Can Barcelona overcome Chelsea in the Champions League?

Barcelona fans knew that their team were in for a tough time in the opening leg of their Champions League tie against Chelsea, and so it proved. Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is one of the game’s shrewder tacticians and he sent his side out with a game plan based around frustrating Barça’s key players, which almost worked.

Chelsea were able to contain Barça by changing their line-up, playing Eden Hazard in the false nine role, and pressing high throughout the game, smothering Barça’s star creators with a display of organisation and controlled aggression that made it hard for Messi and his teammates to break free. Meanwhile, Willian gave Barça plenty of problems with his energy and pace, and the Brazilian seemed to have given the home side the advantage shortly after the hour mark when he scored the game’s opener.

However, Barça can never be counted out. Despite spending most of the game running into a mass of blue-shirted opponents, Messi and Iniesta continued to probe and look for openings, and with 15 minutes to go, Iniesta found space on the edge of the area, setting up Messi who beat Courtois in the Chelsea goal with a first-time shot to level the tie.

The celebrations from coach Valverde and the Barça bench following that goal showed how important it was to the team. With an away goal under their belt, Barça will head to the Nou Camp on 14th March as favourites to make it to the last eight.

As well as being rated as the likeliest winners of the Champions League by most bookmakers and football punters, Barça are strongly fancied to win the second leg of this tie, and if you want to place a bet on Stakers.com, you will be backing them at a pretty short price.

However, Barça will not be complacent ahead of this game, not just because Conte is such a wily manager, but also because of the memories of 2012. That year, a Chelsea side under Roberto Di Matteo pulled off a remarkable 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp, despite conceding 72 per cent possession and allowing Barça 22 shots on goal. That was probably a poorer side than the current Chelsea team, and Valverde will be wary of what Conte might have in store.

To an extent, Chelsea will probably attempt to replicate the 2012 performance by digging in and hoping to threaten Barça with quick, direct attacks down the flanks. Given the frequency with which Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba get forward, there will be opportunities for Chelsea’s wing-backs, Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses, to cause Barça problems, and we can also expect the same kind of harrying and work rate that the London side showed in the first leg.

However, away from home, Chelsea will find it harder to press high up the pitch, and Barça are likely to enjoy more space than they did at Stamford Bridge, which will enable the likes of Messi and Iniesta to impose themselves on the game and control the pace of play.

It should also be remembered that Barcelona also have tactical options. Since Neymar’s departure, the team has shown a lot of flexibility. They are capable of operating with three up front, and they have plenty of options in midfield. Sometimes, Valverde opts for Rakitić and Busquets in those areas; sometimes, he plays only one of the two; and Paulinho has also been employed as deep-lying midfielder to great effect.

While the Messi-Suárez strike force is the deadliest in European football, Barça are also looking more solid at the back this season, thanks to the successful implementation of the high-press. This has enabled Barça to control the game more easily, which has brought the best out of Busquets and Iniesta, and provided Messi and Suárez with more ammunition.

Another factor in Barça’s favour is their relatively straightforward schedule before the second leg. The home game against closest La Liga rivals Atlético Madrid on 4th March will be a tough one, but otherwise the fixture list looks kind, with the final game before the Chelsea match being an easy match at bottom side Málaga offering Valverde the chance to rest key players. With the squad more or less at full strength and no significant injury problems to worry about, Barça could have the ideal preparation for this game, and despite Chelsea’s best efforts, they should prove too strong for the English side, en route to the quarter finals.