Favourites Barcelona were defeated by Chelsea in Champions League play.
April 25, 2012- Playing away from home and without their captain, Chelsea pulled off the unexpected. The English team beat Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal and eliminated the defending champions. Early in the match, John Terry, the captain of Chelsea received a red card from the match referee and the Blues’ were singing the blues. However, the team pulled together, and after giving up two quick goals near the end of the first half, was able to pull together and survive.
Chelsea was helped tremendously by their first goal by Ramires, just before the half time whistle. Ramires flipped the ball over the extended arm of goaltender Victor Valdes into the net to narrow the score to 2-1. At that time, Chelsea was tied on aggregate 2-2, but ahead as they had scored an away goal that is taken into consideration as a tiebreaker.
In the second half, all nine Chelsea players defended and were pelted with shot after shot after shot by the likes of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquests. The Blues bent, but they never broke. A penalty was called against the Blues in the early part of the second half, but star striker Messi could not convert for Barcelona, as his shot from the spot hit the crossbar and bounded away.
The Blues now wait for the outcome of the other semifinal match that pits Real Madrid against Bayern Munich. The winner meets Chelsea in Germany in May for the title.
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