The Brazilian defender believes that it was fear that got the best of the English Premier League side the last time they faced http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 in Europe.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dani-Alves-c9869 was of the opinion that it was due to lack of confidence and grit in Chelsea that led them to being eliminated from the last four of the Champions League the last time the two teams met.
It was the semi-final stage of the European campaign of 2009 when the Blues came face-to-face against La Blaugrana. Having drawn the first leg of the fixture with a score of 0-0, it was all down to the second game to decide which side will make it to the
final in Rome’s Olympic Stadium.
The second leg took place at the Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea, having qualified for the final in the previous season, were slightly favoured over the visitors.
As the Blues took the lead over Barca, many could see a repeat of the final between the London side and the European champions at that time, Manchester United.
In addition to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786’s one-goal advantage over the Catalans, the Spanish side were also reduced to 10 men.
The score remained 1-0 through most of the match and as the game neared its conclusion, there hardly appeared a way back for Pep Guardiola’s men.
The home crowd was confident that their team had made it to the final and were preparing to meet their arch rivals Manchester United, who had already qualified for the showdown after knocking http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 out of the competition.
However, as fate would have it, Andres Iniesta scored the equalizer in stoppage time and Barcelona qualified for the final due to an away goal.
The strike shocked all of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 as the Spanish giants paved their way to the showdown of the prestigious tournament.
Alves believes that it was due to Chelsea’s defensive mentality that they were ousted out of the last four.
While talking to the Guardian, the former Sevilla man quoted:
"There's no doubt that was the hardest game we've played. People say Chelsea would have won if it wasn't for the referee, but what can we do about that? I think that [in 2009], Chelsea didn't reach the final because of fear."
"The team that have a man more, at home, winning 1-0, should have attacked us. Chelsea lacked the courage to take a step forward. Instead, they took a step back and they paid for it. When we saw they were not attacking us, we realised they had renounced
the game. ”
This year the two teams face in the semi-finals once again, with the first leg of the fixture taking place at the Stamford Bridge.
The match that takes place on Wednesday is expected by many to be very competitive and thrilling.
Tags: