Champions League semi-final – Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona. Barcelona win on away goals.

Last night saw the second leg of the second Champions League semi-final to see who would be travelling to Rome to take on the current champions Manchester United in the final.

There were a number of questions that needed to be asked about both teams.

Chelsea

After experimenting with a 4-4-2 formation on Saturday with Nicolas Anelka partnering Didier Drogba as an orthodox front pairing, would Guus Hiddink revert back to 4-3-3 and leave Anelka out?

With Ashley Cole back from suspension would Guus Hiddink bring him back in or stick with Bosingwa after he did such a fine job on Messi last week?

Would Chelsea play like they did at the Camp Nou or would they put together an occasional attack?

Barcelona

After sitting out Monday’s training session, would Thierry Henry be fit for the game?

Would Pep Guardiola play Yaya Toure alongside Gerard Pique at the back to replace the suspended Puyol and injured Marquez?

After Cristiano Ronaldo stole the show in the first semi-final, would Lionel Messi, the pretender to his world’s best player title, respond by doing the same for Barcelona?

Answers

The answers to these questions unfolded on a night of high drama at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea did revert back to their usual 4-3-3 formation but Anelka was included in one of the wide roles. Ashley Cole was brought back into the side and Chelsea had slightly more attacks than they did last week.

Thierry Henry failed to make the game and Toure was moved into the depleted back four. Lionel Messi didn’t really perform in the game and compared to the performance of Ronaldo last night, he was totally ineffective.

Pretty

The game followed the pattern of the first leg with Barcelona having a vast majority of the possession and playing some pretty football but creating very little. Chelsea struggled to keep the ball but when they did manage to do so, they looked more dangerous than Barcelona ever did.

Chelsea took the lead with a quite wonderful strike from Michael Essien. He will never hit a better left foot strike than the one he hit inside the first ten minutes here.

Claims

In the first half alone, Chelsea had two clear penalty claims turned down by the Norwegian referee. First Malouda was hauled down a yard inside the area but the referee decided it should be a free-kick rather than a penalty. Then, Drogba broke clear and after Abidal failed to stop him by pulling his dhirt, he tripped him, both in the penalty area but again, no penalty.

The second half saw Barcelona keeping the ball again but Chelsea looking more dangerous. A third penalty appeal was even more obvious than the first two. Anelka flicked the ball past Gerard Pique and would have been clear on goal but the ball was blocked by Pique’s hand. It could not have been a more certain penalty but once again, the referee said no.

Inept

Just to prove that the referee was inept rather than biased he then proceeded to send Abidal from off when he accidentally collided with Anelka. It was a poor decision.

Didier Drogba had a great chance one on one with Victor Valdes but he shanked his shot and Valdes made the save.

For all of Barcelona’s possession as the game entered injury-time the La Liga leaders had failed to produce an attempt on target.

Terrible

Then, two minutes into added time, for the umpteenth time in the game Barcelona got the ball wide to Danny Alves. His crossing had been absolutely terrible all night but this time he got it right. His cross was headed away by John Terry and the ball fell to Essien who should have cleared his lines. He mishit his clearance straight to Lionel Messi who squared the ball across the area.

Iniesta ran onto the ball and broke Chelsea hearts by driving the ball into the top corner of Petr Cech’s net. Wild celebrations followed but there was still time for Chelsea to have yet another strong penalty claim turned down.

Outstretched

In the ninety-sixth minute Ballack drove the ball towards the goal and it struck Samuel Eto’o on his outstretched arm. At least seven times out of ten it would have been given, but this referee was clearly determined not to give anything.

At the final whistle Chelsea’s players angrily surrounded the referee and there were unpleasant scenes that can’t be condoned but can surely be understood.

Best team

The fact is that over the two legs the best team won. The team who had most of the ball and played the neater and more attractive football are the team who will be in the final. Some would say that justice was done but a penalty is a penalty and Chelsea have suffered a huge injustice.

Talking of injustice, it is also very wrong that Abidal should join the unfortunate Darren Fletcher of Manchester United on the sidelines at the final. Two poor decisions have meant that two players will miss the opportunity to play in potentially the biggest game in their careers.

Final

So, the final will see Manchester United take on Barcelona in Rome. It is the final that most neutral football fans would have wanted, between arguably the best two teams in Europe.

There will be talk of conspiracies. Comments out of the Chelsea camp suggest that they know that UEFA didn’t want another all English final. That is, of course, a terribly strong accusation to make and it has been said at a very emotional and stressful time. Having said that, I’m sure UEFA will not be disappointed with the outcome.