'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQb/2gAIAQEAAAAAkVP/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAF/9oACAECEAAAAA//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/9oACAEDEAAAAA//xAAeEAADAAEEAwAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMGAAUREiFhof/aAAgBAQABPwAYnshqhhCogY0Sq0fuXZvCn11J1bGMbralBtE0DMW6qRwvzX//xAAYEQACAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgMEUv/aAAgBAgEBPwBrUuj/xAAWEQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAAH/2gAIAQMBAT8A1q//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Barcelona produced a commanding display against Chelsea at Camp Nou to progress to quarterfinals of the Champions League for a record 11th consecutive time.
A brace from Leo Messi coupled with an Ousmane Dembele strike was enough to sink Chelsea as the current EPL champions blew hot and cold during the entire match.
Here are the 5 things we learned from the aforementioned encounter between the 2 European giants:
#5 It's time for Hazard to leave Chelsea
Hazard has been Chelsea's go-to man in the time of crisis, and more often than not, he has been the one to bail them out of trouble. But last night was a completely different story altogether.
Chelsea did take the game to Barcelona and did create some chances, but it was all in vain as Barcelona was clinical in front of goal and put 3 past the lackadaisical Blues' defence.
Although Hazard was not at his influential best, he still completed 3 dribbles and made 2 key passes and was eager to make something good happen for the blues.
He has been criticized for being heavily inconsistent this season, which clearly sums up Chelsea's dismal run as well. But he cannot do everything all by himself and needs support because football is a team sport after all.
It's been 6 years since he signed up for Chelsea with the intention of lifting the Champions League trophy as the blues were the current champions back then. But nothing even remotely close to that remarkable success has happened to Hazard thus far.
With Real Madrid lurking for his signature, it's time for the Chelsea talisman to switch to Madrid to have a more realistic chance of lifting the coveted trophy.
#4 Antonio Conte deserves to be backed by the Chelsea board
For all the flak he has received thus far for Chelsea's underwhelming season, Antonio Conte deserves to be at Chelsea irrespective of how the season unfolds from here on.
He set-up his side really well for the Barcelona clash and, if not for some glaring individual mistakes and poor luck, his side might have pulled an upset against the mighty Catalans.
Antonio Conte took over the at the helm when the club was hit a nadir. The Blues had finished 10th on the Premier League table and were out of Champions League prior to the Italian's first season in charge.
Conte took over the club when it was in serious trouble and turned them into Premier League champions in what was his 1st season in the Premier League, beating his more illustrious counterparts such as Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho etc. His revolutionary 3-4-3 formation worked wonders and brought huge tactical changes in EPL.
Conte has shown time and again that he is a terrific tactician. All he needs is his club's backing and we might see Chelsea rise in the upcoming season.
#3 Barcelona's bench is still a work in progress
Considering Barcelona's stats last night, where the Catalans only managed to acquire 56% ball possession, it was quite surprising to see Barcelona losing possession far too easily. But one must not forget the fact that Iniesta and Busquets were substituted before the 60-min mark.
After their substitutions, Barcelona found it tough to keep hold of the ball for long and Chelsea took control of the game and created dangerous chances as well. Both Paulinho and Andre Gomez were average, to say the least, and looked out of sorts against the Chelsea midfield.
This goes on to show that Barcelona still require some quality signings to bolster the squad because there are hardly any players, who can act as able substitutes to their terrific playing eleven.
#2 It's the defence that makes this Barcelona side more dangerous rather than their attack
Valverde has created the most conservative Barcelona in recent years, with opposition teams finding it hard to create proper goal scoring chances against them, let alone score a few. Consider this: Ter Stegen has kept 22 clean sheets in 35 appearances for Barcelona this season in La Liga and Champions league combined, which is staggering, to say the least.
Samuel Umtiti, in particular, was rock solid yesterday, executing 15 defensive actions which include an incredible 7 interceptions. Also, Barcelona has conceded only 15 goals in the two most prominent competitions thus far, La Liga and the Champions League, which is quite commendable.
It was Umtiti's block of Hazard's shot last night, coupled with Messi stealing the ball from Fabregas, that led to Barcelona's 2nd goal and it almost sealed the game for them. In fact, the last time Barcelona conceded 3 goals was in the Spanish super cup against arch-rivals Real Madrid way back in August 2017, which is quite an achievement in itself.
No team has been able to defeat Barcelona after going down 2-0 against them this season. With Leo Messi and Luis Suarez at the helm of attack and in terrific form as well, and defenders putting in commendable shifts on a regular basis, expect this Barcelona side to reach the pinnacle of European football this season.
#1 Football is a game of small margins
Football, as many consider, is a game of small margins and last night was no different in this regard. It was those small margins that made Chelsea's European dream much distant than Conte would have thought.
Consider this: Chelsea were denied by the woodwork twice during the 2nd leg of the tie and 4 times across the two legs.
Imagine how the tie would have shaped up had at least 2 out of those 4 strikes which came of the woodwork gone in. What if all the 4 strikes were converted into goals? For starters, Barcelona would have lost the tie, that's for sure.
This shows that football can be cruel at times. The scoreline doesn't tell the whole story all the time and it was neck and neck for the greater part of the game.
Taking nothing away from Barcelona though, as they were clinical in their approach and got the desired result. As for Chelsea, they would feel hard done by their luck and would be disappointed by the way they lost the plot.
