This evening is the first leg in what promises to be an epic clash between two of the biggest teams in European football, when the Catalan giants Barcelona FC host Chelsea at the Nou Camp in the semi-final of the Champions’ League.
The last 2 times these sides met in Europe (2004-05 and 2006-07 seasons) the Londoners were victorious but the time before that (1999-2000 quarter finals) Barca made a dramaric comeback and beat the Blues 5-1 after extra time despite losing the away match 3-1 in London. Arguably this year Barca are stronger than ever, lying streets ahead of all opposition in La Liga and able to field Messi, the highest scorer in the Champion’s League and described by many as the best player in the world, in their line-up.
The rest of Barca’s squad is also impressive, including Henry and Xavi. Henry of course needs no introduction to fans of English football and Xavi is an excellent player who currently is joint top with Ribery of Bayern Munich in terms of assists in the competition. Chelsea will be disappointed that they are not able to field Ashley Cole (suspended) to mark Messi, but a confident Jose Bosingwa is likely to cover at left back. Chelsea are also likely to play Drogba, who is demonstrating a fine run of form at the moment, including scoring in the last 5 of Chelsea’s Champions’ League matches.
Undoubtedly tonight will be a showcase for some fine displays of attacking football, but if history is anything to go by, there may also be some tempers shown. Drogba received a red card during Barcelona's 2-1 win over Chelsea in the 2004-05 competition. The 2-2 draw between the 2 clubs in October 2006 saw 10 players receiving a yellow card. The managers also have some history when it comes to cards; when Hiddink managed Valencia against Barcelona in 1992, the Dutchman was sent off the pitch for arguing and Guardiola, who was then a Barca player, was sent off for two yellows.
Both teams do however have a lot of respect for each other. Despite confidently proclaiming that Barça “won’t fail” Josep Guardiola believes the tie will be decided in London and acknowledges that “no-one goes to Stamford Bridge thinking they’ll have an easy game.” When asked about how Barça would play against Chelsea, Guardiola said that Barca were up against a very strong team, “They’ve got some very powerful players with a lot of experience ... their players are a lot more powerful than ours and are dangerous in the air.”
Hiddink will however not be under-estimating the Spanish giants, who are often brilliant in their own stadium, aiming to overpower the opposition both with skill and with a high tempo closing down style in the opposition's half, which leaves many teams floundering and unable to recover under this early onslaught. Hiddink’s defence will have to be at their absolute best to resist this. Hiddink is however insisting that Chelsea will not sit back and allow Barcelona to dictate play, "This team has to go for it," says Hiddink."Chelsea are not a team who can sit back and wait for one or two counter-attacks. We must play courageously. It's important to score in Barcelona given it's a two-legged tie, so we can have a big chance at home as well. “
The Catalans are favourites to progress to Rome, but no one at Barcelona is viewing this as an easy tie and no one at Chelsea lacks confidence that they will put up a great challenge. This tie is hard to call but my prediction is 2:0 to Barca, which will set things up nicely for an explosive return leg next week at Stamford Bridge.
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