Barcelona vs. Chelsea: Have Tonight's Visitors Wrestled the Initiative?

Barcelona vs. Chelsea tonight could prove season-defining for both clubs.

The Catalans are all but out of the La Liga title race following the home defeat to fierce rivals Real Madrid at the weekend, while Chelsea are bouncing back after a poor start and still have an FA Cup final to look forward to.

Last week’s 1-0 victory for Roberto Di Matteo’s men was surprising, with many predicting that the visitors to Stamford Bridge would ruin the Italians' impressive run.

This, however, was not to be, and with the events over the last few days could it be suggested that Chelsea have wrestled the initiative ahead of tonight’s encounter.

History

If you are the type of person who likes a stat, there are two key ones that could help point to a Chelsea victory tonight.

Firstly is that the Blues are unbeaten in their last three visits to the Nou Camp, while Pep Guardiola has failed to beat Chelsea on the three occasions they have met.

Widely regarded as one of the finest sides to ever grace the planet, there are little signs that cracks are appearing within the Barca set up.

Downturn

Following the El Clasico defeat, Guardiola has had to do something rarely seen during his tenure—go on the defensive.

Snapping at one journalist that questioned the decision to play Cristina Tello he said: "The press should attack me or the older players."

"He played a f****** good game. I mean most of the dangerous chances were created by him."

Before going on to declare that he isn’t sure if this is the biggest challenge of his career, and saying there isn’t a problem between himself and Gerard Pique who has been out of the side recently.

Di Matteo, on the other hand, has played down talk that he will play for a 0-0 draw, insisting that his side need to score.

If they are to do that, you would think that they will have to muster more than the solitary shot on target that they did last week though, whilst also cutting out the chances they concede.

If Barcelona are to have as many chances this week, you would find it hard to believe the net will not be bulging at some point.

Stranger things have indeed happened in this game though, and it will certainly be an interesting watch.

Can the Di Matteo European fairytale continue?