Champions League
2012-04-24 - Barcelona vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: European Champions League Semi Final Second Leg
Tuesday 24 April 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
Chelsea lead 1-0 from the First Leg
This game is live on TV
Barcelona
Barcelona are going to lose their La Liga title after a 1-2 loss to Real Madrid at the Nou Camp on Saturday evening, but now they are in a for a real fight to keep hold of their Champions League title and remain on course to become the first side in 22 years to retain this trophy. Pep Guardiola remains confident that his side can overturn this 1-0 deficit from Stamford Bridge last week.
The team's loss last week at Stamford Bridge was the only one they have suffered in the Champions League so far this season and is actually the first time they have lost in the competition in 16 games. Barcelona have won 13 of their last 15 home games at the Nou Camp in the Champions League, and they have gone 4-1-0 there this season, scoring at least 2 goals in each of those games.
The loss to Real Madrid means Barcelona have lost back to back games in all competitions for the first time in three years. They had not lost in 55 games at the Nou Camp before the loss to Real, and they had won 9 games in a row in all competitions before Saturday. Barcelona's last 8 home games were all won by at least 2 goals before Real came to town.
Gerard Pique is expected to come back into the side having missed the last few games, while the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas will be pushing for starting spots.
Chelsea
Roberto Di Matteo made a huge number of changes to his starting team against Arsenal over the weekend with this game in mind, while he has also been fighting off some of the criticisms of the way his team played at Stamford Bridge in the first leg. The Italian won't care about how Chelsea play as long as they get through to their second Champions League Final in five seasons.
Chelsea's best way of getting back into the Champions League could be winning this tournament this season as they currently trail Newcastle United by 4 points in the Premier League for the final place. They have now won 4 Champions League games in a row, although they are 1-2-2 in their away games in Europe this season. Chelsea will at least gain some confidence from the fact that they have scored in every away game in the competition this season and in their last 7 overall.
The Blues are unbeaten in their last 9 games in all competitions since a 2-1 loss to Manchester City and they have lost just 1 of their 6 away games under Di Matteo. Chelsea had failed to win in 5 away games in the Champions League before a 0-1 win at Benfica in the Quarter Finals.
Didier Drogba is set to win his battle for fitness and will be leading the line for Chelsea. The likes of Frank Lampard, Juan Mata, Ashley Cole and Raul Meireles are all expected to be restored to the starting line up having missed the game at Arsenal on Saturday. David Luiz is out.
Head to Head
Chelsea's win over Barcelona extended their run to 6 unbeaten against the Catalan giants.
The last 3 games between the teams at the Nou Camp have all ended in draws, including a 0-0 in the first leg of the Semi Final of 2009.
Prediction
Chelsea have made believers out of a lot of the sceptics after their performance at Stamford Bridge last week to take a 1-0 lead to the Nou Camp, but I can't take comparisons to the Inter Milan win over Barcelona in 2010 too seriously.
The reason for that is that Inter Milan really did restrict Barcelona in the two legs they played, allowing the away side to create less than a handful of opportunities in those games and that couldn't be any more different than the game last week. Barcelona literally had FIVE clear cut chances to score and I think they would have won at a canter if they had not been so wasteful.
I expect Barcelona will create chances again today and if they can find the composure in those situations, I think it will be tough for Chelsea to defend this lead.
The home team were not themselves against Real Madrid, but they still had some chances that went the same way as they did at Stamford Bridge and I just can't shake the fact that I don't believe Chelsea will be able to ride their luck again.
The scoreline seems to have had people revising how that game developed, especially all the reports that spoke of Chelsea's resolute defending, but if Barcelona can create that many open chances at Stamford Bridge, I think they can do the same again at the Nou Camp.
Chelsea will have their chances to at least get on the scoresheet, particularly if they utilise their size from set pieces as Real Madrid on Saturday, but I don't think they have the same speed to spring counter attacks.
Barring several goal line clearances, the woodwork being struck twice, players missing chances from 6 yards out, I just can't see Chelsea keeping Barcelona at bay again and I feel confident that they will still go through to the Final.
The home side have won their last 4 Champions League games here by at least 2 goals and I expect the same again tonight.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Barcelona 3-1 Chelsea
