Chelsea, Barcelona draw as Bayern hammer Besiktas

“Sometimes it was like a game of handball because they dropped back and waited, but we didn’t lose patience and our performance was very complete”.

The second tie will be played at the Nou Camp on March 14.

Barcelona, who had over 70 per cent of the possession, continued to push forward and went close on 27 minute but Paulinho’s cross did not pick any teammate as Thibaut Courtois easily saved.

If he was driving at the goal, four or five Chelsea defenders would soon surround him, and if he picked it up with back to goal he was nearly never allowed to turn.

Indeed, Chelsea created the better chances with Willian and Hazard acting as ideal outlets, carrying the ball up-field and winning free-kicks while also carving out openings.

The 30-year-old scored after Andres Iniesta capitalised on a Christiansen mistake.

So, Chelsea played Barcelona last night at Stanford Bridge and although 1-1 isn’t a bad score for the Blues, all things considered, they’ll still be ruing the fact they threw away their lead with a loose pass.

Barca were largely blunted by a solid defensive performance from Chelsea, who created the better chances and saw Willian hit the post twice in the first half.

With an away goal in their back pocket now, Barcelona will feel confident of advancing into the last eight of the competition ahead of the return leg at the Camp Nou, provided they don’t endure a nightmare in Catalunya.

“He wanted certain players and didn’t get them and didn’t think the Juventus team he had was good enough to go as far as he wanted them to go”. That’s what made the difference because you’re up against Barcelona.

Barcelona will have less rest in between matches as they have to face Girona, Las Palmas, Atletico Madrid, and Malaga before welcoming Chelsea.

They pressed us very high and made life hard for us.

But in the end, the tremendous focus that Chelsea displayed to deal with the ever-present Barcelona threat was undone by one error, or rather a combination of errors. He knew what to do from the start, especially since the Italian National Team that he coached at the time knocked Spain out of Euro 2016 with a 2-0 victory. “In Barcelona we must be prepared to suffer together, but at the same time when we suffer we must continue to try and get the chances to score”.