How Chelsea can beat Barcelona in the Champions League tie

#2 Chelsea's mission statement

Antonio Conte must not allow Barcelona to score at Stamford Bridge

The first leg of the tie will be played at Stamford Bridge, London - Chelsea's home ground.

In the 4 ties during the Abramovic era the two clubs have met in the knockout stages, twice has the tie been decided on away goals and only by a single goal the other two times.

Bottom-line - There is a good chance that over 180 minutes the tie will be decided on away goals if not on penalties. Therefore the biggest priority of the match even if Chelsea do not score has to be to deny Barcelona if possible, an away goal.

In doing so, Chelsea can take the game to the Nou Camp and beat Barcelona even if it is a 1-1 goal scoring draw. Barcelona tend to be even more attacking as a side when they are at home. That, in turn, leaves more space behind their back-line to counter-attack. However, if Chelsea concede goals at the bridge they will make Barcelona's job a lot easier in the second leg wherein Barcelona will only have to pick apart a Chelsea side that is desperate to score.

Keeping a clean sheet against Barcelona is not an easy task, but if Chelsea deny Barcelona a goal at the bridge - it is half the battle won. That should be the target first and foremost.

Secondly, Barcelona will without a shadow of want to control possession and will attack through the middle. Dominating the central midfield area, the Barcelona midfield is going to try and slice open Chelsea using short passes. Messi, Suarez, and Iniesta will drop deep to help Barcelona midfield in this endeavour.

Formation wise, Conte has alternated between a 3-4-3 and a 3-5-2 this season. However, for this match, Conte has to pack the midfield with 3 central midfielders in a 3-5-2 to cut off passing lanes and stifle Barcelona's midfield. What he could do further is to employ a system that is a 3-5-2 without the ball and a 3-4-3 in attack. More on that later.

It is more or less a given that irrespective of formation or tactics, Courtois will start in goal for Chelsea.

So, let's start off with how Chelsea should line up in defence.