Beating the Catalans is no easy task so give Chelsea some credit, will ya?
When I do my laundry, I do it in a way that gets it done and that’s it. I don’t separate colors, whites, sweaters, jeans, anything. It all goes in the washing machine with the same setting and with the same detergent.
In the end, I have clean clothes, the result that I wanted from the beginning. It maybe could have been done more effectively (some proper folding would be nice now and again), but all I really want is clean clothes so I don’t smell like a wet dog. The final product is what matters. Clean clothes. Who cares how I got there? Certainly not me.
If you’ll kindly indulge my iffy analogy, the same can be said about Chelsea’s midweek performance against Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal. It wasn’t exactly what you would call pretty, but the result is the important thing and the Blues were able to take a crucial 1-0 advantage into the second leg at the Nou Camp.
Coming into the match, we all basically knew how Chelsea would play. We knew that it would try and absorb Barcelona. It would relinquish possession, even at home, and try its hardest to repel wave after wave of attacking moves from the Spanish side. Keeping the score as low as possible going into the second leg would greatly aid the Londoners in their quest to reach the final in Germany next month.
Well, mission accomplished.
Roberto Di Matteo and the Blues got what they wanted and then some. They didn’t even allow a Barcelona goal (though it was close more than a few times), something that could have all but killed off the tie, even in defeat. Instead, going into next week’s second leg, Chelsea will take a 1-0 advantage.
Having said that, the match itself wasn’t exactly the best advertisement for the Champions League, or football for that matter, given the way in which it was played. Of course, the ‘anti-football’ trolls have come out in their droves accusing Chelsea of parking the bus and sullying what could have been an entertaining contest.
Frankly, I couldn’t disagree with these people more. When you’re faced with a superior adversary like Barcelona (or my piles upon piles of dirty clothes), you do whatever it takes to come away from the situation with a favorable outcome.
Up against the world’s best player, Lionel Messi, Chelsea suffocated the argentine superstar with constant pressure from all angles, thus inciting the rage of football purists everywhere who expect to see the little guy run rampant on any fool not wearing Barcelona colors. Sorry to disappoint, folks, but Chelsea did what it had to, whether you liked it or not.
