Match ReportChelsea master Barça's "skills"Match Details
Related PlayersIn a much anticipated game, Barça had the best possible start as Deco beat Hilario as early as the 2nd minute as he dispossesed Khalid Boulahrouz on the left flank, got to the edge of the penalty area and fired in a fierce shot that went between Ricardo Carvalho's legs and past the 3rd choice Chelsea keeper. Chelsea then decided to do what Mourinho accused Barça of doing, diving and playing dirty. Didier Drogba in particular was hitting the deck at any given chance, trying to get Barça players booked, and attacking Thiago Motta at any given chance. In one incident, Drogba pushed Motta back to the ground for no particular reason as the Barça man was trying to get up. Lionel Messi then ripped the Chelsea defence apart before cutting the ball back from the byline to Ronaldinho who blasted the shot over with a chance even a 2 year old could have scored. Barça then had another fantastic chance to go 2-0 up, this time Xavi had his shot brilliantly saved by Hilario after some world class build up play, which put Xavi in on goal. Arjen Robben, another Chelsea player known for his theatricals, had Chelsea's best chance. His half volley was saved by Victor Valdes, who up to that point, was little more than a spectator. The referee didn't cover himself in glory after booking Ashley Cole for the second time only for him to claim that Cole's first booking went to Frank Lampard. It was obvious the ref didn't want to follow Terje Hauge and Anders Frisk in deservidly sending off a Chelsea player once again in this tie. Chelsea did manage to get level after half time with a fluky chip-shot by Frank Lampard from an impossible angle beat Valdes (51'). The officials once again showed their inability to do anything which would have gone against Chelsea, and most likely ending up having a few 100 Chelsea sending the officials death threats, by ruling the goal out for offside. The cheat of the hour, Didier Drogba, was offside as the ball was played into Lampard to score the goal. Barça replied in the way the Spanish and European Champions should, by grabbing another goal to go 2-1 up. Substitute Edmilson played in a great horizonal long ball to Ronaldinho who got round Khalid Boulahrouz with relative ease and played the ball to ex-Chelsea man Eidur Gudjohnsen to tap the ball into the back of the net. The Icelander answered back to Jose Mourinho's pre-match criticism in the best possible way and made sure that the Chelsea manager would be made to look like the idiot he is. Unfortionatly, Gudjohnsen had to be stretchered off the pitch after a reckless tackle by Ricardo Carvalho, which should of resulted in a dismissal for the dirty Portuguese defender, and had to be replaced by Ludovic Giuly. This wasn't the only tackle Carvalho made which, if there was a referee who had the courage to send off a Chelsea player, would of resulted a red card. He slide tackled Deco from behind and the Barça man was lucky to escape injury. With 5 minutes to go, Micheal Ballack mirrored Ronalinho's first half miss before Chelsea captain John Terry showed again how poorly he and Chelsea were diciplined by booting the ball stright at Deco, who was on the ground after being fouled, once again, by a Chelsea player. The 4th official showed 6 minutes of stoppage time on the board and in the 3rd of those 6 minutes, John Terry appeared from nowhere to the chest the ball to Drogba who had the simple task of putting the ball into the back of the net to give Chelsea a share of the spoils and put the Londoners on the brink of qualification into the next round of the Champions League. |
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Last Match
Shakhtar — Barcelona
RSK Olimpiyskiy, Donetsk
UEFA Champions League
Wed. 1st October 08
Standings
| Pos. | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Valencia | 5 | 13 |
| 2 | Villarreal | 5 | 13 |
| 3 | Real Madrid | 5 | 12 |
| 4 | Sevilla | 5 | 11 |
| 5 | Barcelona | 5 | 10 |
| 6 | Almería | 5 | 10 |



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