Disjointed, vulnerable and slow: Barça exposed by Chelsea’s tactical rigour | Jonathan Wilson

Chelsea stifled Barcelona’s key players, proving that the Spanish side should not be so feared as they once were

The first leg, you suspect, went just as Antonio Conte would have wanted it to go – apart from the bit about not playing a square ball across your penalty area to Andrés Iniesta with 15 minutes remaining. But that’s the problem with great tactical plans: they always rely, ultimately, on that most fallible of species: humans.

Lionel Messi’s equaliser has tipped the tie Barcelona’s way, but Chelsea can draw great encouragement from that first leg and, having operated like the away side, can play the second in much the same way (another reason, incidentally, why the away goals rules should be scrapped: the way a team sets up these days is far more conditioned by resources than where the match is being played).

Continue reading...