There
has not been a great deal for Antonio Conte to be positive about of late,
but despite Barcelona comfortably beating Chelsea at the Nou Camp, the
Italian cannot be too displeased with his side's performance, writes Pete
Hall.
Poor goalkeeping, missed chances and Lionel Messi - that just about sums up
Chelsea's evening in the Nou Camp as they bowed out of the Champions League,
losing 4-1 on aggregate.
Thibaut Courtois should have done better with both Messi goals as the Barca
superstar took his Champions League career tally to 100, but in this form,
Messi is simply unplayable. There are no superlatives left to describe his
feats.
Yet, even as Barcelona edged further and further ahead in the tie, Chelsea
remained on top for large swathes of the game, just as they were in the
first leg.
Chelsea fans enjoying some March sunshine on Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas
plazas were surprisingly confident pre-match, despite their side's poor
domestic form, and that overtly cocksure attitude came off the back of what
they had seen for long periods at Stamford Bridge three weeks ago. The
prospect of taking the game to Barcelona again excited those in blue in
Catalonia.
That optimism was soon dashed as Messi scored from the tightest of angles
inside two minutes - but still Chelsea attacked en masse.
One swift counter from Messi, sashaying past three defenders before squaring
for Ousmane Dembele 20 minutes in and it was 2-0 - Barca scoring with each
of their first two shots of the match, again against the run of play.
2-0 down, on the back of five defeats in their last 10 in all competitions,
all while playing against the might of a Messi-inspired Barca, you'd have
forgiven Chelsea for letting their heads drop, but they kept coming and
coming.
It was poor decision-making, at crucial times, that has cost them dear in
both legs. Every goal was avoidable. Andreas Christensen's inexplicable pass
across his own box in the first leg, Courtois' poor positioning for the
opener in the Nou Camp, Cesc Fabregas dwelling too long on the ball for the
second, and Cesar Azpilicueta's sloppiness for the third - all brilliantly
executed by Barca - with a huge helping hand from Chelsea.
Chances kept coming, and going. N'Golo Kante took the ball off Fabregas'
foot late in the first half, before Marcos Alonso hit the post with a
free-kick just before the interval - the third time the woodwork had denied
Chelsea in the tie.
Chelsea had six shots to Barcelona's four in the first half, then another
six in the second, had a huge penalty appeal waved away, hit the post again,
and were even denied by a goal-saving tackle by Dembele - the ball just
wouldn't go in.
Many of the travelling Chelsea fans stayed behind to applaud their team off
the pitch, appreciative of the effort they put in.
Losing 4-1 on aggregate at this stage of the Champions League isn't exactly
going to alleviate pressure on Conte's hardened shoulders, but this wasn't a
team not playing for their manager - Chelsea did put everything into both
legs against the unbeaten La Liga leaders, had their chances, but just
didn't take them.
Conte's tactics seemed to work too, in an attacking sense. Chelsea didn't
have much of the ball in the first half, but could break quickly with
Olivier Giroud acting as the pivot. Willian and Eden Hazard drifted into
space, and caused continual problems. Again, there was just no end product.
Take the superhuman Messi out of the equation, and cut out the silly
mistakes that proved so costly, and this tie could have a whole different
complexion altogether, and such a spirited performance will give fans hope
their side's season may have a happy ending yet.
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