Barca win although I doubt it will be convincing.

Draw at SB with Barca winning by 2 at the NC.

I am not expecting much from this tie. That’s not to say that I don’t us to give the absolute maximum for this game.

Yeah I think Chelsea will do alright tbh, I think you'll go out overall but it certainly won't be humiliating. You might even win, who knows.

same here.... Score draw at home, lose by 2 in Barcelona.....Think its just one of those seasons for Chelsea, likely miss top 4. Regroup with a new manager & some new signings & prob win the league next year !!.. seems to be there style !

Here's one for ya.. who's worse, Sissoko Or Bakayoko

I wouldn't be surprised by a Chelsea win in this. You've got the voodoo sign over Barca and you do have a world class player in Hazard that can conjure up some magic.

We do not have those leaders any more.
This is key. We really don't.

We have too many liabilities, if bakayoko starts I can see us losing by 10 over the two legs

comment by Diamondlights (U20501)
posted 18 minutes ago
same here.... Score draw at home, lose by 2 in Barcelona.....Think its just one of those seasons for Chelsea, likely miss top 4. Regroup with a new manager & some new signings & prob win the league next year !!.. seems to be there style !

Here's one for ya.. who's worse, Sissoko Or Bakayoko
----------------------------------------------------------------------
bakayoko and by some distance. I've seen sissoko control it before.

You could argue the club was in a worse state than it is now than we won against them in 2012.

But we had a better team charlag, or more experience atleast.

Ivanovic, cole, terry, cahill(when he was very good) a younger luiz, ramires, lampard, mata, drogba.

The difference between our top players and mediocre players is the biggest its been.
We have azpi, hazard, kante.

One or two good players, christensen, alonso.

Then the fall in class is horrendous.

bakayoko, moses, rudiger, cahill, poor players nowadays.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Our midfield and to some extent our defence is a bit weaker this time round. Will see what happens

If we can only retain some respectability ,I would be thankful. Can't see anything but a Barca football lesson to be honest, and PLEASE don't let Bakayoko anywhere near Stamford Bridge,let alone the Nou Camp !

comment by harlequinHebdo (U16981)
posted 23 minutes ago
If we can only retain some respectability ,I would be thankful. Can't see anything but a Barca football lesson to be honest, and PLEASE don't let Bakayoko anywhere near Stamford Bridge,let alone the Nou Camp !
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Double H,

I am not meaning to be defeatist or overly negative, but I do feel, the players don’t even have the mental strength we had against Barca in previous ties. In 09, if we’d held on, it would not have been much of an upset. When we beat em in ’05, in my eyes it was not an upset at all. 2012 was an upset, but not as surprising as it would be now.

Every Chelsea team that either beat, drew against or narrowly lost out to Barca in previous ties was packed with leaders. We hardly have 3 now let alone what we previously had.

Barça's league record is a bit misleading. A fair number of teams here have given them a good game this season.

They're logically favourites going into the tie, but if you manage to defend as a cohesive unit you'll have your chances.

I don’t think we defend as we used to anymore IOAG. Barca are big favourites for this tie I am afraid. Just need to give a good account to ourself, if we go out at least we go out fighting. Need to concentrate on the league form and FA cup. Finish top 4 and go as far as possible in the fa cup wouldn’t be a bad season after all .

Not sure when you're thinking of when you say *used to*, but you won the league last season putting in some very solid defensive performances along the way.

I specifically remember your game at the Etihad as a turning point in the season, when you totally knocked the wind out of City's sails thanks to a good solid defence and some lightning fast counters.

It might be hard to replicate now, but concentration levels tend to be at their highest for CL games.

comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 3 minutes ago
Not sure when you're thinking of when you say *used to*, but you won the league last season putting in some very solid defensive performances along the way.

I specifically remember your game at the Etihad as a turning point in the season, when you totally knocked the wind out of City's sails thanks to a good solid defence and some lightning fast counters.

It might be hard to replicate now, but concentration levels tend to be at their highest for CL games.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
IOAG

I’d question the mental strength of the team/squad at this current time. Go a goal behind and I think heads could drop early.

I'm not saying I expect a Chelsea win, just that Barça aren't as formidable as their league form suggests.

(Having said that, Messi and Suárez have both been in good form. You could put them alongside 9 Championship players and they'd still be a threat.)

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Many of you are right - we are not playing very well, and Barcelona are big favourites for this tie. But let's not get carried away regarding our 2012 team. First of all, both Ivanovic and Terry were banned for the final, so we did not have those (admittedly very slow) leaders in the team. Ramires also. Our starting 11 included Mikel, Bosingwa, Kalou, Cahill and Bertrand.
We did have Cech, Ashley Cole, Lampard and (most importantly) Drogba - who were all leaders albeit ageing ones, but it's fair to say that our team today is at least as good as our 2012 team. It all comes down to belief - if Conte can transmit that belief to our team we have a chance.
Having said that - I also think Barcelona will win by 2 clear goals at the NC.

comment by BlueJ2 (U4630)
posted 41 minutes ago
Many of you are right - we are not playing very well, and Barcelona are big favourites for this tie. But let's not get carried away regarding our 2012 team. First of all, both Ivanovic and Terry were banned for the final, so we did not have those (admittedly very slow) leaders in the team. Ramires also. Our starting 11 included Mikel, Bosingwa, Kalou, Cahill and Bertrand.
We did have Cech, Ashley Cole, Lampard and (most importantly) Drogba - who were all leaders albeit ageing ones, but it's fair to say that our team today is at least as good as our 2012 team. It all comes down to belief - if Conte can transmit that belief to our team we have a chance.
Having said that - I also think Barcelona will win by 2 clear goals at the NC.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
But we didn't play Barca in the final. All those players were available to start against Barca in both matches.

This team are not anywhere near as mentally strong as that team in 2012. That was one last supreme effort by what was most definitely the remains of our golden generation.

put it this way which one would you trust more to go to war for you?

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

You can't underestimate just how important experience can be in short-format k.o. tournaments.

You lived that entire tournament on the knife's edge. It's hard to imagine today's squad coming through so many high pressure scenarios successfully.