Tuesday night sees arguably the tie of the Champions League last 16 as Chelsea host Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.
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9 years on from THAT infamous Didier Drogba incident which followed a 1-1 draw that saw Chelsea knocked out in the semi-finals on away goals, the 2 sides have met only twice since with the most recent being in the 2011/12 Champions League semi-finals when Fernando Torres scored THAT goal which sent Chelsea through to a final they’d go on to win on penalties against Bayern Munich.
All in all, in the 10 times this fixture has been played with just 4 ending in a stalemate, and only once ending goal-less after 90minutes. |
The reigning Premier League champions have endured a bumpy passage to the knockout stages of this year’s competition. This being said, they were in a competitive group which contained Atletico Madrid, Roma, and, to a lesser extent, Qarabag. Conte's side racked up 3 wins, 2 draws, and a very forgettable 3-0 defeat at the Stadio Olimpico.
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Barcelona, meanwhile, emerged as comfortable winners of Group D- finishing 3pts ahead of Juventus- winning 4 & drawing the remaining 2.
The Catalans will be without £142million January signing Phillipe Coutinho, who is cup tied having made 5 appearances in the competition for Liverpool already this season. What’s more, with Luis Suarez yet to score a single goal in this year’s Champions League, the pressure (if the man even feels pressure) will be on Lionel Messi to add to the 3 he has already. |
