| Chelsea lost to Barcelona in a match of two opposites Before the start of the Champions League playoffs, Chelsea was considered its favorite. But now the shares of the English club have gone down. The reason for this was the defeat from Barcelona - in principle, expected, but no less sensational for that.
Two leaders met - the Spanish and English championships, two undoubtedly fashionable teams, although each of them had their own idea of style. “Barcelona”, which prefers something so light and colorful, and “Chelsea”, which adheres to strict, but at the same time elegant classics. This time the emotional approach to football prevailed over the rational one. But this is only the first part of the performance: after a two-week intermission, the plot can unfold in a completely different direction. Chelsea lost, probably because at some point they betrayed themselves and their principles. Or rather, not the whole team, but one player - striker Drogba. Having at some point allowed himself to be carried away by the excitement, he, already having a yellow card, unreasonably went into a tough fight with the Barca goalkeeper and was immediately sent off.
By that time, Mourinho's team was leading 1-0. Barcelona missed a typical goal: Lampard cut off the entire Catalan defense with one pass, and Duff's cross was closed by home defender Belletti, who sent the ball into his own net. But soon after Barcelona gained a numerical advantage, the score was leveled, and then the hosts took the lead, gaining a slight advantage before the return match.
“Jose Mourinho has achieved a lot and is rightfully considered a top-class coach, but today he lost,” Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said after the game. - The Londoners don't score many goals, but they play very organized. I’m very happy for my players, although we should have scored more, because Barcelona created so many scoring chances. Although we were undoubtedly helped by the fact that Chelsea remained in the minority.”
Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho refused to speak to the press after his defeat. However, the leadership of the “aristocrats” issued a statement in which they noted that they would file a protest with UEFA regarding the incident during the break of the match, when Barcelona head coach Frank Rijkaard was talking about something with referee Anders Frisk. Rijkaard himself was surprised by this news: “I don’t understand what made the Chelsea representatives so angry.” I spoke to Friscom in a friendly manner, said I was glad to see him, and talked a little about the game. I even wonder what exactly the London club will protest against. It’s surprising that after the match Chelsea made a scandal out of nothing.”
The match with the participation of Mourinho's former team Porto should have aroused genuine interest among Dynamo Moscow fans. Moreover, they had to root against the Portuguese, thanks to the activity of Alexei Federychev, who became something of a supplier of players for Dynamo. Now there are two potential Dynamo newcomers playing in Porto - Costinha and Maniche. If not both, then at least one of them may appear in Moscow if Porto is eliminated from the Champions League. So far everything is going well for Dynamo. The current Champions Cup holder drew 1:1 in the home match with Inter. Considering that Inter did not lose a single match in the championship, Costinha and Maniche may already be purchasing warm clothes to move to Russia.
However, current Porto coach Jose Couceiro is not discouraged: “Our chances of reaching the quarterfinals remain the same. Even in this match, sometimes we clearly outplayed our opponents. But in the end, due to the excessive desire to score the winning goal, they acted less organized. We played with our hearts, not our heads."
Another Italian team also achieved very good results. On the road, even without the injured Andrei Shevchenko, Milan beat Manchester United. Everything was decided by the mistake of the English goalkeeper Carroll, who parried the shot in front of him, and the running Crespo sent the ball into the goal. "We're only half done," said Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti. - Our main task was to score an away goal, but we were also able to hold back the opponent’s onslaught. But it’s too early to relax. "I'm sure Ferguson still hopes to win the Champions League."
Well, the French “Lyon” surprised everyone the most. This club, winning the French championship over and over again, performs better and better in the Champions League every year. This time the French are planning a semi-final of the most prestigious tournament. And this goal does not look unattainable. In any case, after defeating Werder Bremen away with a score of 3:0, Lyon head coach Paul Le Guen can take a closer look at his future quarter-final opponents.
Champions League. 1/8 finals. First matches. "Porto" - "Inter" - 1:1 ( Costa 61 - Martins 24 ), "Barcelona" - "Chelsea" - 2:1 ( Lopez 67, Eto'o 73 - Belletti 33-own goal ) , Manchester United - Milan - 0:1 ( Crespo 78 ), Werder - Lyon - 0:3 ( Viltord 9, Diarra 78, Pernambucano 80) . Andrey VDOVIN |
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