Chelsea forward Willian was a top trending term on the internet and maybe the best player on the pitch during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Barcelona in UEFA Champions League action today. He scored the Blues only goal, giving them the lead in the 62′, but Lionel Messi finally broke his individual hex against the Blues, and equalized in the 75′. It was the first time Messi scored in nine competitions against Chelsea.
The Blues outshot Barcelona 11-7, despite managing only 27% possession. They certainly played well enough to win, but alas they did not, and now head to Camp Nou down one on away goals. Willian, who came close to scoring twice, articulated his disappointment in the result.
https://twitter.com/omoissy/status/966071087619608577
“I’m happy with the goal but I’m a bit sad with the result. I felt we deserved to win today,” Willian said.
“Of course, they had more possession but we created a lot of dangerous chances to score.
“I think it’s still open. We have to go there and play the same game, compact and fight with every ball and I think we can do that. I was a bit unlucky but we have to keep working and look forward to the other game.”
His teammate, midfielder Cesc Fabregas, echoed Willian’s sentiments.
“It was such a shame really. I thought we were very good and went with the game plan and we executed it really, really well. They had a few chances, they are one of the best teams in the world,” Fabregas said, “but we were compact, we were solid, we played as a team, we created many chances. Willian could have easily scored a hat trick today.”
Chelsea will play the road leg at Barcelona on March 14. As we said earlier, Willian was blowing up on social media today, due to his heroics, and here is a small sample of some of the more interesting tweets we saw:
https://twitter.com/BTLComps/status/966088665113026565
Willian's performance ? ? pic.twitter.com/2ttdLjfJDS
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 20, 2018
Willian is just brilliant. How so many Chelsea fans hate him is beyond me. Whenever we are in a small or even big rut, his form and performances bring us up across the pitch. Outstanding tonight. Deserves a hell of a lot more credit!
— George Benson (@MrGeorgeBenson) February 20, 2018
? Post
? Post
? Goal! @willianborges88 ? #CHEBAR pic.twitter.com/SYgCdFQ34D— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 20, 2018
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.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.