get the feeling that he views that 1-0 as a 'fairly' successful outcome against a rampant City .

 

[henias]

True, but I think City are far more dynamic than us, and Conte probably knows that. Somehow, I get the feeling that he views that 1-0 as a 'fairly' successful outcome against a rampant City .

Chelsea can't even counter because they were pushed so deep in their box and need to constantly track the 3 attackers. Their fullbacks are stretched and didnt dare to press high.

If we just pass around in the midfield and "play it safe", they will not hesitate to press us like hell and hope we make a mistake. Especially a mistake from Paulinho who doesnt retain the ball well and try to pass back and sideways all the time. For me, Dembele will be the best choice to go for the kill and suffocate them. It's risky to hold on to a 1 goal advantage, if they score a late goal, that's it.

Camp Nou will be a bigger pitch and they will press high which will leave alot of space behind them. We should exploit that and not make their job easy as they only have to mark Messi. The fullbacks will be free of defensive work and can go forward and counter.

EV needs to be a little bolder here, even though i know he wont.

 

[Neymessi]

I have faith in our power on Camp Nou. Haven't lost at home in CL since 2013. Don't see us not scoring at least 2 and don't see Chelsea scoring more than 1. We got this. No way we're going out to the 5th best team in England at home.

How do you see us scorin AT LEAST 2? Because I don't see us scoring at least 2 against chelsea.

We really need to up our ante and EV needs to smart up for once with his lineups. Dembele and iniesta both need to start. If he goes with a defensive approach to see the game off we are most definitely going out. We aren't atletico, and if we go out with a defensive mindset it most defnitely won't work just like it didn't in 16 when we played atletico away defensively because we had the 2-1 lead in first leg.

We need to play with attacking intent most importantly, not THAT attacking like going all out attack but still.

 

[Stoichkov1]

How do you see us scorin AT LEAST 2? Because I don't see us scoring at least 2 against chelsea.

We really need to up our ante and EV needs to smart up for once with his lineups. Dembele and iniesta both need to start. If he goes with a defensive approach to see the game off we are most definitely going out. We aren't atletico, and if we go out with a defensive mindset it most defnitely won't work just like it didn't in 16 when we played atletico away defensively because we had the 2-1 lead in first leg.

We need to play with attacking intent most importantly, not THAT attacking like going all out attack but still.

We could just pass the ball between us for 90 mins with sideways passes, Chelsea can't score a goal if they don't have the ball.

If we want to adopt this strategy Paulinho needs to be on the bench though.