Poor, poor Barca

spot on is, well, spot on--chelsea did the simple math: they knew they were up against a superior opponent with better players and a more dangerous approach to the game, so they did what anyone who plays for the cold hard result and not the pride and beauty of the game would do. i don't see what anyone's worked up about--perhaps barcelona, if there were a team good enough to strike so much fear in their heart as to make them change their style, would duck and cover as well. obviously chelsea is not that team, but maybe someday barcelona will meet such a side.

No Jack, my point is that the English papers would always back Chelsea up. Much like how the Spanish papers would do for Barcelona.

My point was that if the game was at the bridge and Chelsea attacked all game and had 70% posession and still gave up a 0-0 draw since barcelona parked the bus, the English papers would be up in arms about how Barca didnt come to play football.

And lets not even talk about the fact that when Italians do it, its catenaccio and when English teams do it, its brave defending.

I don't see your point, k. If the English press had vilified Chelsea, I would have posted it and criticized it.

Cant fault chelsea for doing what they did. The only thing is, if it were an Italian team vs. an English team and the english team did the attacking and the Italian team did what chelsea did, the English papers would be up in arms about how boring the Italian game is and how "catenaccio" is the death of football.

Forget the fact that when english teams do it, its "brave defending" or that Man United did the same game on their way to the final.

I guess my point is that the papers of the country the club hails from will back up their clubs. Did you really expect Spanish papers to applaud your defensive efforts? OR if you were the team that attacked and attacked and Barcelona were the one to escape with a draw, would you expect the English papers to say that Barca defended "bravely"?

Well said Kxevin. Maybe I am a cynic for not expecting Chels to chase the game at home but, like you said, all I care about is the result.

lol 3 EPL teams vs. 1 Spanish team..

I only wish, Jack. I help run the Barca space in these parts, as the barely-capable No. 2 to Isaiah. But I do roam a bit to interesting discussions such as this one.

Is that you Sid Lowe?

Some of us Barca fans understand that the game is called football, and tactics are a means to a desired result. Chelsea used the tactics they needed to in order to get the result they wanted.

I do wonder how long Chelsea supporters are going to continue playing the aggrieved party, however, railing about those silly cules who are nattering about them not having played football. You got the result that you wanted. Shouldn't that stand on its own? Let the Spanish players and press howl.

Cynics even doubt that the side will come out to play at home, given the believed superiority of Cech over Valdes. Just play for PKs, right, or "play solid defense and nick a goal?" :D

Some of the howls are rooted in expectations, given all the talk about how the Premiership was the best league in the world, and that Barca were about to find that out. With such talk ringing about, people were expecting tactics a bit more developed than those of, say, Numancia.

I wasn't, because first legs are always tight and defensive. Hell, our lads were playing as if they already had one eye on the Bernabeu. Which explains Messi giving Bosingwa a pass, and Eto'o NOT giving a pass to Xavi or Henry, who were both open in the box for tap-ins. Bojan Krkic is also in header class this week.

So. Depending on what side of the fence you sit, you either saw a defensive master class, and Barca's noses getting rubbed in it, or detestable anti-football. It could have been either a 1-0 Chelsea win, or a 3-0 Barca win. That's the nature of fans.

I saw the match that I pretty much expected to see, though I hoped for a different one. And that's that. We'll see about next week, though I will say it's a shame that your lads don't have a league championship to play for, to keep you all from resting the starting XI. I'd like to see both sides on equal footing. But we would have been able to rest our lads too, had we not pissed away two-thirds of a 12-point lead.

And so it goes.

Spot On- It seems clear you haven't watched much football recently. While the Spanish national team may be superior to England's, the club teams are not. Barca may be a lone exception but I seem to recall Real Madrid getting thumped by Liverpool and Villareal getting dumped out by Arsenal. There is no question the EPL is the class of the world right now.

It would be criminal for any team to go in to the Nou Camp and attack. Given that Guus is not an idiot, we didn't do that. I really don't care what the rest of the world thinks, hate us if you want but all we have to do is nick a goal and play solid defense again and we are in the final.

I don't get why it's so vitriolic towards Chelsea...besides the fact that it's Chelsea. Honestly I thought it was a fine European, Liverpudlian performance if I've ever seen one. If Chelsea nicked one or two, which they could have, and still played the same way the reaction would have been completely different.

Chelsea were smart enough to know they are not good enough to match Barcelona if they decided to play football, so they decided not to do so. Vey smart. Congradulations. EPL teams play more open games against each other, they have the same quality level. Against superior opponents they know their limitations.

Thats not something to critisize, but to praise.

I just annoys me that people don't seem to realise that there are different ways of playing football, depending on the match.

For Chelsea to attack like Barca did may have been entertaining, but would have been suicide.

Julian you said 'I thought Chelsea played a coward’s game and got a point out of it.' what point? neither side was playing for 3 points dumbo.. go blues!

Oh, and thanks for the support Wayne. I thought you guys deserved a couple more today.

I knew this would stir the pot - I love it.

it's contrasting styles of play. in spain, the way the game is played is almost as important as the result. many times, it is MORE important than the result. in england, that's not the case - the result is paramount. in the end, if chelsea wins the champions league, then yes, I will be very proud of how we frustrated the best attacking team in the world as will every other chelsea supporter.

if I've said it once, I'll say it again. you would be AN IDIOT to know barcelona's weakness beforehand and not exploit it. everyone in the world knows that if you play open football against barcelona, you will lose, because barcelona plays open, attacking football better than anyone else. solution? don't let them play that type of football. you barca supporters can complain all you want about chelsea's "style of play". the fact of the matter is that chelsea is a phenomenal attacking team, just not against barcelona. and in the end, when all is said and done, it's chelsea that got the result we needed, which justifies our strategy. so get over it.

"contain barca a bit"-- really? more like play only defense. it was one of the most frustrating games to watch. Not to mention, one of the worst displays I have seen from Chelsea. Half the time they didnt even try to counter attack. When Chelsea doesn't make it to the next round their lack of defense on the first leg will be geatly regretted by chelsea supporters everywhere.

Spoon- I was being sarcastic, or at least trying to. I thought Chelsea played a coward's game and got a point out of it. If they win the trophy this year can you really say you're proud of that?

Displays like that made you watch the Champions League? I hope your being sarcastic, I hate Barca but I was screaming for them to open up your tightly packed box. Games like this show how broken the format of the European cup is, and make Spain's triumph for beautiful football at the Euro a mere memory. Congrats

Yup let's all applaud Chelsea. I mean it was displays like theirs that make us all watch the CL to begin with right? Cheers all around.

it simple does not make sense how people can demonize Chelsea over their tactic. this is how I see it. barcelona is one of if not the best attacking side in the world. so, if you let them attack freely they will win, especially at home. does is not make sense to keep them from attacking?

I'm on you side, Chelsea played some great stuff and so what if they tried to contain Barca a bit?

Football is all about doing what you can to make the opposition less potent, and your own team more potent.

Chelsea did that, and for that they should be applauded.

haha thats some good shit there just you wait barcy till we defeat you at the bridge