The Chelsea Thread

[CJACKO11]

Whoever goes through tonight will need to step their game by about 6 levels, because both sides have been pretty woeful this tie.

Lets be honest, Chelsea tried to play the same way they did in the first leg and soon as we got the goal and they got the red card mentally some of the players were thinking it was full time already. Against Barca they just won't do that because they wont be able to.

Benfica goal proof Cech is not the world class keeper he used to be... still a good keep but not world class, this is why you have to give Courtois a run in the team.

Pretty dire performance from Chelsea, scraped through against a 10 man Benfica side who had midfielders as defenders and subbed their key players as they thought tie was over.

Did you not see the save from Cardozo and Djalo?? The blame for the goal goes both to Cech and Luiz who lost Garcia and let him run straight through.


Not a vintage performance tonight but just about done what we needed to do. Both sides had big chances maybe Benfica the more but over the 2 legs the better team won for me. 7 wins in 9 for Di Matteo and only 1 defeat which was away to a side who hadn't dropped a point at home at that point, AVB seems like a distant memory.

 

[CJACKO11]

Can't see Chelsea doing anything against Barca to be honest.

Will depend how we set up, in recent games against them our pace and physicality have bouldered them over. First leg will be the decider for me.

 

[CJACKO11]

View attachment 235507
Djibrill Cisse??? I wonder what Sparky will think of this!!!!!

 

[BlueHeart26]

[video]http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid761333525001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAAnV5Z0~,xyoxShbY DLGSh2yu4XruBQh1N8XmHpc9&bctid=1547490601001[/video]

 

[CJACKO11]

[video]http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid761333525001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAAnV5Z0~,xyoxShbY DLGSh2yu4XruBQh1N8XmHpc9&bctid=1547490601001[/video]

Jesus Christ i nearly forgot how much i love this man. "it won't be a Chelsea-Madrid final and you know why". Really pumping the pressure on the officials and Fifa.

 

[BlueHeart26]

Jesus Christ i nearly forgot how much i love this man. "it won't be a Chelsea-Madrid final and you know why". Really pumping the pressure on the officials and Fifa.

The perfect way to escape the ban is to say it like this, because I'm sure everyone knows what "you know why" really means. Legend.

 

[Metz]

What are Chelsea's chances against Barcelona? Quality-wise Barcelona is superior so Chelsea will need to rely on tactics, timing, and luck.

 

[BlueHeart26]

Chelsea captain John Terry couldn't breath after breaking ribs in Champions League win over Benfica - Telegraph


legend
will be missed.

 

[BlueHeart26]

What are Chelsea's chances against Barcelona? Quality-wise Barcelona is superior so Chelsea will need to rely on tactics, timing, and luck.

I think we know how big our chances are. Thats Barcelona ffs.

 

[sanketutd]

If it comes down to Luck then Chelsea are due a truckload of luck atleast because of 2009 Stamford Bridge Saga!

 

[BlueHeart26]

If it comes down to Luck then Chelsea are due a truckload of luck atleast because of 2009 Stamford Bridge Saga!

Again, the 2009 situation had nothing to do with luck.

 

[cfc12345]

Might aswell put Uefalona in the final now. One way or another they're getting to the final anyway.

 

[Alcaraz]

It was a decent performance from us over the two legs and ultiamtely in my opinion the better team progressed. Yes one can say that Benfica certainly had the lion's share of possesion in games but ultimately its what you do with the possession that counts. Here is a stat for you: Benfica only had 6 shots on target over the 2 legs and some of them were the tame long-range efforts

Moving onto Barcelona. It is evidently going to be a very tough game and every player in our squad will have to bring his A Game if we are to even dream of making the finals.

As Subtle rightly pointed out, a lot rests on Essien's performance as he is quite frankly the best DM we have. Romeu is too inexperienced for a game of this magnitude, Mikel too inconsistent and we might as well not play if we intend to start Meirless.

I feel it is absolutely essential to pair Essien with Ramires in the double pivot. Ramires work-rate and stamina will be extremely important as we will need to limit the space Barcelona have in our final third.

Also I would start Drogba over Torres. Barcelona's defence probably deals with strikers in Torres mould every weekend in La Liga. Strikers who are fast, good off the shoulder intelligence and look to run onto through balls. But how many times have they dealt with a striker in the Drogba mould: Strong, ability to outmuscle defenders and hold the ball up and lethal finishing. Only one player plying his trade in La Liga springs to mind in Fernando Llorente.

I feel our chances really rest on which Drogba/Essien shows up. The players they were just a few seasons ago or the players they are now.

My starting line-up:

GK: Petr Cech
LB:Ashley Cole
CB: John Terry
CB: David Luiz
RB: Brainslav Ivanovic
DM: Michael Essien
DM: Ramires
LW: Salomon Kalou
ACM: Juan Mata
RW: Daniel Sturridge
ST: Diddy Drogba

 

[Alcaraz]

Probably right, but what a ****.

Benefica's team and their fans have shown their capacity for how sore they get when they lose

Disrespectful from Jorge Jesus, considering that Chelsea outclassed his side over two legs and the fact that his side stand no chance themselves

 

[zzeezzy]

Benefica's team and their fans have shown their capacity for how sore they get when they lose Disrespectful from Jorge Jesus, considering that Chelsea outclassed his side over two legs and the fact that his side stand no chance themselves

I would not say you outclassed Benfica, especially in the second leg I would say they were the better team considering they had 10 men and Midfielders playing in Defence.

 

[BlueHeart26]

[video=youtube;wp3BPE2lRuY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp3BPE2lRuY[/video]



LOL? Drake? Well better than Bieber anyway.

 

[Alcaraz]

I would not say you outclassed Benfica, especially in the second leg I would say they were the better team considering they had 10 men and Midfielders playing in Defence.

We obviously relaxed our game after we scored a goal and Benefica had a man sent off. Whats the point of exerting ourselves when passage was more or less secured. It nearly proved to be our undoing no doubt.

Also after we tactically outclassed them in the first leg, Jorge Jesus and the Benefica Captain came out and said how we did not deserve to win.

Here is some statistics:

Benefica had an impressive 22 shots in the second leg. However, 64% percent of them was from outside the box.

Chelsea on the other hand only had 17 shots. However 71% of them were from inside the box which shows that our shots had a higher chance of becoming a goal than your shot.

WhoScored shows that that we had 11% goals per shot while Benefica only had 4%.

 

[maxy67]

BBC Sport - Will Chelsea beat Barcelona in Champions League semi-finals?

Been reading what the pundits have to say about Chelsea- Barca, but I was just wondering if Chelsea fans think they have a chance of beating Barca?

 

[BlueHeart26]

here we go again.

 

[CJACKO11]

Chelsea captain John Terry couldn't breath after breaking ribs in Champions League win over Benfica - Telegraph


legend
will be missed.

The man is just bionic!!!!!!! CAPTAIN-LEADER-LEGEND!!!!

If it comes down to Luck then Chelsea are due a truckload of luck atleast because of 2009 Stamford Bridge Saga!

I would love it (Keegen style) if we win with a bad decision, the 09 game was the most angry i have ever been in my life.

What are Chelsea's chances against Barcelona? Quality-wise Barcelona is superior so Chelsea will need to rely on tactics, timing, and luck.

BBC Sport - Will Chelsea beat Barcelona in Champions League semi-finals?

Been reading what the pundits have to say about Chelsea- Barca, but I was just wondering if Chelsea fans think they have a chance of beating Barca?

It depends how much this old guard have left in them. In recent times i think Barca would agree Chelsea are one of the only sides to out muscle and out thought Barca. Even back in 99/00 we beat them comfortably 3-1 in the first leg and only really lost the 2nd leg because Babayaro decided to get sent off!!!! Saying all that this Barca side are something special indeed so we will need one last massive performance from all the players. Personly i think the likes of Ramires and Sturridge will be key especially in the 2nd leg away because Barca take risks in the amount of bodies they throw forward and both can break with frightening pace. In percentage wise i would say Chelsea have a %35 of winning over the two legs but stranger things have happend. Plus we have the whole 09 thing on a lot of our players minds.