Champions League Thread

[yuvala 2,167]

Think we'll really give them a fight. 

Lets see how good our form is come February..

[Cosmin 2,484]

Hope we'll play against them like we did against Atletico in the first leg.

We need Hazard and Morata to be 100% up for this tie.

[Kieran. 6,317]

If we're in good form in February then we have a shot. Sucks how it was 50/50 Besiktas or Barcelona and we got Barca though.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

2 key points will decide how we do against them. 

1 How well we handle their attack, primarily how do we handle Messi.

and 2 how do we handle their heavy press. If we're able to escape their press and can get Hazard running at them we should be able to cause them problems.

In order to beat them we're gonna have to be at our best though. 

Morata would have to bury any chance he gets, Hazard is gonna have to run at them like a madman and defensively we're gonna have to be near perfection to stop them from scoring.

Won't be easy but i'm quite pumped for this tie.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

2 minutes ago, Cosmin said:

Hope we'll play against them like we did against Atletico in the first leg.

We need Hazard and Morata to be 100% up for this tie.

Not to be negative or anything but there's no way that's going to happen. Barcelona and Altetico are nothing alike. As I'm sure you know, Barcelona are great at dominating the ball. 

 

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Realistically speaking I give us like a 30% chance of winning the tie max. I'm expecting a lot of blind optimism posts akin to what I saw about our transfer window last summer. Unfortunately such posts have little to do with reality. 

[xPetrCechx 13,571]

WTF 

[cfcs most wanted 657]

If we manage to get a wing back and possibly a midfielder we are good to go. There are always gonna be some problems with the team, but we have to work it with the squad we have got. We have a good squad now, a few changes and we are ready to fight against the top teams. It happens every season that, us, Tha fans have some problems with the squad and transfers, but we really need to stop this negativity, this is the same squad that won the EPL last year. Is the players show some real fight, they can beat any team of this world

[Beigl 1,387]

4 minutes ago, xPetrCechx said:

WTF 

We should just rest most of our players against City, if we manage to get a good result against Barca in the first leg. 

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Can't be fooling ourselves here, truth is our only chance of going through was drawing Istanbul. 

In or out of form Barcelona or the fact that they are not the same like a few years ago, it simply does not matter - we are not good enough and our tactics fit the high pressing teams like a glove. 

Five at the back works for the short term and never against the big teams. And this is a fact. And to complete the misery - Cahill is one of the centre backs and there is no decent full back in Chelsea's squad.

I'm always the optimist, but I truly fear this is the tie where Hazard decides there is no point in extending that contract and forces a move elswhere. Same goes for Courtois.

Why I am saying this? Because not only we have a poor back line (bar Azpi and Christensen), but if we're going to play five at the back with Marcos Alonso, Cahill, Moses/Zappacosta there, not only we'll be unable to string two or three consecutive passes, but Hazard and Morata will be feeling so isolated upfront, they'll wish they'd have been left on the bench rather than having to chase shadows throughout the two legs.

[Leif 6,006]

Taking into account how bad we are this season (IMO), it's worth having the perspective that Barcelona have been pretty much neck-and-neck with Valencia this season, while playing with a less consistent quality for the most part, getting ahead through individual quality more often than not. I know we can beat Valencia.

Then again, Barcelona's defence is doing better than it's ever done really, and they're not nearly as inexperienced as Valencia. 

We're obviously, clearly, so damn clear to see 2-3 levels below current Barcelona, but we were 2 levels below Bayern. Though then again we had more magical players.

Too many perspectives! I regret this post. But i'd regret the wasted time even more if i didn't now post it. I need to jazz it up. Easy..

[Tautvix 1,321]

21 minutes ago, xPetrCechx said:

WTF 

Fake.

The first leg will take place at home on Tuesday 20 February, kick-off 7.45pm (UK time), and the second leg away is on Wednesday 14 March, kick-off 7.45pm (UK time).

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

I just noticed this but isn't it strange how after virtually all our CL fixtures we get another title contender immediately after? 

Qarabag - Arsenal

Atletico Madrid - Man City

Roma - Chelsea

Qarabag - Liverpool

Now Barcelona - Man United and Man City

This is an incredible "coincidence" and obviously a big disadvantage. They seriously wanted to give us as little a chance as possible of retaining that title. 2 in 3 years is enough.

[Kieran. 6,317]

We'll obviously rest the starters vs City, we are too far back now. Man United will probably rest a few vs us so we'd probably do the same vs. them. Full strength both legs vs Barca. 

[manpe 10,861]

Classic tie, can't wait! Should bring back some not-so-old memories.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

RIP.

[whats happening 1,615]

they are not much better than we are. this is not the same old fierce barca. suarez is out of form, neymar is gone, iniesta and busquets are past their primes, only real real thteat is ofc messi. we can play with them.

 

obviously after my rare optimism we are gonna be trashed like 7-0 aggregate.

[coolhead23 1,147]

This was long due ... Come on Chels, raid the market in Jan and we can be superbly set up for this tie. 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

This might very well be the weakest barca side in years. We are unbeaten in our last 6 games against them when they had far superior teams. Todays has s just a shadow of that. If they ever were beatable it is now.

[Johnnyeye 7,509]

Good game in perspective, we all wanted Besiktas ( mind you they are a very good side ) but it's not meant to be, to be fair i rather we face Barca than PSG. For some reason this has Messi finally scoring against us written all over it  , lets pray not and even if he does, lets hope it doesnt make a difference in the end, anything can happen when the ball is at his feet, still remember that pass for Iniesta to score at the Bridge, damn it Essien, if only you had cleared that... We can give it a good go for old times sake, our clashes vs Barcelona down the years have been classics no doubt, and they will be looking for revenge for 2012. Altough they are not the same team from back then, they have a lot of quality players now, specially the little argentine magician, and you know anything can happen. We are kidding ourselves if we think this Barca side is weaker than in previous years, far from that, if we manage to beat this lot we can beat anyone, no excuses. Lets see how we cope come February, i for one cant wait for this game, it has been long overdue us facing Barca again, i say bring it on and PSG can fuck off for all i care. Cheers and KTBFFH