This has been one of the classic fixtures in European football over the past couple of decades and each meeting has brought up special moments, incredible goals and buckets of controversy. This time the two giants of the Champions League meet at the last 16 stage with the Blues hosting the La Liga leaders at Stamford Bridge in the first leg. Barcelona have lost just one game all season in all competitions while Chelsea have dropped off the pace in their Premier League title defence so the West Londoners start this one as underdogs.
Team News
Marcos Alonso is expected to return for Chelsea in his usual left wing-back role having trained on Monday while Ross Barkley also took part in the session. It looks like TIemoue Bakayoko and David Luiz will miss out through injury having not trained at all this week. It’ll be a big day for Cesc Fabregas and Pedro who face their former club for the first time as Chelsea players. As for the visitors, Nelson Semedo is unavailable through suspension while Thomas Vermaelen is a major doubt because of injury. Philippe Coutinho is cup-tied having played in the Champions League for Liverpool already this season but Olivier Giroud is available for the hosts.
Probable Chelsea XI (3-4-3): Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Moses, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso; Willian, Morata, Hazard.
Probable Barcelona XI (4-4-2): Ter Stegan; Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Iniesta, Busquets, Paulinho; Suarez, Messi.
Key Battles
It’ll be a big night for N’Golo Kante with Barcelona fielding a four-man midfield where the attacking players like Paulinho and Rakitic like to venture forward. Lionel Messi will also drop deep and find pockets of space so if Kante plays at his best, that could stifle Barcelona’s most creative players. During his Real Madrid days, Alvaro Morata never notched against their Catalan rivals but he has scored against them in the Champions League before. It was just the small matter of the Champions League Final in 2015 when he netted the equaliser in Juventus’s 3-1 defeat in Berlin. The gaps between Chelsea’s wing-backs and centre-backs have been exploited in the past and Barcelona could cause damage and exploit those spaces with the likes of Messi and Suarez getting in advanced areas. Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso will have to tuck right in in order to plug the gaps.
Chelsea’s record vs Barcelona
The Blues are unbeaten against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge and have been a thorn in their side for the last couple of decades. Champions League encounters have seen goals like John Terry’s accurate header in 2005, Frank Lampard’s lob in 2006, Michael Essien’s thundering volley in 2009 and Ramires’s audacious chip in 2012.
These two have met each other in the last 16 before – with Chelsea taking the spoils in 2005 before Barcelona got their revenge the following season. In fact, there’s nothing to separate the two when it’s come to knockout ties with each club having two wins each. One game that lives in the memory, not for the right reasons for Chelsea fans, was the semi-final in 2009 when the Blues were denied four penalty shouts before Andres Iniesta struck late on to send the Spaniards through. Controversy is never far away in this game; John Terry was sent off in the Nou Camp in 2012 by Tuesday’s referee, Cuneyt Cakir. One good omen for Chelsea fans is that, in eight previous meetings, Lionel Messi has never found the net. The 5-time Ballon d’Or winner’s record against the Blues is the worst out of all the teams he has faced during his glittering career.
Ernesto Valverde has declared that his team will try their best to score at Stamford Bridge so expect the away side to have a lot of the ball, as they always do. But, maybe, just maybe, a Chelsea player can produce a moment of magic that decides the game and it could be Eden Hazard’s time to shine.
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