Didier Drogba scored the game’s only goal to earn Chelsea a hard-fought 1-0 victory over FC Barcelona who dominated possession and the chances yet somehow failed to score.
Chelsea 1 (Drogba 45’) def FC Barcelona 0
The Blues rode their luck at Stamford Bridge, while Barca were left the rue missed chances. Alexis Sanchez had the first chance when his deft chip hit the crossbar, while shortly after Cesc Fabregas misfired from close-range. The former Arsenal man also saw an effort saved by Petr Cech while another strike was cleared off the line by Ashley Cole.
And then right on half-time Chelsea struck with Ivory Coast striker Drogba finding space to tuck home Ramires’ ball after Frank Lampard has brilliantly released the Brazilian with a quick switch of play.
Barcelona responded after the break with more attacking threat but the frustration for boss Pep Guardiola continued. Sanchez pushed an effort wide 10 minutes into the second 45, while Lionel Messi also got more involved in dangerous areas but nothing came of it. However, Barca came agonisingly close late on when substitute Pedro Rodriguez curled a powerful shot into the post, with Sergio Busquets blasting high the rebound much to the delight of the Stamford Bridge crowd.
Manager Reactions
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo: “It was almost perfect. Against Barcelona you have to do a lot of defending and be clinical when you get your chances. They are going to have a lot of possession. My players have shown the determination they have, with the courage to play against the top team in the world – they showed good quality. It was a collective performance by the whole team.”
Di Matteo added: “It is good that we didn’t concede – we go into the second leg with a little advantage. I believe we will get chances over there and hopefully we can take them. We have to be confident and believe we can go through to the final.”
Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola: “We played well, created 24 chances and still lost – what can you do? We need to create 24 more chances at home in the return” and hope that some go in. We need to find more ways of creating danger. My players are disappointed but I know them and they will give absolutely everything they have to reach the final. We will need to be patient and ambitious at our stadium.”
Guardiola added: “Chelsea are the favourites, though, and a 1-0 win is good for them. Our challenge now is to reverse the result and it is a challenge we accept.”
Player Reactions
Frank Lampard: “We had some luck but sometimes in football you deserve to have luck on your side. We worked hard for it tonight. To keep a clean sheet and to score is a big result for us but nothing is done yet.”
Gary Cahill: “We know it is going to be tough but we will go there with confidence. Things have been going well for us of late and for me it’s nice to start the game and to play well.”
Dani Alves: “I’m sure that Chelsea’s best player in their team was their goalkeeper. We have chances to qualify for the final and now I just hope that our luck in front of goal changes.”
Thiago Alcantara: “This hasn’t even really been a ‘strange day at the office’, just an unfortunate one in terms of scoring the goals we should have. It’s not the result we were seeking and now we’ll just have to prepare for the second leg.” (player quotes thanks to uefa.com)