Chelsea played one of their best games of the season in their 1-1 draw in the first leg of this Champions League round of 16 tie with Barcelona. It’s really unfortunate that they didn’t win the home leg, because they certainly were deserving. Now the Blues head to the Camp Nou with Barca having a slight advantage over them.
Given that advancing to the next round is determined by scoring on aggregate, with away goals the tie-breaker, the Catalan club head into Wednesday night’s meeting with less pressure. Lionel Messi scored the first goal of his career against Chelsea in the first meeting, and that scoring strike looms large now.
In three of the last seven seasons, either Barcelona or Chelsea have won this competition, making this tie one that feels like it’s much further along in the tournament than a round of 16 clash.
The winner here tonight will no doubt have a ton of confidence moving forward, feeling that a deep run is certainly in the cards.
The Sports Bank’s Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction:
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois
Defenders: Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen
Midfielders: N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas, Victor Moses, Marcos Alonso
Forwards: Pedro, Eden Hazard, Willian
Odds: Chelsea 6/1, Draw 15/4, Barcelona 2/5
Injury Report for both teams: go to this link
Prediction: Barcelona 2, Chelsea 1
Feel free to post your own Chelsea and/or Barcelona starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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