CL | 1/8 Finals: FC Barcelona - Chelsea 4-1 agg.

[Luiz4Chelsea]

Alright Barcaman, here I am.
Really excited about tomorrow's game. I think there's no need to point out that anyone who's stating "chelsea got ***** by two relegation sides 2 weeks ago, how could we not beat them?" doesn't understand the logics of football very well.
Yet our weaknesses are very clear, and obviously exploitable by a team like barca
So, how else can I help you?

 

[Barcaman]

Alright Barcaman, here I am.
Really excited about tomorrow's game. I think there's no need to point out that anyone who's stating "chelsea got ***** by two relegation sides 2 weeks ago, how could we not beat them?" doesn't understand the logics of football very well.
Yet our weaknesses are very clear, and obviously exploitable by a team like barca
So, how else can I help you?

Welcome!

I'd say both teams aren't playing that great and one could even argue that tables are turned re. tactics. Valverde's Barca is more like Chelsea used to be - winning but leaving something to be desired going forward.

Don't know if Conte plans to attack or be patient but I reckon both teams would settle for a draw in 1st leg.

Will Morata or Giroud start?

 

[Neymessi]

Alright Barcaman, here I am.
Really excited about tomorrow's game. I think there's no need to point out that anyone who's stating "chelsea got ***** by two relegation sides 2 weeks ago, how could we not beat them?" doesn't understand the logics of football very well.
Yet our weaknesses are very clear, and obviously exploitable by a team like barca
So, how else can I help you?

Yeah there have been a lot of "chelsea are being beaten by crappy sides and if we can't defeat them then heads should roll" comments here. Thats not how football works and our past encounters with chelsea are a good proof of that.

Is conte pumped up for this clash? Heard he is just waiting to leave chelsea.

 

[Luiz4Chelsea]

Welcome!

I'd say both teams aren't playing that great and one could even argue that tables are turned re. tactics. Valverde's Barca is more like Chelsea used to be - winning but leaving something to be desired going forward.

Don't know if Conte plans to attack or be patient but I reckon both teams would settle for a draw in 1st leg.

Will Morata or Giroud start?

Tbh it's not so easy to predict conte's plan for this one as I feel he might intend to surprise barca, but the obvious strategy would be to sit back and defend compactly and initiate quick counter attacks which is what Chelsea does best.
Morata or Giroud really is a 50/50 call for this game. I'd slightly prefer the latter as morata hasn't started a game since returning from injury and hasn't scored for quite some time, whereas Giroud looked really strong between hazard and Willian and might be exactly the strong and skillful target man needed against barca, however many others argue Moratas talent and CL experience are more important. One could say that Giroud suits a 3-4-3 slightly better, morata a 3-5-2

Courtois
Azpi-Christensen-Rüdiger(Cahill)
Moses-Kanté-Luiz(Drinkwater)-Alonso
Pedro(Willian)-Giroud-Hazard
or
Courtois
Azpi-Christensen-Rüdiger(Cahill)
Moses-Drinkwater-Kanté-Cesc-Alonso
Morata-Hazard

seem to be the most likely options, but again we don't have as clear a standard line-up as your 4-4-2. However the turbulent last weeks, Conte's former performances against big teams and the unusually long preparation time mean that some surprise in the line up (such as Luiz in midfield, Azpi as RWB, Hazard behind both Giroud and Morata) seems well possible.

Yeah there have been a lot of "chelsea are being beaten by crappy sides and if we can't defeat them then heads should roll" comments here. Thats not how football works and our past encounters with chelsea are a good proof of that.

Is conte pumped up for this clash? Heard he is just waiting to leave chelsea.

By now, looking at his last press conferences, he really seems to be. People are quick to point out that we only beat very mediocre teams in those last two games, but psychologically those wins were huge to us. We've now had our last 4 games against pretty weak sides with two very different types of performances, which makes it very hard for everyone to assess Chelsea's ability right now, and I feel like Conte will try to exploit that uncertainty. After all, it's the type of game on the big stage he loves and I'd be surprised if he hasn't been preparing this one for weeks

 

[MessiCam]

Should Chelsea lineup in 3-5-2 I feel they would cause serious problems for us... Our midfield has been overrun lately.

 

[vlad]

Valverde will probaly not go all-in on first match, he is smart, wouldnt be suprised if players let go chelsea to play with ball, or just dont go crazy about possession, chelsea without the ball and hiting on counters would be dangerous, let them have the ball and let them have a taste of their own medicine.

 

[Luiz4Chelsea]

Should Chelsea lineup in 3-5-2 I feel they would cause serious problems for us... Our midfield has been overrun lately.

Interestingly that's the same worry we have, as our midfield seems to be out biggest weak spot at the moment. Kante is beyond dispute obviously, bakayoko is out and has been rather appalling recently, Drinkwater is very composed, disciplined and balanced (which might make him a favorable choice for tomorrow) but has been at best average in recent games, Fábregas is a great creative source but barely defends at all, and Luiz is an original CB who played about one game during the last month. Fabregas-Kanté-Drinkwater could turn out to be weirdly balanced, and yet the 3-5-2 often seemed to have the additional problem that hazard and morata ended up isolated and there was a lack off attacking support (which could be alright if we actually intended to park the bus).
For this reason I'd personally prefer a 3-4-3 with Kanté-Luiz in the middle, who are both very strong defensively, but are also very dynamic transition players able to initiate quick counter attacks

 

[LeeRomeno]

It was sarcasm since the dude I quoted is obsessed with win% of coaches.



Yes thats the only thing I was being sarcastic about. What other thing you thought I was being sarcastic in?

rofl, so apparently just mentioning win % once in this forum among other information makes me obsessive about it.

Cr7 won a CL and a euro in the same season. Both in which he was extremely lucky. So yeah trophies can be misleading too.

Also I like how you skipped the part that win % makes lucho better than pep.

Yes sure, i definitely told "win% makes lucho better than pep." Thats the exact quote from me. Impressive copy paste...
jeezh, where are the brains?
I mentioned win % among trophies won, because you simple cannot be average coach and have the best win % in history of club, it makes no sense. Cr7 had a great season, what does that have to do with absolutely anything? He is one player from 11 in a squad, while coach is responsible for leading all 11 and bringing the results.
Hilarious how trophies are misleading, thats the ultimate goal for any team, any player and any coach. You are claiming Luchos trophies are all just lucky lol?

 

[George_Costanza]

when away goals are worth more than winning the game, Conte will play defensive lineup. He will start Drinkwater as Bakayoko is injured which is unfortunate for us.

Most likely line up:

3-5-1-1

---------------Courtois
-Azpilicueta---Christensen---Rudiger
Moses--Fabregas--Kante--Drinkwater--Alonso
----------------Hazard----------------------
----------------Morata----------------------

 

[MessiCam]

Interestingly that's the same worry we have, as our midfield seems to be out biggest weak spot at the moment. Kante is beyond dispute obviously, bakayoko is out and has been rather appalling recently, Drinkwater is very composed, disciplined and balanced (which might make him a favorable choice for tomorrow) but has been at best average in recent games, Fábregas is a great creative source but barely defends at all, and Luiz is an original CB who played about one game during the last month. Fabregas-Kanté-Drinkwater could turn out to be weirdly balanced, and yet the 3-5-2 often seemed to have the additional problem that hazard and morata ended up isolated and there was a lack off attacking support (which could be alright if we actually intended to park the bus).
For this reason I'd personally prefer a 3-4-3 with Kanté-Luiz in the middle, who are both very strong defensively, but are also very dynamic transition players able to initiate quick counter attacks

That Fabregas, Kanté and Drinkwater partnership is what scares me. I haven't been watching Chelsea much lately but Fabregas and Drinkwater (both very good passers along with Kanté) when setup correctly could cause some serious damage against Rakitic in particular. What I remember from Chelsea games earlier is that they play very compact in midfield and Barça would have to counter that by employing a similar strategy and actually counter pressing hard instead of defensive shape being their first priority as has been the case lately. Teams have also been countering this double pivot of us with relative ease lately.

If I had my way Barça would line up 4-3-3 or 3-3-1-3 against Chelsea with Paulinho in the hole as a foil for Kanté. Messi has to be on the right wing for this one because there won't be much space in the centre. This way I feel we could compete in midfield with Messi and Iniesta providing the bite but it's definitely going to be a 4-4-2. Question is which variation shows up... If it's the diamond then I think we could be ok. If it's flat... I think we'll be overrun.

Edit: I am not a fan of using Paulinho in the hole but for this game I would definitely stick him there.

 

[Luiz4Chelsea]

That Fabregas, Kanté and Drinkwater partnership is what scares me. I haven't been watching Chelsea much lately but Fabregas and Drinkwater (both very good passers along with Kanté) when setup correctly could cause some serious damage against Rakitic in particular. What I remember from Chelsea games earlier is that they play very compact in midfield and Barça would have to counter that by employing a similar strategy and actually counter pressing hard instead of defensive shape being their first priority as has been the case lately. Teams have also been countering this double pivot of us with relative ease lately.

If I had my way Barça would line up 4-3-3 or 3-3-1-3 against Chelsea with Paulinho in the hole as a foil for Kanté. Messi has to be on the right wing for this one because there won't be much space in the centre. This way I feel we could compete in midfield with Messi and Iniesta providing the bite but it's definitely going to be a 4-4-2. Question is which variation shows up... If it's the diamond then I think we could be ok. If it's flat... I think we'll be overrun.

Edit: I am not a fan of using Paulinho in the hole but for this game I would definitely stick him there.

Do you refer to the flat 4 as a general formation or just when defending, because it seems to be a rather illogical choice. Iniesta and Rakitic aren't exactly wingers and pretty slow, and playing one CDM, two CMs and one CAM in midfield, supported by two attacking full backs on the wing sounds a lot like a diamond shape to me, which also appers to be rather barca's style than a flat 4.
I'm not sure if the right wing would be the most effective position for Messi in this game, I think the easiest position for him to exploit is our LCB, by dropping back as a right striker and using Rüdiger's or Cahill's shaky positional play and create places behind them.

 

[5ergio_Busquets]

That Fabregas, Kanté and Drinkwater partnership is what scares me. I haven't been watching Chelsea much lately but Fabregas and Drinkwater (both very good passers along with Kanté) when setup correctly could cause some serious damage against Rakitic in particular. What I remember from Chelsea games earlier is that they play very compact in midfield and Barça would have to counter that by employing a similar strategy and actually counter pressing hard instead of defensive shape being their first priority as has been the case lately. Teams have also been countering this double pivot of us with relative ease lately.

If I had my way Barça would line up 4-3-3 or 3-3-1-3 against Chelsea with Paulinho in the hole as a foil for Kanté. Messi has to be on the right wing for this one because there won't be much space in the centre. This way I feel we could compete in midfield with Messi and Iniesta providing the bite but it's definitely going to be a 4-4-2. Question is which variation shows up... If it's the diamond then I think we could be ok. If it's flat... I think we'll be overrun.

Edit: I am not a fan of using Paulinho in the hole but for this game I would definitely stick him there.

You want Paulinho in a 3-man midfield? really?
What does Paulinho do well in the midfield? Does he pass well? No. Does he position himself well? No. Does he defend well? No. Can he keep the ball and control the game? No. Does he dribble well? No. Then how is he a midfielder let alone a Barca midfielder?! The man needs half the field to control the ball when passed to him how on earth do some people want him to play against a counter attacking team like Chelsea?! The game is expected to be decided by the midfield and yet some people here want a Chinese league player to play there.
Did you see his recent performances? Then why do you expect him to suddenly to transform into a Xavi at the Stamford bridge? Chelsea are expected to play with high pressing in the midfield how do you expect him to cope with that with his poor first touch and ball control?

 

[MessiCam]

Do you refer to the flat 4 as a general formation or just when defending, because it seems to be a rather illogical choice. Iniesta and Rakitic aren't exactly wingers and pretty slow, and playing one CDM, two CMs and one CAM in midfield, supported by two attacking full backs on the wing sounds a lot like a diamond shape to me, which also appers to be rather barca's style than a flat 4.
I'm not sure if the right wing would be the most effective position for Messi in this game, I think the easiest position for him to exploit is our LCB, by dropping back as a right striker and using Rüdiger's or Cahill's shaky positional play and create places behind them.

Flat as a base formation. What's been happening is we've been playing with Busquets and Rakitic as CM's (double pivot) with Iniesta and whomever as the wide midfielders. It's very seldom that we play a 4-4-2 Diamond. I'm completely against it but it worked earlier in the season. Now we're often being exposed though.

 

[MessiCam]

You want Paulinho in a 3-man midfield? really?
What does Paulinho do well in the midfield? Does he pass well? No. Does he position himself well? No. Does he defend well? No. Can he keep the ball and control the game? No. Does he dribble well? No. Then how is he a midfielder let alone a Barca midfielder?! The man needs half the field to control the ball when passed to him how on earth do some people want him to play against a counter attacking team like Chelsea?! The game is expected to be decided by the midfield and yet some people here want a Chinese league player to play there.
Did you see his recent performances? Then why do you expect him to suddenly to transform into a Xavi at the Stamford bridge? Chelsea are expected to play with high pressing in the midfield how do you expect him to cope with that with his poor first touch and ball control?

Yes. Because he was really good there earlier in the season and I'd use him as foil against Kanté. Paulinho like Rakitic wins a lot of duels but a trio of Kanté, Drinkwater and Fabregas would murder Rakitic I feel. Paulinho has a bit more pace.

Paulinho has been out of his depth recently because he has been playing as a right mid or an attacking mid. That's not his game. He is a box to box player.

I also think Paulinho is sometimes unfairly criticised. Against Eibar, in my opinion, he was better than both Iniesta and Rakitic.

 

[Horatio]

Cakir for the referee. We never lost a game with him.