THE draw for the last 16 of the Champions League on Monday threw up several intriguing ties, but none more so than Chelsea vs Barcelona.
It puts Premier League champions against the unbeaten leaders of La Liga, and will see Eden Hazard and Lionel Messi look to steal the show, with N’Golo Kante and Sergio Busquets battle for midfield supremacy.
But, of course, February’s knockout tie won’t be the first meeting between these two clubs.
Chelsea and Barca have been on opposite sides of some of the Champions League’s most thrilling and controversial games in the past.
If history is anything to go by, Antonio Conte’s men taking on the Catalan giants will be a must-see encounter.
Our friends at Football Whispers have looked back at the five best Champions League games between these two great clubs.
Barcelona 5-1 Chelsea – Quarter-final, second leg – April 2000
Chelsea were hopeful of upsetting the odds heading into their quarter-final, second-leg trip to the Camp Nou after the Blues came away from the first leg at Stamford Bridge with a 3-1 victory over Louis van Gaal’s men. Things soon took a turn for the worse for the Premier League side, though. Goals from Luis Figo and Rivaldo meant Barca were ahead on away goals at half-time.
A Tore Andre Flo goal on the hour mark brought new hope for Chelsea, only for an 83rd-minute Dani Garcia strike to send the tie to extra time.
Early in the additional period, Blues left-back Celestine Babayaro saw red, handing the initiative to Barca who scored twice, through Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert, to progress.
Chelsea 4-2 Barcelona – Quarter-final, second leg – March 2005
This game is widely remembered for Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho scoring an ingenious toe-poke from the edge of the penalty area, leaving Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech rooted between the sticks.
It was part of a brace the soon-to-be World Player of the Year netted on the night, but it wasn’t enough to see Barcelona through to the semi-final, as captain John Terry netted in the 75th minute to clinch a 5-4 aggregate victory for the Blues in this clash between arguably Europe’s two strongest sides at the time.
Chelsea 1-2 Barcelona – Last 16, first leg – February 2006
Chelsea are the only team Lionel Messi has played more than four times in his career but never scored against, but that’s not to say the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has never put the Blues to the sword.
Here, while still in his teens, the little Argentinian genius showed glimpses of the bright future that lay ahead of him by tormenting Chelsea with his unplayable dribbling skills, drawing a foul from Spanish left-back Asier del Horno that saw the defender sent off.
A Samuel Eto’o winner at Stamford Bridge and a 1-1 draw in the return fixture set Barca on their way to their second-ever Champions League crown, eventually defeating Arsenal in the final.
Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona – Semi-final, second leg – April 2009
Under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola, in his first season as a top-flight manager, Barcelona’s treble-winners of 2008/09 are remembered as an unstoppable, tiki-taka juggernaut – but Chelsea gave them a real run for their money in the Champions League semi-final.
A 0-0 first-leg draw at the Camp Nou meant all was to play for at Stamford Bridge, and the Blues took the lead thanks to a stunning 25-yard volley from Michael Essien.
The tense encounter eventually culminated with Andres Iniesta rifling a last-minute winner into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area to send Barca through to the Rome final, but Chelsea felt aggrieved by the loss, having seen three strong penalty appeals turned down.
Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea – Semi-final, second leg – April 2012
Chelsea carried a narrow 1-0 advantage into their second-leg encounter with Barca at the Camp Nou in April 2012, but things went pear-shaped pretty quickly for the Blues, who were under the temporary auspices of Roberto Di Matteo at this time.
Goals from Busquets and Iniesta, and a red card for skipper Terry, meant the Blues were two goals and one man down just before half-time, but an exquisite chip from Brazilian midfielder Ramires gave Chelsea an away-goals advantage at the break.
Down to 10 men, though, the Blues were under serious pressure in the second period.
However, showing the kind of fight that ended up landing them their first-ever Champions League triumph in Munich the following month, Chelsea sealed their spot in the final when substitute Fernando Torres broke away to score in stoppage time.
From The Sun
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