UEFA Champions League: Chelsea FC 1-0 FC Barcelona: Player Ratings

He did touch it, but couldn’t stop it; that’s the only shot on target Victor had to face from the London-based opposition. Talking about "ifs" and "buts" won’t really help, because the reality is that the team is one down going into the second leg. He has kept clean sheets at home before, a lot of them; he’ll be hoping to do it one more time in the return leg to help secure a spot in the final for the second year in a row. He does deserves a lot of credit for playing the ball though as the team created a lot of chances and most of them had his contribution in the build-up to thank.

He had a mixed performance and words like "good" or "bad" are not on their own enough to summarize his contribution. The cross for the goal came from his flank; the quicker transition play from Chelsea after winning the ball meant he was caught out of position and couldn’t stop the attack. He did make a couple of crucial clearances from inside the box and helped ease things up during one dangerous corner on the hour mark. Both his powerful long range efforts were over the crossbar and his sole free-kick hit the wall on the 77^th min mark.

He had a considerably difficult game, more so than usual. His positioning was not best and couldn’t deal with that Ramires cross. Drogba got the better of him a couple of times but still contributed a lot in helping play the ball from deep in defense as the team looked to get the elusive equalizer.

There are a lot of young men in the club with bright futures ahead of them, it will be a serious mistake if they fail to learn as much as they can from the captain seeing as his years ahead might be numbered. He ran his guts out during the game and screamed words like "stand-up" and "focus" when things got rosy, ofcourse with the occasional death stare. He was the last man on the 6^th and 33^rd min when a Chelsea attacker seemed to have been through on goal, but he neutralized the threat like a charm. He was great in the air too as his aerial interception on the 54^th min was a fantastic defensive move and his header off a Messi free-kick on the 88^th min was brilliantly saved by a well positioned Petr Cech.

Although he conceded a throw-in in the process, he displayed his great defensive skills on the 39^th min to stop a dangerous counter attack from Chelsea. He was not fast enough to catch-up with Drogba for that goal in the first half’s stoppage time but his brilliant dribble and shot on the 51^st min could have got the team a deserved equalizer had it not have been for that save from Cech.

He was very good on the ball as he help link-up play between defense and attack and his through ball on the 15^th min could have been very dangerous had it not been intercepted. He pressed the Chelsea midfield and attack efficiently and helped protect the defense behind him for almost the entire game; limiting Chelsea a very low amount of opportunities. He was booked on the 76^th min for a late challenge on Ramires and he flunked his chances to score from an Iniesta-esque volley deep into stoppage time as he bulleted it over the bar.

Oh man, he was really bad in this game. He could have buried this tie with the glorious chances he got, but he blew all of them; either targeting the keeper or having a lame shot cleared of the line. He lost the ball too; it’s not like he lost too much of it, but he always seemed to lose it when it mattered the most. He gets credit for that lobbed pass to Alexis on the 56^th min, even though the latter failed to bury it from a yard out. He left the pitch on the 78^th min to be replaced by Thiago and this writer was a little relieved when that happened.

It’s hard to criticize a man when he dished out a performance like Xavi did; he did everything you’ll expect from a determined playmaker, but it was not to be. He created a lot of chances for the team and all were either squandered or saved. He completed 111 passes out of 126, that’s 88%, but the team just couldn’t finish. Two free-kicks he took, one went over the bar and Cech went away with the credit for easily collecting the other one. He left the pitch on the 86^th min to be replaced by Cuenca.

Just like Cesc; he could have buried this tie. His lob over Cech hit the crossbar on the 9^th min and he definitely should have done better with his shot from a yard out on the 56^th min after being released by a perfectly weighted Fabregas lob. He did deliver a great cross in the box for Messi from which the latter was unlucky not to score. He was also offside on one occasion and was dispossessed of the ball a couple of times before leaving the pitch on the 66^th min to be replaced by Pedro.

It was not a day to remember for the brilliant Argentine and I hope he’ll be in god-mode in the return leg. He would dribble past 3 or even 4 Chelsea defenders only to lose the ball just a second before the shot. In fact come to think of it all of his shots were blocked by a Chelsea player and that includes his sole free-kick which bounced off the wall. His powerful header off a Sanchez cross was saved by Cech. He lost the ball that eventually led to the goal and he’ll probably be beating himself for that. He did create a lot of chances for teammates through, it’s just a pity that none of them could convert.

Brilliant, just brilliant. It’s difficult to count the number of times he pulled out an elusion, dancing past the Chelsea defense. The team had a lot of chances and most are to his credit. He had a powerful shot saved on the 17^th min and his other effort on the 49^th was blocked and went out for a corner. The dribbling and control he showed to ghost past Cahill on the 25^th min, moving the ball on the line and into the box; He was eventually given a light push inside the box but a penalty would have been a little harsh, I think.

He came in for Alexis 6 min after the hour mark and got his yellow card just four minutes after that. He didn’t really offer much for the game and he in fact grabbed his right to occasionally lose the ball. He had a horrible first touch one minute into stoppage time after a corner by Alves.

Well the finishing aside, I think the boys did everything right in this game. They controlled the game the usual way and even created better opportunities. They were punished from a rare opportunity by Chelsea and they couldn’t score from 24 shots on goal. A similar performance in the return leg with improved finishing will definitely win the tie.

I’m not sure but I feel like he shouldn’t have started Cesc and I think some of his substitutions were a little late. Did he have one eye on the Clasico or maybe he just thought that we do better under-pressure in the return leg. Apart from my thoughts above, I strongly believe he had a great game considering the fact that the team created chances like they normally do and could have won it had their finishing been better.

Considering the performance yesterday it isn't surprising to see that "No-One" accounted for the majority of the votes. Even less surprisingly, Lionel Messi was the top player with 20% of the votes.