Ugliness Required for Chelsea To Reach Rome

Some matches really don’t need building up. We all know the score, we all know the history and there is no easy way to predict the outcome of Chelsea verses Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League semi final.

It seems that 0-0 is a scoreline that both teams are confident with going into the Wednesday's second leg.

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has already claimed that the Spanish League leaders will go to Stamford Bridge and book their place in the final, while Chelsea fans were happy to be the first team to go to the Nou Camp this season and come away with a clean sheet after the first leg last Tuesday.

The same questions are raised again, the most obvious being—Can Chelsea stop Barcelona scoring?

Maybe, maybe not, but with the team touted as being the most attractive attacking team in world football coming to town, Chelsea may have to play ugly and be ruthless in exposing Barcelona’s weaknesses.

Before we look at the second leg on Wednesday, let’s look back and see what Chelsea did right in Spain, after all, certain aspects of their game plan may once again benefit the Blues, who many believe have to take aspects of their “anti-football” display in order to set up another all English clash in the final of the Europe's elite competition.

While it is easy to point the finger at Chelsea, who were up against it for the entire match and poor with the ball when they were in possession, it is fair to say that Guus Hiddink got his tactics spot on and although they rode their luck at times, this was a defensive master-class from Terry, Cech & co.

Chelsea stopped Barcelona from playing. They got men behind the ball, congested the areas in and around the box and saw move after move of Barcelona's neat, intricate, flowing football break down.

In the process they stopped the “big three” of Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi from tearing them apart like they have done to most teams they’ve faced this season. This is impressive when you consider that the three of them have scored more goals than any other team in Europe between them.

Although they showed glimpses of their outstanding ability, Chelsea’s full backs did a fantastic job of stopping Henry and Messi who played from the wide positions in the three-pronged Barcelona attack.

Both of these players like to cut inside at every opportunity and it was crucial that Bosingwa and Ivanovic stuck with them as they did. In doing so, they proved to be a hinderence as the Barcelona pair tried and failed to make things happen in the already congested areas around the box.

Despite the obvious positives, this of course left Chelsea vulnerable as they became extremely narrow and left certain areas exposed, notably the wide areas. Later in the game, Barcelona would begin to use this to their advantage as Eric Abidal and more often Dani Alves would be found in the space created by the in cutting runs of Messi and Henry.

Barcelona’s best chances came from the right hand side and Alves put a number of excellent deliveries into the box, notably the cross for Bojan, who saw his header go over the bar in what was the home team’s best chance of the game.

This was evidence that there wasn’t really a player in Barcelona’s team that can head a ball, with Seydou Keita, who is their strongest player when coming onto crosses, not featuring. Barcelona didn’t take advantage of the space left by the full backs until late in the game, and they were forced to do this as Chelsea's resistance led to desperate attempts to take an advantage to Stamford Bridge.

Obviously, this highlights Chelsea’s strength defensively in this match, however the most disappointing aspect of their performance was their inability to counter attack effectively and their poor use of the ball when going forward.

Perhaps we should be praising Barcelona's tactics in this area as the three central midfielders for Barcelona won the midfield battle and provided a platform for a number of Barcelona attacks.

Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Yaya Toure really showed Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Michael Ballack up on the day and broke down everything that came through the middle of the field, stopping attacks before they could even build any momentum.

Chelsea did however have a golden opportunity, even if it was aided by a defensive error from Rafael Marquez. The Mexican saw his poor back pass seized on by Didier Drogba who was through on goal only to see his shot and the rebound saved by Victor Valdes who spared the Blues a crucial away goal.

Other than this Valdes had a quiet night and at the final whistle Barcelona were left frustrated as the tie was all-square at the halfway point. Now for the second leg...

I believe that Chelsea will have to play ugly in order to reach the final in Rome, and I think that they are fully equipped to do this and take advantage of Barcelona’s weakened defence, their lack of a plan B and the versatility that they have in their own game.

Didier Drogba could make a big difference in this match. The Ivorian is central to the way that Chelsea play football and his ability to play like a stereotypical old fashioned English centre forward may well be the crucial factor in this tie.

Barcelona are struggling in the centre of their defence with Marquez out for the season after injury in the first leg and Puyol unavailable due to suspension.

This leaves Pique, a player who is well suited to the Spanish league but struggled with the physical aspect and the intensity of the English game while playing for Manchester United, as well as either Martin Caceres who has been criticised for his performances and Eric Abidal who is naturally a full back.

If Chelsea can put real pressure on the Barcelona defence then Drogba can have a field day.

Many have asked the question: How do you put pressure on the Barcelona defence? The answer is to bypass Xavi, Iniesta and Toure. Not exactly easy, or is it?

While praise has been lavished on the front three, the heart of Barcelona’s midfield have provided crucial defensive cover due to their reading of the game and ability to maintain possession and take pressure off of the backline.

They are also an attacking threat and pull the strings in midfield with Xavi and Iniesta in particular having the ability to play short or long and provide defence splitting passes, play box to box and even chip in with the odd goal.

They dominated Chelsea’s “world class” midfield in Spain and they may well do it again in London. Chelsea cannot afford to lose this battle again.

What may be effective is to mix up the way that they play on the night and try and expose Barcelona’s defence by playing long balls and focusing play down the wings. This is where Drogba comes in.

If you want a battering ram up front then Drogba is your man. In very much the way that Chelsea play to Drogba’s strengths when they face Arsenal, who have a similar style to Barcelona, his ability to terrorise defenders in the physical battle will benefit Chelsea.

When you also consider his ability in the air and in holdings up the ball, if the likes of Lampard, Malouda and Kalou can provide support and get beyond him, then Drogba will be able to bring them into the game and create chances for them.

It may even be beneficial to play 4-4-2 and have Anelka playing up with him and using his pace to take full advantage of any ball that Drogba wins in the air.

With Drogba spearheading the Chelsea attack, this opens up another option as his exceptional ability to attack a ball in the air means that he will be able to take advantage of goal scoring chances from out wide.

If Chelsea can get crosses into the box then Drogba will be able to take full advantage and they will be able to do this by pegging back and getting in behind the attacking fullbacks that are naturally exposed by Barcelona’s formation.

If last week is anything to go by, then Chelsea will know that Messi and Henry, if he plays, will look to cut inside at any given opportunity and work the quick give and go passes to try and break through the middle of the defence.

Whoever plays in the full back positions, most likely Ashley Cole and maybe Ivanovic, will have to be aware and not only track these runs but also have to sacrifice any attacking freedom and maintain defensive discipline if Chelsea are to succeed in this match. Failure to do so may lead to them being punished.

Chelsea will also have to be as cautious and hardworking as they were in Barcelona. If they can congest the central areas in and around the box like they did last week, then it will yet again make it hard for them to play their game. If you can stop them, you can stop Barcelona.

Whatever happens, it is going to be a tall order for Chelsea. Barcelona will go into the match on a high after the 6-2 victory against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, but may also be tiring after such a big game being sandwiched in between the two Chelsea matches.

Chelsea will be hoping that three huge games in a week will prove too much for the Spanish league leaders and if they make it difficult enough their “negative” football may well see them travelling to Italy for the final in Rome.