Tell me you watched. Tell you me were able to get off work
or had the game recorded and you experienced the same wondrous, awe-inspiring,
history-defining moment that occurred on Tuesday in Barcelona. If you don’t
know, you’re about to: Chelsea, a club that has been disappointing in Premier
League play this season, pulled off the upset of the century in the Champions
League semifinals against the mighty Barcelona.
The week before at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea played
phenomenally and held off Barcelona 1-0 to take a lead going into the leg in
Spain. Even though they were down, no one expected that Barca would have any
trouble regaining their form and moving on at home. Then, Saturday happened.
What happened, you ask? The all-important match with Real Madrid that pretty
much decided the La Liga title ended with a loss for Barcelona. In that match,
and in the first leg with Chelsea, something looked off with the Spanish giants.
They didn’t have the consistent and precise touch and finishing that has been
so frustrating for opposing sides the last few years.
After that loss, I thought that Chelsea might have a chance
to move on, even though on paper they were the far inferior team. This thought
was weakened when the game began. Camp Nou was rocking and Barcelona came to
play, dominating from the get-go. Sergio Busquets gave them a lead in the 35th
minute and then John Terry committed a dirty knee-in-the-back foul and earned
himself a red card just a couple minutes later. Chelsea found themselves a man
and then another goal down after Iniesta scored Barca’s second. However, just
before halftime, Ramires took a wonderful through-ball from Frank Lampard and
scored a beauty of a goal, chipping the ball over Victor Valdes from the edge
of the box. This goal evened the aggregate score and gave Chelsea some hope.
For me, the deciding blow came shortly after halftime.
Barcelona were again pressing heavily in the Chelsea box and Didier Drogba, who
has played so well in Champions League, committed a penalty in the box. Lionel
Messi, arguably the greatest player of this generation, stepped to the spot to
finish the Blues off. Right as he went to kick it, there seemed to be a moment of
hesitation and he banged it off the crossbar.
After the Messi miss, there were still an innumerable amount
of chances for Barcelona to score the winning goal. They had possession almost
non-stop and were in Chelsea’s half constantly. In this manner, they looked the
Barca of old. However, they lacked just the right amount of finesse to finish
off their chances. Chelsea even tried to help. They brought on Fernando Torres,
who up until that time was the biggest bust of recent transfer memory, for
Drogba. Torres struggled a bit in defense and it seemed that he could be the
goat once again. But in the 90th minute, Torres broke free on a
clear and coolly slotted home the goal that assured Chelsea of advancement. To
have Torres finish off this monumental upset was symbolic of the greatness of
this accomplishment.
Taken as a whole, this round was as unlikely as anyone could
have imagined. Even the most loyal of Chelsea fans had to admit that their
chances were minimal. But Chelsea showed that heart and willpower could trump a
less-than-perfect Barca squad. Over a span of eight days, Barcelona fell hard
from glory. They were bounced out of both Champions League and La Liga title
contention and on Friday, coach Pep Guardiola stepped down as Barca’s top man.
Barcelona will have to use this offseason to re-group and evaluate how to get
back to the pinnacle.
Chelsea, on the other hand, will have a tough time in the
final against Bayern Munich, who won in astonishing fashion against Real
Madrid, as they lost several players on yellow cards and Terry’s red. Though
their chances will be slim yet again, I will not doubt Chelsea’s chances, even
if they have to travel to Bayern’s home stadium to play. No matter the result,
I have to like interim coach Roberto Di Matteo’s chances of becoming the
permanent coach, as he has done an amazing job of keeping this squad on task.
We can only wait and wonder until May 19th to see how this crazy and
exciting Champions League season comes to a finish.
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