Barcelona vs. Chelsea: Barca Still Favorites Despite Recent Struggles

Sometime in the last week, you've probably heard somebody say something about Barcelona not looking a whole lot like Barcelona.

That's because, well, they haven't. Against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Barca lost a game that they're going to win nine times out of 10. The Blues played exceptional (defensive) football, but Barca missed a handful of chances that they don't typically miss.

Barca looked a lot like themselves when they leveled against Real Madrid in the second half of El Clasico on Saturday, but the jubilation at Camp Nou was short lived. Cristiano Ronaldo did the honor of silencing the Barca faithful by netting a game-winner mere moments after Alexis Sanchez had netted an equalizer. 

So now here's Barcelona, losers of two straight matches of huge importance. I know we're talking about reality, but that...just...doesn't...sound...right.

And now for the good news. La Liga may be lost to Barca, but they still have a very real shot of advancing in the Champions League. All they have to do is bounce back and enjoy a nice, Barca-like victory in the second leg of their semifinal tie against Chelsea at Camp Nou.

A lot of people expect Barca to do that, and not all of them are unapologetic Barca homers (most, but not all). Despite the fact Lionel Messi and friends have sleep-walked their way through their last two matches, the simple fact of the matter is that Barca remain one of the most star-studded and most explosive teams in the entire world. And, with Messi back in training, they should play much better at home than they did at Stamford Bridge last week.

Based on what the Blues showed in their thrilling 1-0 victory over Barca, it's a good bet that Roberto Di Matteo will have his 11 play it safe by loading up on defense, with the idea being to simply shut Barca out again, thus preserving their 1-0 lead in the tie.

Chelsea deserves no shortage of credit for the way they played against Barca, but nobody should be too quick to forget the fact that Barcelona did find a few cracks. They had their shots. They just couldn't finish.

I'll bet my left hand that that's not going to happen again (I don't need it anyway). Barcelona is going to put the ball in the back of the net at least once.

Then the question becomes a two-part question. First, can Chelsea net a goal of their own to ratchet up the pressure? Second, failing that, can Chelsea succeed in keeping Barca from scoring again?

I'll answer both questions by saying this: I doubt it. We can take it for granted that Barcelona is going to control the ball for a vast majority of the proceedings, and I have a hard time seeing Chelsea benefiting from as much good luck as they got in the first leg of their tie against Barca. 

The Blues played an outstanding game last week. To actually finish Barcelona off, they'll have to play an even better game. In addition, they'll need the football gods on their side again.

Instead of trusting in that eventuality, I'll trust in Barcelona looking a lot like Barcelona again.

Prediction: Barcelona 2, Chelsea 0