Parking the bus

Tuesday brings the second leg of the Barcelona Chelsea champions league semi final,  Chelsea come into the match with a slender advantage and off a run of recent good form under Roberto Di Matteo.  The hosts Barcelona on the other hand come to the match in indifferent form by their high standards.

Most are predicting another bus parking exercise by Chelsea looking to maybe grab an away goal on the break or from a set piece.  The first twenty minutes could be of vital importance with Barca pushing for a early goal to increase the pressure.  If Chelsea can survive this period the longer this match stays deadlocked the pressure will be placed on the hosts.

On the positive side for Chelsea, Barcelona have only keep three clean sheets in their last thirteen matches at home.  Of course if Chelsea could manage a  away goal Barcelona would require three but on the negative they have only failed to score three at home in two of their last seven matches.  One final positive for the visitors is that Barcelona have only managed to beat Chelsea once in their last seven meetings.  Sadly I can offer another negative that the last time Barcelona lost three matches in a row was back in 2003, so Chelsea must fear the wounded animal on Tuesday night.

Drogba is a almost certain starter with Chelsea looking for his physical presence to dominate a physically smaller Barcelona defence.  But there are reports that Pique might receive a recall to the team after reported disagreements with Pep Guardiola.  Set plays could prove vital to Chelsea in their search for a away goal and knowing they will be starved of the ball.

Messi returned to training today after suffering what the medical staff reported as a knock & slight physical discomfort.  There was little doubt he wouldn't make this match but still offers a confidence boost to his team.

Whether Chelsea can manage to frustrate Barca on what is a slight larger playing area will be interesting to see.  The media's tactical report of flooding the middle of the pitch and offer space out wide sounds realistic.  This however doesn't allow for the raiding runs of Alves and the clever balls inside the fullbacks that Xavi looks to play.  The simple answer is there is now answer to beat a team like Barcelona, teams must put in a vast amount of off the ball run tracking and large periods of concentration.  All this combined is not enough as a large slice of luck is also required playing against players of such skill.

This match will certainly be a edge of the seat match for both sets of supporters and a match that will have many nerve testing minutes. But hopefully come the final whistle the football will be the talking point after this match.