wooo ... I thought it was going to be rum til I die after the end of that game yes.
Gutted by the result, but not getting emotion and partialism towards one side cloud the postmortem of the game is another thing.
Since lots of people discussing a dead and buried first leg that Barca deserved to win because they played better, it will take big men on the Barca side of the fence that Chelsea deserved to win the 2nd leg. Instead, the tables were turned and Chelsea deserved to win the tie, BUT Barca got the favourable result.
IMO there were two penalties that should have been awarded to Chelsea. The foul on Malouda INSIDE the box that was amazingly awarded as a foul outside the box, and the blatant handball by Pique. Very poor call by the referee .... and while there is no assurance that Chelsea would have scored both penalties, these were two crucial calls that the referee got absolutely wrong. Not making those calls are absolutely indefensible and was throughyly indicated in Pep's post game interview.
Abidal red card was totally undeserved. After watching many replays, there was the slightest of nudges on Anelka, but as Anelka continued his run - ANELKA TRIPPED OVER HIS OWN FOOT and that was what caused him to fall over. He was still balanced after Abidal INITIATED the contact. The referee though was poorly positioned and instead of rushing to his pocket, should have consulted the linesman.
For two Chelsea players - Ballack & Drogba - this is the end of the road for their careers at Stamford Bridge. I don't see the impending suspensions as having anything to do with it, but when you don't win trophies in a side that was built to do so, you need to change the ingredients in the recipe, especially when the ingredients shelf life starting to get old.
Dani Alves didn't deserve to play in the final. He is a very good player, but he constantly whines and cries about every foul - and is very hypocritical when he commits the same fouls or worse. It would have been exciting to see his style of play in the final, but the whining and constant professional fouling would have overshadowed any performance - even his freekicks are becoming very ineffective.
I'll maintain that a Chelsea - Man U final would have been more entertaining than a Barca - Man U final and it has nothing to do with my allegiance to Chelsea. Both sides know each other very well. Both sides would be less wary or defensive-minded than if either was facing Barca. You also have a revenge match of sorts after last year's CL Final and the natural rivalry that is escalated .... and unlike a similar matchup that would have Barca pitted against Real, there was no way that either side was going to win as lopsided and embarassing as a 6-2 score.
The suspensions/ injuries thus far favour Man U. Their standings in the league also favour Man U who can cruise to the CL Finals and worry about player fitness/ rehab less than Barca. The form of Man U over their semi triumph also favour Man U, because for all the chest pumping and grand charging that Barca layed out as the best side in the world, they were showed up by English opposition. While Barca waltzed into Real's goal at will and toyed with them last weekend - they struggled to breakdown Chelsea's defence, and with all their dancing, imagination and intricate passing - they lacked dedicated purpose, execution, know how, patience and skill in dismantling the Chelsea defence until the very last minute of added on extra time - so it took the best side in the world 185+ minutes to finally find a way to crack the Chelsea defence. Man U is capable of locking up that defence by deploying Carrick and O'Shea infront of their back 4 - where 2-man Ferdinand and Vidic play bigger than any 4-man defense in La Liga.
The Final will be a matchup we've been longing for since last year: Messi vs. CRonaldo - that is a whole 'nother thread. Eto'o, Henry, etc ....
As a Chelsea man first up, I backing Barca because I don't pull for Man U no matter who they playing. But as a realist, Barca have more firepower, but more importantly Man U have a better defence than Barca and if Man U 3rd goal is anything to go by, there will be lots of tears in Nou Camp ... and it will not be tears of joy.