Barcelona vs Chelsea: a game of 'no return' for Antonio Conte and his men
The result of this game is what Conte will be really judged on. Lose, and there may well be no return after the season ends
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Your support makes all the difference.Ernesto Valverde was as restrained with his words as he is with his team, but there was one little line at Barcelona’s training ground that touched on an awful lot about Wednesday’s Champions League second leg with Chelsea.
“When you have game like this,” the Camp Nou boss began, “you could say it’s a game of no return.”
Valverde was referring to the sudden-death nature of a second leg, but it similarly describes Barca’s chances of again making history as they chase a third treble. It also potentially covers Antonio Conte’s future, as this might be the match that Chelsea’s season and his entire reign ultimately comes down to.
Sure, there’ll still be the FA Cup as well as the attempt to get back into this competition via the Premier League, but the Champions League is what it’s all about. This is what Conte is really judged on. Lose, and there may well be no return after the season ends.
To win and go through to the quarter-finals, though, Chelsea are going to have to return to a leading position in this tie. It is a challenge complicated by the particular dynamics of this tie.
Chelsea need to score after the 1-1 first leg and Leo Messi’s away goal, but also need to keep things very tight to prevent the same player and Barca’s possession killing the game.
It is a hugely difficult balance to strike, and Willian stated on the eve of the match that his side will require a “perfect game”, but they did come very close to it in that first leg.
“We come here to do exactly the same job that we did at Stamford Bridge,” the Brazilian said. “We know Barcelona always have more possession. They like to have the ball and they like to play. But, like I said, with the ball we have to be more clinical. Without the ball, we have to stay compact like we did at Stamford Bridge. We all have to do the same job. We know here the pitch is big, and we have to stay together to make sure we don't concede goals, but to go for the counter-attacks as well.”
The issue is Chelsea then fell some way off that first-leg standard in the games that followed, as highlighted by the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City. That was the type of anaemic performance that could see Chelsea all too easily brushed out of the competition on Wednesday.
It’s still difficult to divorce that difference in impetus from the fact it was a generally flat top-six game. There should be no such submissiveness on Wednesday. Conte will be sure to have his side pumped, ready to apply themselves to the maximum in every moment and interaction, and he was certainly talking like that.
“We must be very excited for this type of game,” the Italian said. “We have to try to do our best. We must start the game with great concentration, to stay with our heads on the pitch in every moment of the game, to know there are moments where we have to suffer – not only Chelsea, but every team who play Barcelona must be prepared to suffer, to be compact. Then, when we have the ball, we must have the feeling in our heads to try and create a chance to score.”
That feeling - and an assertive willingness to seize things - can still go a long way in knock-out second legs, even in circumstances that are expected to be close. Members of both sides know this well, as 2012 was once again brought up. Barca similarly went one goal ahead in that second leg, albeit in the first half, only for things to go a little haywire in what remains one of the Champions League’s most gloriously and hectically intense games.
“We started that match well, then they scored at the end of the first I half I think,” Sergio Busquets. “In the second half we had the penalty and that’s football sometimes. You just can’t score. That was the second half. In the end we drew, which wasn’t good enough and we were sad because we missed out on the final. But we had so many chances, it was impossible to imagine that we would be knocked out.”
It’s currently difficult to imagine Chelsea knocking them out this time, but by no means impossible. Breaks could yet go their way, and they may well be boosted by one of those developments you need on such occasions, especially if Andres Iniesta is ruled out. Valverde explained the Spanish legend trained without “a problem” on Tuesday, but that he will decide on the day of the game.
Conte has no such worries, other than how to strike the balance between keeping Barca out and breaching that defence. He must decide on whether to play a false nine, or go full gun. Whatever about a game of no return, it is not a game for reticence.
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