closed Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona

[LAM09 7,043]

17 minutes ago, communicate said:

Yea, they are a completely different team. I was shocked when I watched el clasico. 

I am not that confident against barca because we are not really in great form right now. Yes winning against wba is great but wba is at the very bottom of epl and hull is simply not at our level.

We can definitely lose the game but I will be surprised if we got destroyed. They are simply just not that kind of team anymore.

Hope our big players turn up tomorrow and we end up with a positive result.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

I just hope we put a good fight and make the club and fans proud, whatever the result. 

We dont have much chance, lets be honest, but it would be nice to see one of those classic european nights when we define the odds. 

Whatever happens, come on blues!

Edit: Oh and I hope for fair refereeing. 

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Sounds like Luiz didn't even train this weekend or today so he's definitely out! with that in mind I think we need to try something different for this match and possibly play Willian a little deeper in the midfield to help build attacks and take away gaps for Barca to exploit.

http://lineupbuilder.com/?sk=g0wx9

I feel this lineup is currently our best and possibly the best way to break Barca's first wave of the press. They do attack in two fazes but the first wave is usually the one that puts teams under the most pressure.

My worry is whether or not Willian has the awareness to snuff out danger and stay with runners off the ball. Can he be disciplined enough to take away the passing lane and adept enough to transition to attack? Seems like a tall order for a guy who has never been deployed in this fashion but it could be the best tactic to get our best players on the field while utilizing our best shape. 

I mean can Willian really be any worse than Drinkwater in this defensive role? I agree Danny has the right sort of discipline and patience but what else really?

[The Chels 2,502]

Eulogise it for character or whatever, but truth is we were crap in 2012 and got extremely lucky. Our previous sides like the 08/09 one deserve that praise and recognition (restricted one of the best Barcelona sides in history to precisely ZERO shots on target before that Iniesta goal), but history only remembers the winners. 

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

26 minutes ago, iceboy said:

Shame. If this happen. Conte inviting the pressure.

He wouldnt dare.

[Henrique 9,133]

This game is Conte first real test as Chelsea manager.

[Yeboii 1,844]

2 hours ago, Henrique said:

This game is Conte first real test as Chelsea manager.

Ermm.

I think that was the game against Man City, which we won 3-1

[Jase 43,479]

5 hours ago, iceboy said:

Shame. If this happen. Conte inviting the pressure.

You've got to be fucking kidding me! We have 2 strikers fit and healthy and Conte wants to play the false 9 again? What is he trying to get at? For an Italian, he sure seems to be taking this approach far too often. Even Guardiola doesn't do it as much with City!

[communicate 2,703]

 

3 minutes ago, Jason said:

You've got to be fucking kidding me! We have 2 strikers fit and healthy and Conte wants to play the false 9 again? What is he trying to get at? For an Italian, he sure seems to be taking this approach far too often. Even Guardiola doesn't do it as much with City!

I don't read anything in that article that mention Hazard is going to play as false 9.

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, communicate said:

 

I don't read anything in that article that mention Hazard is going to play as false 9.

I didn't either and I thought it was just Matt Law writing rubbish but Guardian also reported that Conte might go with the false 9. So there may be some truth to it.

[Blusan Alamb 295]

Hoping for a respectable score.

[manpe 10,861]

Time to post the team I would like to see tonight (already!!! big night).

Courtois

Azpi - Christensen - Rüdiger

Moses - Kante - Fabregas - Alonso

Willian - Giroud - Hazard

 

Tbh any kind of midfield we put out is going to be weak. Drinkwater or Fabregas? At home I'd take the risk and play Cesc, he isn't that bad defensively but granted he's slow. When we recover the ball and he can quickly spread accurate passes up front then it will make up for it, Drinkwater is lacking in that department. I don't envy Conte, but whatever he does I hope he doesn't play Hazard as striker and keeps Cahill on the bench.

[Despiadado.Maleante 1,046]

My heart will shatter when I wake up to find cahill starting.

[communicate 2,703]

1 hour ago, manpe said:

Tbh any kind of midfield we put out is going to be weak. Drinkwater or Fabregas? At home I'd take the risk and play Cesc, he isn't that bad defensively but granted he's slow. 

I don't like playing Cesc n kante against Barca. Kante will have busy day stopping Messi and it will make Cesc cover the midfield by himself and we all know how slow he is. I will play 3 mod fab, kante and drink water. 

[manpe 10,861]

11 minutes ago, communicate said:

I don't like playing Cesc n kante against Barca. Kante will have busy day stopping Messi and it will make Cesc cover the midfield by himself and we all know how slow he is. I will play 3 mod fab, kante and drink water. 

With 3-5-2 we'll be toothless in attack. We don't really have ideal solutions whatever we go with, Barca will dominate either way.