Chelsea Will Knock Barcelona out of the Champions League

Many readers of this article are probably still shocked at how Chelsea managed to beat the mighty Barcelona.

Some may even be pinching themselves, just to be sure they are not in dreamland.

But I can assure you, it is not a dream—it indeed did happen.

Despite dominating proceedings, Barcelona slumped to defeat, courtesy of Didier Drogba's first half injury-time strike. It is a result that wasn't expected by many—and rightly so.

The Catalans are not only considered the best football team in the world today, but the best of all time.

Chelsea, on the other hand, despite having been a dominant force in the past decade, have been far from their imperious best this season and currently sit a distant sixth in the EPL standings.

In Wednesday's tie, however, Chelsea showed how to stop world beaters like Barcelona. And it's not like they haven't done this before: Statistics also show that in the two clubs' 11 meetings, Chelsea have the edge with four wins, compared to the Blaugrana's three.

The Blues also proved that they know how to silence the undisputed world's best player Lionel Messi—who has in the past ripped apart Chelsea's Premier League rivals Manchester United and Arsenal.

The soccer genius has yet to score in seven encounters against the west London side.

With the first leg dead and buried, focus shifts to the return match at the Nou Camp on Tuesday, which—perhaps surprisingly—some fans are predicting will be a baptism of fire for the Londoners, with Barcelona qualifying for the final.

I personally fancy Chelsea to hold on to their lead and exert revenge on the team that controversially knocked them out of the 2009 edition of the Champions League.

I expect interim manager Roberto Di Matteo to deploy a defensive approach in Barca's backyard, helping them to secure a 0-0 draw.

Barcelona's failure to score an away goal at Stamford Bridge could also end up haunting them as a 2-1 win will not be enough to see Pep Guardiola's men through to the final in Munich.

While "parking the bus" at the Nou Camp may not be the best of strategies on Chelsea's part, The Blues took the same path in 2009 and managed to secure a hard fought goalless draw.

Why not this time?

Despite not being as strong as they were three years ago, Chelsea proved in Wednesday's 1-0 win that they still have what it takes to stop Messi and Co—and the Blues will do just that next week.