Chelsea will beat Barcelona – Semifinals of the Champions League 2009

The long-awaited duel between football clubs Chelsea and Barcelona is here and the first leg of the two-legged semi-final kicks off in the evening in Barcelona. It is considered the matchup of the season with teams with different abilities trying to outdo each other. In many ways it will be a contest between the fast-paced, physical approach of the English Premier League and the technically superior one-touch football of Barcelona.

Predicting is hard to make and even both managers are staying away from making any kind of announcement before the game.

I guess I need to put my head together and go with Chelsea Football Club. I think that Barcelona is about to receive a slap. They will be hit on both legs.

Chelsea, unlike Bayern Munich in the previous round, have a much more stable and permanent defense, and it will be very difficult for the Barcelona striker to defeat the offside trap. Henry, Eto and Messi are doing well in LaLiga this season but they haven’t come across Chelsea’s physical approach. Bayern had three new defenders in the last four and probably playing together for the first time at the Camp Nou.

Secondly, most of Barcelona’s creativity is focused on Xavi and Inniesta, and the duo will face a tough challenge from Essien and Ballack, both physically demanding players, especially the upper body strength of the one that the Barcelona players lack.

The duel of the match could be Essien and Xavi or Malouda vs. Dani Alves. It may seem strange, but most of Messi’s industriousness depends on Alves, since he allows Messi to enter on the wrong foot. Malouda’s drives will not only keep Alves in his own half, but his better adaptability to defensive work will also make it easier for Boswinga to defend against Messi. Henry and Eto are free-running players and won’t have space today, so it won’t be a big surprise if one of them is substituted around 75 minutes.

Leave all the rest to Drogba as Barcelona don’t have a thing called defense in football and with a quick closing they are bound to make mistakes. Barcelona are not getting anything out of their home game.

Leave the rest for next week.

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