Sharethematch.com ambassador Andy Gray was talking exclusively to South West Londoner….
FOR Chelsea to win the tie is going take a superhuman effort. They are going to have to play better than they did at Stamford Bridge and they have to score in Barcelona.
Can they do that? I’m not so sure. They did remarkably well the other night to get the result they did, lots of things went their way – how they played defensively and some good fortune went a long way to get a result.
Even though I thought Barcelona were not quite at their very best, they still created enough chances to have won the game. And Barcelona must feel that they are good enough to win the game at the Nou Camp.
In all the games they have played at the Nou Camp this year, there has only been one game where they haven’t scored more than two goals.
That tells you the size of the task that Chelsea are up against. And Chelsea are going to need another performance like the one at Stamford Bridge – backs-against-the-wall – to go through.
They can go there and yet again everything like last Wednesday can go right for them. Barcelona may hit the woodwork five times this time, Petr Cech might pull off five great saves or an offside decision may go their way.
All of these things, you feel, can still happen, but it’s just a huge ask. I think I would’ve fancied the Chelsea of old more. The Chelsea of three or four years ago, I would have fancied to get a result there. I’m not sure this Chelsea side are as good as that.
We have to remember that Chelsea only had one shot on target pretty much during the whole of the 90 minutes when they were at home. So it’s going to be very difficult for them to score.
If they do score then that gives them a great platform, but this Barcelona side is capable of scoring three – there is no mistake about that. And whether Chelsea score or not won’t concern Barcelona, they still feel that they’ve got enough to get through.
They could’ve scored three at Stamford Bridge – and nobody would’ve complained. So I think it’s a massive task.
Roberto Di Matteo does deserve a lot of credit, but I still think we need to wait. If at the end of Tuesday night he’s got them through to the final then we can heap as much credit on him as we want and deservedly so. But if they get beat 5-0 or 4-0 on Tuesday night then it won’t look so good.
I’m not trying to play down Chelsea’s chances, I just think the lads will realise that they’ve got a massive job to do and everything has to go their way because without doubt Barcelona are the better side.
Andy Gray is an official ambassador for Sharethematch.com – Football’s Social Network. Available now for FREE online or at the App Store; http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/share-the-match/id450784289?mt=8
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