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Champions League Semi Finals

Published by Ian John on April 29, 2009

Last night’s 0-0 draw between Barcelona and Chelsea at the Nou Camp will see the English side the happier of the two teams with the final result. Although I think Chelsea’s delight at recording a draw at the Nou Camp has to be tempered with the fact that they did not get an away goal. Something which I think Barcelona are more than capable of achieving at Stamford Bridge, especially against a Chelsea side that will have to push forward a great deal more for the second leg. This should finally free Barcelona’s attacking talent and give them the space to hit Chelsea on the counter.

It promises to be an intriguing second leg. Chelsea can switch Bosingwa into the right back slot as Ashley Cole will be able to return from suspension to watch Messi. Bosingwa did a good job marking the Argentinian superstar however and Gus Hiddink could well be tempted to ask him to do the same job again next week. For Barcelona the defensive problems increase with the news that Marquez will likely be out for some time with what looked like a knee ligament problem and Carlos Puyol will be suspended for the second leg. Barca boss Josep Guardiola will have real concerns about his back line for the game against Stamford Bridge as when tested at the Nou Camp by Chelsea’s somewhat sporadic attacks, they hardly looked watertight with the players they had available.

I think the second leg will be far more open and while I can see Barcelona scoring at the Bridge, I think Chelsea’s attack will be much too strong for a Barcelona defence that at times looked shambolic last night. Under the much sterner pressure in England, I expect Chelsea to triumph in the second leg.

The second semi final kicks off later tonight at Old Trafford as Manchester United take on Arsenal in what promises to be a more open game. The Gunners it seems are the English league’s equivalent of Barcelona this season, with the emphasis firmly on attack and the defence seemingly at sixes and sevens at times. Manchester United will come into the game as favourites after their 5-2 win against Tottenham at the weekend. Although it is unlikely United will be gifted a way back into the game by the referee should they fall 2-0 behind.

However I don’t think that is likely to happen. United are more than a match for Arsenal in attack and in the ket area of defence the home side, led by Vidic and Ferdinand are a much stronger defensive unit than the Gunners back line at present. That combined with a partisan home crowd and the realisation that they are going to need to take some semblance of a lead with them to Highbury next week, means that I’d expect United to take the game by two clear goals.

I must admit, watching the game last night I was continually annoyed by Daniel Alves. Isn’t he an irksome soul? A great footballer, but my God he likes to moan. I must admit too, while I think Andres Iniesta is a marvellous player, I do worry about him. He is so pale. How he has managed that living and playing in Spain all his life is beyond me but everytime I see him I feel like wrapping him up in a blanket and telling him to lie down until he feels better.

Picture Courtesy of **Dakinho** on Flickr.com

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