Barcelona- The Curse?

11 men stay on the pitch-Barcelona Lose
10 men on the pitch- Barcelona Win

Jose's said it over and over again. Barcelona have not beaten Chelsea when they have 11 men on the pitch. 4-2, 1-1, and 1-0. This shows his credability. However, does the extra man really make the difference?

However, does the extra man really make the difference?


what a stupid question... of course it makes a difference and especially against a team like barca who move the ball around so quickly..

P.S if chelsea hadn't been parking the bus and defend non stop in the previous games they would not be getting people sent off

COTR wrote:However, does the extra man really make the difference?


what a stupid question... of course it makes a difference and especially against a team like barca who move the ball around so quickly..

P.S if chelsea hadn't been parking the bus and defend non stop in the previous games they would not be getting people sent off

Yeh i didnt really phrase the question how i meant to. I meant to say had the player stayed on in both cases would the result have been different?

Ballack wrote:11 men stay on the pitch-Barcelona Lose
10 men on the pitch- Barcelona Win

Jose's said it over and over again. Barcelona have not beaten Chelsea when they have 11 men on the pitch. 4-2, 1-1, and 1-0. This shows his credability. However, does the extra man really make the difference?

Made to look better because of a last minute dive

ballack, you forget to mention that at the time of each sending off the score was 0-0 and 0-1 Chelsea

@ Owen

IF Jonh i never Dive terry did fall over himselft at the Nou camp that would have been different.

PS chelsea always park the Bus if they play us attack for attack we will all the time

Messiah wrote:IF Jonh i never Dive terry did fall over himselft at the Nou camp that would have been different.

PS chelsea always park the Bus if they play us attack for attack we will all the time

That should be John "Beckenbauer" Terry after the way he slalomed his way through the Barca mdfield the other night

Always said this- Terry is disgustingly underrated technically on these boards; for people who supposedly know better- its a disgrace

I think he's on about John "Bramble" Terry, the one that got turned by Kevin Doyle's "fancy footwork" () the other week.

Obispo wrote:I think he's on about John "Bramble" Terry, the one that got turned by Kevin Doyle's "fancy footwork" () the other week.

Maybe he's on about the John "the rock" Terry, who has been at the back of a side that has kept 6 clean sheets in 10 games? (excluding Fulham in this of course)

The Real White Pele wrote:
That should be John "Beckenbauer" Terry after the way he slalomed his way through the Barca mdfield the other night

Always said this- Terry is disgustingly underrated technically on these boards; for people who supposedly know better- its a disgrace

He made a similar run against Reading last weekend, but all that is spoken about in that game is "Terry got tricked by Doyle"

S4P wrote:

Messiah wrote:IF Victor Valdes didn't fall over himselft at the Nou camp, which got Drogba sent off and completely changed the outcome that result would have been different.

I've watched this game now for 2.5th time, and i am not trying t o make any excuses bacause Whats done is done Barca can not change the result now.

I was very quick to criticize barca for there performence at the Bridge. I even said it was an embaressment. However after seeing the match again, I tend to agree with those who said this was not such a bad performence on our part (especially in the first half).

Barca over thought this match, In the first half we were too tentative. Gave Chelsea way to much respect. Chelsea were not playing with wingers (as in previous seasons) and the likes of Ballack and Essien were busy being very defensive. Hence we not so threatened by the counter. Barca should have used there wing-backs to attack more. I even think we could have even gotten away with playing Iniesta as the defensive holder instead of Edmilson. In the second half, when were a goal down, Rijkaard again, over-tought things. Going to a sudden 3-back formation that none of the players were use to working it. It conjested the midfield and we looked messy for it. Smart posters have already made light of our poor second half tactical errors.

If Barca can play with more confidence and determination. If we can be less tentative and speed up the pass play (we have to considering the work rate of the terrior that is Essien), than we can win this game in the Nou camp. I am sure. We were at the Bridge, we played too tactically, which slowed down our usual game for it, which meant playing the game at chelsea's pace. Power, not technique, became the focus of the game and we lost out playing to Chelsea's strengths.

Mourinho, played his best formation and said that their was less pressure in seasons past because these are group games. His team played more relaxed relfective of his philosophy when approaching this match. In effect they showed what Chelsea can do at its best. Rikaard went into this game with his team much more worried about conceeding on the counter (in the first half) than showing the free-flowing football Barca can play.

I agree with Rijkaard in one thing about this match. Watching this game a couple of times myself, I think last years Chelsea is stronger. More organised and were better equipped to beat Barca than this season. Drogba's first goal, which really came out of nowhere changed things. If we give up a first goal to anyone, its always going to be hard for us.

Barca knows what it has to do, to beat this Chelsea team. If we relax and take Chelsea for what they are, play our game, at our pace and at our place. We will come away with the first goal and if I dare I say it, a big win the next time we play Chelsea in November.

what a lot of bollocks. If it hadn't been for the non-existing penalty at the Camp Nou last year, you would have lost that match. Clutching at straws, you lot.

In any case, it does make a difference. I feel the result last year at the Bridge would have been the same, BTW. I do not think the ties would have changed hands in any case, neither last year nor the year before.

Always very convenient to blame the sending-offs on someone else. Players usually get themselves sent off.