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Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona : Should Valverde be happy?

By Chiranjib Ghosh

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 20: Ivan Rakiti (4) of FC Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on February 20, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by MB Media/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 20: Ivan Rakiti (4) of FC Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on February 20, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by MB Media/Getty Images) /
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Ernesto Valverde employed a reinvented form of tiki-taka in London

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 20: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona celebrates with teammate Andres Iniesta after scoring his sides first goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on February 20, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 20: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona celebrates with teammate Andres Iniesta after scoring his sides first goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on February 20, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images) /

This season, Ernesto Valverde has mostly stuck to a direct style of football. That paid off against the smaller sides, but the side faced problems against the top sides. Hence, the Basque coach brought back the tiki-taka for a little cameo against Chelsea.

Since the formation was not 4-3-3, the original tactic would not be as effective. So, Valverde employed tiki-taka in midfield, and instructed his players to find the killer ball instead of passing it about in the opponent’s box, and then scoring.

In the 30 minutes, the team dominated Chelsea by using this strategy. But the Blues quickly adapted, and began to employ a high pressing tactic. The defenders were forced to launch the ball upwards instead of beginning a move by passing it about.

Willian, in particular, was very dangerous in the first half. He found pockets of space in between the defenders, and drew many fouls. He hit the post twice, and easily beat Marc-André ter Stegen on both occasions.

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In the second quarter of the second half, Chelsea took the lead through Willian. The Blues executed a perfect set-piece routine, passing it to the Brazilian when he had a lot of space. The winger curled it into the bottom right corner. Ter Stegen, who was unsighted, was left standing.

In the following minutes, Chelsea dominated, on the back of a confidence-boosting goal by Willian. But it takes just one silly little mistake to concede to Barcelona, and César Azpilicueta was the one to commit that mistake.

He could not reach the ball after Andrés Iniesta had intercepted the ball near the box, and the little master cut it back to Lionel Messi. And the maestro tucked in a nice little finish at the near post, with Thibaut Courtois wrong-footed.

For the rest of the game, Barça worked very hard to retain the scoreline. And they succeeded. The matched ended at 1-1.

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Barcelona should be very happy with this result. The side has an away goal, and that is going be a very important factor going into the second game at the Camp Nou. Chelsea will have to score in Barcelona now. If the second leg remains goalless, Barça will go into the quarter-final.