Chelsea – FC Barcelona / Champions League – On Tuesday evening, a true classic is on the program as part of the knockout round of the Champions League. London’s Chelsea and the famous FC Barcelona have met ten times in the last 13 years of this elite competition. It is interesting the fact that the English representative had more success. Chelsea recorded three wins, five draws and two defeats, and both defeats came in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons.
Chelsea
The “Blues” remained unbeaten in their last seven duels against FC Barcelona, with Barcelona making it to the final in 2009 thanks to an away goal, while Chelsea made it to the final in 2012 following a 1-0 home win and a 2-2 away win. Nevertheless, this London club has recently been less successful in this competition than the Catalans. Before this duel, the blues are in fourth place in the Premier League.
After two defeats in series, the charges of coach Conte scored a 3-0 home win against West Bromwich on the final day, while last weekend they celebrated with a combined line-up in the FA Cup, at home to second division side Hull (4-0 ). In the meantime, some players have recovered and so Barca defender Alonso and striker Morata are expected in the starting lineup, while center-back Luiz and midfielders Bakayoko and Barkley will likely be relegated to the reserve bench.
FC Barcelona
Unlike the “blues”, who are unlikely to defend England’s championship title, Barcelona have been the champions of the Spanish Primera Division since the start of the season and are currently seven points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid. However, their lead was still in the double digits three laps before three rounds, but then the Catalans drew against Espanyol and Getafe, while they triumphed over Eibar on the final day of the match, while Atletico even won three.
In the meantime, Barcelona made it through Valencia to reach the final of the royal cup. Since they are active on several fronts, the players are pretty exhausted, which is why coach Valverde experimented with the line-up very often. However, we expect him to make his strongest appearance in the duel against Chelsea. The losers will be injured center-back Vermaelen and suspended defender Semedo, while midfielder Coutinho has already appeared in this year’s Champions League edition with Liverpool.
