Can Barcelona Come Back Against Chelsea? And That Other Match, Too

by HandofDog on Apr 24, 2025 10:56 AM CDT in Other Sports

One of the rare times Drogba stayed on his feet last week.

Something momentous happened on Saturday: Real Madrid beat Barcelona. I've written about the depth of passion in this rivalry before, but this Real win took on some extra importance. Real had a four-point lead in the La Liga table going into the match, with just a handful of games left. Their win (and their ridiculous form all season) pretty much ensures the title will be on the AVE back to Madrid in a few weeks.

But even beyond that, the match followed Barcelona's 1-0 loss to Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final a few days earlier, and you have to go back to May of 2009 for the last time Barca lost two matches in a row (and those matches were played with second-stringers after the title had already been one). This team has swept aside all before them over the past few years, picking up 13 trophies in the last three and a half years, and done it with stylish, attacking football.

Last week's match versus Chelsea was a frustrating one for Barcelona. They enjoyed 79% of possession and managed 24 shots to Chelsea's 4. But Didier Drogba was able to put away the London team's single shot on goal, whereas Barca wasted several great opportunities, hit the crossbar and a post, and walked away empty-handed. The Clasico match on Sunday was very similar, with Barcelona carving out plenty of chances, but failing to convert, and Madrid broke on the counter and was ruthless in front of goal.

Is there a crisis at Barcelona? Sure, even if only by the high standards the team has set for itself. Despite those 13 trophies, the season really comes down to Tuesday's semi-final second leg. It doesn't matter that Barcelona already has three pieces of silverware this season (the European Super Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and the World Club Championship), and has the Spanish Cup final yet to come. Losing the Liga title and falling out of the Champions League represents failure for Barcelona.

Real provided a second data point for Chelsea on how to beat Barcelona, but in truth, both teams' game plans relied on some fallibility from the blaugrana. Again, that's a measure of just how good this team is. Beating them doesn't take just a good gameplan and perfect execution; you've got to hope for them to screw up a bit, as well. The odds would say this won't happen three times in a row (and indeed, British bookies have Barcelona as a 2/7 favorite to win the match).

This really is a defining moment for Barcelona. On the face of it, this squad has little left to prove; it's undoubtedly been the best in the world the last few seasons. And while La Liga may have come and gone, Barca has the chance to salvage its season by turning the Chelsea tie around and showing that it may be down, but not out.

In the other semi-final, Real Madrid is looking to turn around a 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich in their second leg on Wednesday. A last-minute Mario Gomez goal gave Bayern the win, but Real will certainly be feeling confident coming off their victory at Barcelona and feel like they have a good chance to win the match and the tie at home, meaning there's a good chance we could see one more Clasico this season, played in Munich to decide the Champions League winner.

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Comments

European soccer for idiots

“(the European Super Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and the World Club Championship), and has the Spanish Cup”

Could you give a very casual fan a primer on what these are, and European soccer in general?

I know all the countries have their regular seasons (Premiership, La Liga, etc.) and then there are country-wide tourneys—FA Cup (is that what Spanish Cup and Super Cup are? What’s the difference?)

Then there is the Champions League. I have figured out this is for the top finishers in the various country leagues. Then I believe there is a Europa League? Is that for lower finishers, and teams that wash out of the Champions League early?

What is the European Super Cup and the World Club Championship (I’m guess the Champions League but worldwide?)

Thanks.

by Chitwood on Apr 24, 2025 11:13 AM CDT reply actions

Sure, grab some popcorn

You’re right, each country has their league (EPL in England, La Liga in Spain, Serie A in Italy, and so on). Then each country has one or two knockout-style cup competitions. For instance in England, there’s the FA Cup, which is open to a huge number of teams in the country, including semi-pro and amateur sides, and it’s made up of something like 15 rounds. There is also the League Cup (currently named the Carling Cup after its sponsor), which is open to the 92 teams in the Football League (the top 4 divisions).

Take a deep breath now and repeat for the other countries :)

The Spanish Cup (called the Copa del Rey) is that country’s cup competition. The Spanish Super Cup pits its winner against the winner of the league in a match at the beginning of each season.

In the same way, the European Super Cup has the winner of the Champions League against the winner of the Europa League. The Champions League is the top teams from each country (this number varies from country to country, based on their past performance in the competition); the Europa League is teams that finish below them, and then some teams that get knocked out early of the Champions League go into it. (For instance, the top 4 teams in England go to the Champions League, then teams 5-7 go to the Europa League, with some variation based on who wins the League and FA Cups.)

The World Club Championship takes the winner of each continent’s championship (the Champions League, African Champions League, etc) and has them play in a short tournament held in Japan in December.

It’s absolutely confusing to the newcomer, particularly to people from the US where the idea of the same team competing in multiple competitions is unusual. Hopefully this clears it up some, if not, ask away.

by HandofDog on Apr 24, 2025 3:53 PM CDT up reply actions

Awesome

That was a huge help, Dog, thanks. Makes sense. I love the whole idea of relegation and promotion. It will never happen, but that would be awesome to watch for American baseball.

by Chitwood on Apr 25, 2025 11:00 AM CDT up reply actions

Thanks

Nice caption. Drogba has a lot of Ray Bolger in him.

Follow @BarkingCarnival

by Sailor Ripley on Apr 24, 2025 12:27 PM CDT reply actions

Ray Bolger has a lot of termites in him

by Big(g) Ern on Apr 24, 2025 1:20 PM CDT up reply actions

The Blues are in trouble

They’re only advantage is the sheer strength of Drogba and their center backs. But they’re not going to get the benefit of the calls in Spain.

Call it 3-1 to the flying Messi’s.

Now more importantly, who have you got for the 30th?

by flamingmonkeyass on Apr 24, 2025 12:31 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

more on the 30th later in the week/weekend

Tough call, so I’ll say “0-0”.

by HandofDog on Apr 24, 2025 3:41 PM CDT up reply actions

haha on the AVE. nice reference.

by CZW on Apr 24, 2025 1:00 PM CDT reply actions

It's good writing

when i keep reading even though I have very little native interest in the subject. Nicely done.

by Scipio Tex on Apr 24, 2025 3:16 PM CDT reply actions

thanks!

by HandofDog on Apr 24, 2025 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions

wow

That’s an epic result for Chelsea, doubly so considering John Terry’s dumb ass.

by HandofDog on Apr 24, 2025 3:39 PM CDT reply actions

John Terry

breathes a sigh of relief.

So, Chelsea is through to the final but all of their players are DQ’d so they forfeit.

Follow @BarkingCarnival

by Sailor Ripley on Apr 24, 2025 4:13 PM CDT reply actions

stupid rule

I really don’t like the rule that keeps players out of finals on cumulative yellow cards. There’s got to be a better way.

by HandofDog on Apr 24, 2025 5:21 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

Oh, don't get me started.

Follow @BarkingCarnival

by Sailor Ripley on Apr 24, 2025 7:53 PM CDT up reply actions

Terry deserves to be held out of the final

Bush league from him, but what else do you expect from that guy? That’s what he does on a weekly basis in the EPL. But I feel sorry for the other players that are held out. I would say that they may have a chance to appeal, but UEFA doesn’t get down like that.

by Amen Amachigh on Apr 24, 2025 7:53 PM CDT reply actions

Huge result for Chelsea and the EPL

To have an English team in the final in a “down year” for the league is amazing…not to mention the cherry on top of beating the best team in the world. I wonder if/how much Barca management, ownership and fans are going to overreact to not winning the big two trophies this year. I wonder how Andres Villas-Boas feels right now….

by Amen Amachigh on Apr 24, 2025 7:59 PM CDT reply actions

I can't believe barca miss David villa so much

This is a team with tons and tons of offensive talent. Nine of the ten non-goalie players in that staring 11 are a threats offensively and the one who isn’t (Busquets) is one of the ones that scored. And yet this game just showed that if you park the bus and can keep Messi from breaking you down (not always possible) that Barcelona doesn’t have another finisher without Villa.

They also need a CB that will stay at freaking home.

by flamingmonkeyass on Apr 24, 2025 8:50 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

agreed

I was thinking this both yesterday and on Saturday during El Clasico. They play with 9 offensive threats but no real center-forward to finish off their dink-dink-dink moves. IMO that makes them pretty one-dimensional as all their attacks seem to come the same way, at the end of sustained possession just outside the penalty box. It was much more noticeable in the Madrid match as every time Messi got the ball in this area, at least 3 defenders would close him down.

by HandofDog on Apr 25, 2025 11:36 AM CDT up reply actions

Dude

Barca’s style is design to put tremendous pressure on opponents to be super clinical and not lose concentration. The lions share of possession doesn’t guarantee you a win, but it makes things so much easier. Go ask Marcelo Bielsa, Guardiola did.

Messi can handle an entire defense that only gives him 2" of space. But if he’s as flat as he has been lately, you can handle him with two or three guys at most. I never seen Messi so flat in big matches as he was yesterday and Saturday.

Also, other components must be working for synergy to happen. Xavi(injured/substituted) has to be in good form, and Cesc-the guy that does an insane amount of dirty work, has to be engaged. None of those parts where working properly in the last two matches. Where was Fabregas when Messi was being closed down by three and sometimes four guys? If you have a crowd of defenders around the ball, it usually means there’s space to be exploited, and defenders out of position-even in Murinho’s system. This is was Cesc most the season, playing up front and making defenses pay for their sins.

No excuses, it was what it was, and Chelsea did what it had to do. But to say that the system is outdated is quite a stretch.

They don’t miss Villa as much as the core that usually wrecks shop was out of sync/flat. It happens sometimes, that’s just basic probability. And Barca’s style is all a numbers game.

by Cheese Bits on Apr 25, 2025 8:23 PM CDT up reply actions

never said it was outdated

I never said their system was outdated (nor ineffective), just that it’s one-dimensional. 9 times out of 10, that one dimension is world-beating, and I agree with all your points and think they support what I’m saying in the comment and above in the post — Barca plays one way, and usually it’s exceedingly effective. But when you get the confluence of events that you point out — Messi is off, Xavi is off and the opposition parks the bus — they don’t have much ability to change things up. For example, Puyol was the tallest player for them on Wednesday, and he’s only like 5’10" or something, so they’re not much of a threat on crosses or corners into the box.

Villa does add a slightly different dimension and a bit more dynamism up front than playing with no out-and-out striker. Again, I agree that with Messi and Xavi doing the business, it doesn’t usually matter, but when they are misfiring, there aren’t a lot of other options. Bringing Sanchez on vs Madrid added a spark, but in many other cases the attempt has been to put Keita or even Pique playing high up the pitch.

Where was Fabregas, you ask? On the bench… he didn’t come on until the 81st minute of El Clasico and got subbed off in the 74th against Chelsea. I think some of Guardiola’s team selections (like Tello), especially against Madrid, are worth debating.

by HandofDog on Apr 26, 2025 2:46 PM CDT up reply actions

good piece in the Guardian on some of these points

Sid Lowe is the authority on Spanish football in the English-speaking press:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/apr/25/barcelona-pep-guardiola-chelsea

by HandofDog on Apr 25, 2025 12:18 PM CDT up reply actions

the bigger loss is meireles with a second yellow in the 89th minute

on a stupid foul.

As big as Chelsea’s win was today, they are limping in to the final without a few key guys.

Despite Bayern’s incentive to play up and bring the final back home to Munich, this just became Real Madrid’s tourney to lose.

Nice post, HOD.

by Vasherized on Apr 24, 2025 11:15 PM CDT reply actions

Nice to have a soccer article

Even better if a Longhorn connection.

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on Apr 25, 2025 7:33 AM CDT reply actions

Unbelievable finish yesterday

With less than 3 minutes and a 2-1 lead why the Hell was Barca trying to score, and not playing eat the clock? Instead, they played eat the cock.

Has to be one of the biggest fubars in recent memory for a team of Barca’s caliber. Good teaching moment for my two soccer-playing kids.
1) Its’ never over until it’s over
2) Don’t ever do that if you’ve got a lead and less than 5 min. You can play aggressive, but still leave some defense back. Holy Hell, I’m still amazed at that finish.

Today’s match of Madrid vs Bayer should be good.

by Texoz on Apr 25, 2025 9:59 AM CDT reply actions

I believe

Barca still needed to score because with a 2-1 lead there was a 2-2 aggregate and Chelsea would advance because they had more away goals.

by UTeze on Apr 25, 2025 10:11 AM CDT up reply actions

UTeze and bluemango are right

At 2-1, the score was tied 2-2 on aggregate (Chelsea won the first match at home 1-0). When the aggregate score is tied, goals scored away are the tiebreaker; Chelsea had 1 of those and Barca had 0. They could only go through if they scored again, making the aggregate 3-2.

by HandofDog on Apr 25, 2025 11:30 AM CDT up reply actions