Revenge at Stamford Bridge is high on the agenda for
Barcelona's aggrieved players.
Injured pride: Thierry Henry writhes in pain as Chelsea's
Michael Ballack looks down
John Terry left the Nou Camp claiming he had just been
involved in the perfect defensive performance, yet the football
world turned against Chelsea and their negative tactics
yesterday.
Barcelona's players and manager, along with their former coach
Johan Cruyff, were queuing up to criticise Guus Hiddink for showing
so little ambition, suffocating Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and
Thierry Henry during a one-sided Champions League semi-final, first
leg.
Xavi and Andres Iniesta, the two central midfielders who skim
the ball across the surface at the Nou Camp at bewildering speed,
were left frustrated, surprised that a team of Chelsea's quality
were capable of using a smothering strategy.
'In England, they talk about fair play so much, but it's
a shame they don't put that talk into practice when their teams get
on the pitch,' said a shaken Xavi.
'There was no fair play from Chelsea at all. We played football,
they did not play anything at all. Ballack's challenge in the
second half was a red card.
I was screaming at the referee (Wolfgang Stark) to send him off,
but he did nothing. 'We had them holed up in their penalty area.
They did not create a single chance.'
That is not strictly true, as 92,000 Catalonians will even admit
that they feared the worst when Drogba raced through after Rafael
Marquez's back-pass pulled up short. Beyond that, Xavi was right,
with Barcelona involved in a classic game of attack versus defence,
dominating possession with nearly 71 per cent of the ball and
marking their territory with their trademark passes across the
pitch.
'We know referees allow more in European competition than they
do in the Spanish league, but there is a difference between that
and simply letting teams do whatever they wanted to do, which is
exactly what happened,' added Iniesta.
'Chelsea were given the freedom to make all the challenges they
wanted. When I was brought down by Ballack I was in on goal and yet
the referee let him off a second yellow card. Chelsea were
organised, but they did not come out and they made no attempt to
play.'
The Spanish press were damning in their verdict, too, with the
Barcelona newspaper E l 9 declaring: El mur de la vergonya- The
Wall of Shame.
Nevertheless, despite Chelsea's reluctance to attack, it was a
thoroughly professional job, the finest defensive performance since
Manchester United drew 0-0 with Barcelona in last season's
Champions League semi-final.
Cruyff, who led Barcelona to the European Cup in 1992, claimed
Chelsea destroyed the game, using delaying tactics to upset the
rhythm of one of the most aesthetically pleasing teams in
Europe.
'I have to confess I thought that after the first 20 minutes
Chelsea would look to do something on the counter-attack, or at
least want to play some football, but I was wrong. 'They just
continued with the idea of trying to upset Barcelona by
interrupting their flow by fouling and time-wasting.
'All the refereeing was against Barcelona. It was against the
spectacle and it penalised the team who were trying to play
football.'
But, crucially, Chelsea trust Hiddink, placing their faith in
the Dutch coach as he attempts to outwit Guardiola over two legs,
defending in Spain and then plotting their path to next month's
final in Rome when they return to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
'It was almost the perfect defensive performance to keep them
out,' said Terry. 'It was as good a performance as I have been
involved in. We did not get the goal, but as a performance
collectively the team put in a shift and it was definitely up there
with the best of them.
'I did not expect them to come at us and get in our faces as
much as they did. They didn't let us play the ball around at the
back or have any time in midfield, so credit to them because they
stopped us playing. Nine times out of 10 we played the long ball,
but we didn't get frustrated. If anything, they were getting more
frustrated.'
That resentment will roll over into Wednesday's second leg, but
this time the recriminations will go on a lot longer for the
losers.
results matter to Chelsea more than anything else..
let e Nou Camp kpkb all they want..
