The impossible was made possible by Lucky Guus. Goal.com's Sulmaan Ahmad was not surprised, and feels the Blues could have done even better.
Some have called it clever, others have called it obvious. Hiddink didn't play attacking football at Camp Nou. Shocker.Barcelona players have not stopped complaining since the final whistle. Barcelona's coach is disappointed and angry in equal measure.
Chelsea's players are delighted, though not yet sure they have any kind of advantage. Chelsea's coach, meanwhile, is still parked in front of Petr Cech's goal.
Hilarious puns aside, it seems the Dutch tactician got it right. It would seem, even, that he was on Goal.com reading up on how to stop Barcelona, because he executed half of the eight-step plan to perfection, and the other half in which his side perhaps fell short, he even highlighted after the game, as if to suggest he had asked them to deliver in certain areas and they simply failed.
This, despite them achieving a result that shocked all of Europe. Barcelona have not gone goalless at home all season, but then again, 0-0 at home can almost favour an away side in Europe due to the dubious nature of the away goals rule. Barca can now progress with a score draw, which probably remains the most likely outcome of the tie.
The encounter threw up a plethora of talking points and analyses without being in the least bit entertaining. No one knows whether either side got a good or bad result, or whether they played good or bad football. Nothing happened.
First, the bad: Chelsea's biggest problem was their 1) fear. All those backwards passes, the hurried clearances, the hoofs from Petr Cech. A good 40 per cent of them were unnecessary and completely unforced. Put aside anti-football and any perceived lack of class or ability; this was about a team petrified of making a mistake. What they forgot is that it was more important for them to score than Barcelona not to.
The attacking approach, on the rare occasions it was adopted, was too 2) narrow-minded. Florent Malouda, despite having far less ability than Dani Alves, did him twice in the first half-hour, yet was almost discouraged from doing any attacking thereafter. On the right, having Essien tuck in as an auxiliary central midfielder was useful in neutralising the dual threat of Xavi and Iniesta, but it exposed the Ghanaian powerhouse for his poor play when in possession. Many of his forward passes were over-hit and erratic. There was no Bosingwa to overlap and thus all of Chelsea's threat, or what there was of it, came down one flank.
Thus, there was little the 3) big man could do to save the day. Though his hold-up play was magnificent, he missed the one big chance he should have put away. To put it simply, he had the chance to make the difference, as prophesied, and failed.
It wasn't all his fault, he will claim he was still moving through the gears at that point due to being so uninvolved in proceedings. Chelsea were crying out for some poise, perhaps a 4) little man to run at the Blues defenders, interplay with Drogba and ensure Chelsea's attacks lasted longer than a string of two, maybe three passes. Frank Lampard can consider himself guilty in this regard. He may not be little in any sense, but he was the man upon whom Drogba had to rely for some interplay, not to mention service, and he delivered neither.
But yet, you can't argue with the result. While Chelsea got it all wrong in the opponents' half, they were perfect within their own. The 5) defensive drilling was incredibly intense. Alex and Terry (but for his one slip) were rock-solid. Bosingwa, ably assisted by an array of team-mates, did the job on Messi. Ivanovic learnt quickly after being burned early on by Henry and thereafter kept him out of the game. Ballack and Mikel did an un-fancy but effective job of crowding the final third and sealing off all potential routes to goal.
The 6) X-Factor, in particular, was neutralised. Hiddink played this to perfection. Xavi put in the mileage and rarely misplaced a pass, but it was all going sideways and backwards. There was no invention, thus Barcelona failed to maintain anything resembling their optimum level of pressure.
And for all those expecting fantasy football and laughing off the notion there was 7) too much talent, there must be many who now see the benefits that could have come with starting Sergio Busquets, or the more suitable Seydou Keita.
With five world class attacking threats to play against, Chelsea were never going to attack. They had too much defending to do. Taking out just one of those for a less immediately threatening player such as Keita would not only have served as psychological encouragement for the Blues to leave their own box, but also offered a different kind of threat from midfield for Barca. The strength, the cannon of a left foot, and perhaps most crucially, a hurtling head for Dani Alves to aim at from out wide. The Brazilian's role was made completely redundant by the deepset Chelsea defence and lack of any kind of aerial threat.
And then there was Hleb. This is who you bring on when you're in trouble? A man who embodies everything that was already wrong with the performance? There was no Iniesta or Henry to bring on. They both started. Eto'o was nowhere near good enough, particularly due to missing his one-on-one with Cech, and this further emphasised Barcelona's need for a targetman. Bojan was the Cameroonian's replacement and he missed a chance that was even easier.
The sad fact remains that with all five maestros in effect, Chelsea could have even done more. They could have taken a risk, they could have charged Barcelona, but they didn't. They nevertheless deserve due credit for keeping their 8) heads up and not being in any way fazed by the boos, the hype or the grandeur. Players like Ballack in particular put ego aside and, rightly or wrongly, did the dirty work for the good of the team.
Barcelona can complain all they want, but they should have done better. Before the game, the talk was of a big win no matter what. There was nothing Chelsea could do. But evidently, there was. It was as simple as parking the bus.
That shouldn't have worked, should it? That's how everyone used to shut out Barca when Rijkaard's team went off the handles. Pep's is supposed to be better than that. But Eto'o missed, Bojan missed, even Messi first hesitated in a shooting position and then blasted over from a good position.
The little things went the way of the Blues, such as the penalty appeal for the tug on a Thierry Henry who was already falling over and the flailing hand of Michael Ballack that could have been deemed a second yellow. These were not genuine, game-changing decisions.
Enough of the excuses. Barca should know better than to regress to their old ways, particularly as they're still favourites for the final. When Chelsea have to score, the game will change. Now it will be all about how Barcelona stop Chelsea. That's for another special column altogether. Keep your eyes peeled...
Sulmaan Ahmad, Goal.com
