Monday, May 4, 2009

Chelsea v Barcelona

Uefa Champions League, Semi-final second leg
Venue: Stamford Bridge Date: Wednesday, 6 May Kick-off: 1945 BST
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live with live text commentary on the BBC Sport website. Live on Sky Sports


Barcelona's Thierry Henry

Frenchman Henry has been in stunning form for Barca all season

Barcelona's Thierry Henry was forced to sit out a training session on Monday, but he should be fit to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Henry, 31, picked up a knee injury after scoring twice during Barca's 6-2 rout at Real Madrid on Saturday and was substituted towards the end.

Barca will be without captain Carles Puyol, who is banned, and defender Rafa Marquez, who is out for the season.

Martin Caceres could partner Gerard Pique at the heart of Barca's defence.

BIG MATCH STATS

FC Barcelona and Chelsea are playing against each other for the 10th time in the Champions League.

They also met in the semi-finals of the 1965-66 Fairs Cup. Barca proceeded to the final after a 5-0 win in the decisive match at home. Both clubs had won their regular home ties 2-0.

In total, Barcelona have won five of the 12 matches played against Chelsea with the Londoners winning four.

Both clubs have progressed twice in their four previous knock-out match-ups in the CL.

Barcelona have failed to beat Chelsea in their last four matches. This is their joint longest current winless run against a club in the Champions League/Champions Cup. They have also not won in their last four matches against Manchester United.

Barca's last win against Chelsea was on 22 February 2006; 1-2 at Stamford Bridge. This is Chelsea's only home defeat in 11 matches against Spanish clubs; seven of those matches have been won.

Chelsea's last two home matches against Spanish clubs resulted in draws, 1-1 and 0-0, both against Valencia.

Barcelona have lost 15 of their 29 away matches against English clubs. They have won six and drawn eight. Their last win on English soil was on 6 March 2007, at Liverpool (0-1).

In the last four CL seasons Barcelona have been eliminated by Chelsea (2004-05), Liverpool (2006-07) and Manchester United (2007-08). In the 2005-06 season they won the CL final against Arsenal 2-1.

In the 2-2 draw between Barcelona and Chelsea on 31 October 2006, 10 players received a yellow card. The record number of yellow cards in a CL match is 11.

CLUB FORM

CHELSEA

Reached the semi-finals of the CL for the third consecutive season and the fifth time in the last six seasons.

Have a 66.8% chance of progressing after their 0-0 away leg with FC Barcelona, taking into account all 0-0 first leg results in European competition.

Have successfully negotiated the only CL knock-out-round in which they started with a 0-0 away draw in the first leg. In the 2007-08 CL season they drew 0-0 at Olympiacos before winning 3-0 at home in the last 16.

Not lost any of their last 17 home matches in the CL. Their last defeat was the match against Barcelona on 22 February 2006 (1-2).


BARCELONA

Reached the CL semi-finals for a record equalling sixth time and for the second time in succession.

Can suffer their 100th defeat in all European competitions (won 238, drawn 101, lost 99).

Have a 33.2% chance of progressing after their 0-0 home leg with Chelsea, taking into account all 0-0 first leg results in European competition.

Last season they were eliminated by Manchester United after drawing 0-0 at home and losing 1-0 away in the first leg of the CL semi-finals.

They have not lost their last five CL away matches.

Two goals shy of Real Madrid's record total of 850 scored in all European competitions.

KEY PLAYER NOTES

Didier DROGBA received a red card in Barcelona's 2-1 win over Chelsea in the first leg of the last 16 tie in 2004-05.

Frank LAMPARD has five assists this CL season.

BELLETTI (2004-2007) and DECO (2004-2008) won the Champions League with FC Barcelona. Ricardo QUARESMA (2003-04) also played for the Spanish club.

Petr CECH and Nicolas ANELKA have played in all of Chelsea's 11 CL matches this season.

Ashley COLE returns from suspension. ANELKA, Michael BALLACK and ALEX will be suspended if booked.

Barcelona's Lionel MESSI is the top scorer in this season's Champions League with eight goals from 10 matches.

With six assists, XAVI is joint assist leader this CL season together with Bayern Munich's Franck RIBERY.

Eidur GUDJOHNSEN played for Chelsea from 2000 until 2006. He played four matches against Barcelona as a Chelsea player and scored once, on 8 March 2005. That was in a 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge.

Dani ALVES will celebrate his 26th birthday on the day of the match.

Carles PUYOL is suspended. ALVES and Sergio BUSQUETS will face suspension if booked.

OTHER MISCELLANEOUS FACTS

Barcelona's coach Josep Guardiola played for Barcelona in their 5-1 win against Chelsea after extra time in the 1999-2000 quarter-finals after losing the away match 3-1 in London.

FC Barcelona are on a CL record running streak of 104 CL matches without receiving a red card. The last Barca player to be sent off in a CL match was current coach Josep Guardiola in the away match against Brondby on 9 December 1998.

Definitions of terms used:-

Champions League (CL) - only group phase matches and beyond of this competition which began in 1992-93.
Champions Cup/Champions League - all matches played since it began in 1955-56 including qualification matches.
European matches - all matches played in the major European tournaments (Fairs Cup, Uefa Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, Champions Cup, Champions League).
Uefa Super Cups, Intertoto Cups and the old Intercontinental Cup competition are excluded.

Big Match Stats source: Infostrada Sports

0 comments:

Post a Comment