Chelsea have a difficult task ahead of them on Tuesday with Barcelona the opposition in the last 16 of the Champions League. The Blues are currently sitting fourth in the Premiership with Man City a seemingly unassailable 19 points ahead of them at this stage in the season.
With the Premiership a contest between the best of the rest, Chelsea must ensure their qualification for the Champions League again while simultaneously pushing for victory in the competition. Chelsea still have both the Champions League and the FA Cup to play for and will wish to do everything in their power to deliver some silverware for the Chelsea faithful.
Barcelona for their part will need to perform with a greater degree of focus in London than they’ve managed in their previous two league outings. The Catalans have drawn twice in a row in La Liga and have lacked some of the incisive threat you’d normally associate with great Barcelona teams. Barca were held to 0-0 draw at home by Getafe and could only manage a 1-1 scoreline away to Espanyol. Their lead at the top of the Spanish league is cut now to only seven points. They’ll want to and should certainly manage to put in a better performance against Eibar at the weekend before heading to London next week.
For a home win bookmakers William Hill have place Chelsea at 5/2 with Barcelona at 21/20 and the draw is priced at 5/2.
Champions League Record
Both teams have an impressive record in the Champion League this year, but Barca have the edge. Chelsea have recorded 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. Barcelona have managed 4 wins and have had 2 draws. The solitary Chelsea loss was away to Roma when the Blues conceded three goals without reply. On that occasion the London outfit only managed to keep the scoresheet clean for 38 seconds before Stephan El Shaarawy exposed the pensioners’ frailties by scoring moments after the kick off. Chelsea can little afford such complacency on Tuesday.
Chelsea last six Champions League
Chelsea 6-0 Qarabag
Atletico Madrid 1-2 Chelsea
Chelsea 3-3 Roma
Roma 3-0 Chelsea
Qarabag 0-4 Chelsea
Chelsea 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Barcelona last six Champions League
Barcelona 3-0 Juventus
Sporting CP 0-1 Barcelona
Barcelona 3-1 Olympiakos
Olympiakos 0-0 Barcelona
Juventus 0-0 Barcelona
Barcelona 2-0 Sporting CP
Both Chelsea and Barcelona excel when going forward but Barcelona have the far better defensive record. In the group stages Barcelona only conceded a solitary goal at home to Olympiakos, and in the end it hardly mattered as Barca came out on the right side of a 3-1 scoreline. Barcelona’s most impressive display of the competition thus far came on their opening match when they slid three past a stunned Juventus side. Juventus are always there or thereabouts in the competition so the assuredness of the victory was a definite psychological boost.
When looking for weaknesses in the Chelsea side, Ernesto Valverde should look no further than Chelsea’s two displays against Roma. Twice the Londoners faced the men from Italy and twice they shipped three goals. Possibly the most humiliating piece of defending in the whole campaign came during the game in Italy when Edin Dzeko was being closed down by Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta. Dzeko took all three out of the game with a simple turn but failed to score. In the end the 3-0 loss was almost a let off.
Goalscorers
Chelsea’s main attacking threat comes in the form of Eden Hazard although Chelsea have the option of partnering him alongside new arrival Olivier Giroud. Giroud is eligible as Arsenal competed in the Europa League this year rather than the Champions League. Giroud also showed his ability on the European stage by scoring three in the competition. Of course, as Arsenal fans will attest that the Giroud can be a frustrating player at times, but it is likely the Frenchman will run out against the Spanish outfit.
A post shared by Eden Hazard (@hazardeden_10) on
In the Garnet and Blue, the man to watch out for is Lionel Messi. As well as being one of the top creators in the Barcelona team, Messi puts away more than his fair share and is the team’s top scorer in the competition, recording 3 goals from 6 appearances. A great second choice would be Luis Suarez who is yet to score in the competition this year but can usually be depended upon to add some bite to the frontline of the Spanish side.
Barcelona to win: Barcelona have plenty of attacking threat and Chelsea have shown weakness at the back this Champions League campaign. Chelsea can get a result here, and their fans will believe that without question, but their defence needs to have a good night.
