Chelsea-Barca, part II.

I just watched the Chelsea-Barca 2-2 draw online at UEFA. The game was fiercely contested with over 10 yellows, several scraps, and numerous free kicks. It's a minor miracle no one was sent off. The physical play favored Chelsea, who disrupted Barcelona's midfield play and prevented them from getting into a dangerous rhythym. And in the second half, it was Chelsea who looked more coherent on offense, and who was aggresively pressing the game. Jose must have been proud to see his boys raise their game when down a goal on the road in Europe.

Barca leapt out to a quick lead with Deco's whistler (through an onrushing defender's legs) about 3 minutes in. Deco's a fine player, and I think he gets less media attention than he deserves. I'm not sure why. He's certainly better than Lampard.

Lampard -- who I've repeatedly maligned -- actually had several nice passes in this game and had a stunning equalizer. On a live ball essentially on the endline, approximately 10 yards from the near post, he uncorked a banana kick that floated over Valdez and into the far side of the net. An absolutely superb touch on that ball.

Barca's two goals were pretty (Ronnie's move past Boulahrouz and pass to Gudjohnsen for the score was particularly flashy), but I believe the run of play slightly favored the Blues. Chelsea did not deserve to lose that game, and that's coming from someone who hopes they lose every game.

Drogba -- who spent much of the game getting mugged or acting, depending on who you root for -- had an excellent clutch equalizer in injury time, but Terry deserves enormous credit. It was he who softly headed the overlong cross back to Drogba, who finished. Terry's decision to head it gently back to Drogba, instead of trying for a difficult angle on goal himsel, is emblematic of the sensible decision making that makes him such a fine player.

Ronnie was invisible except for a couple brilliant flashes, and that isn't going to get in down in the Champions League.

FF

Blogger.com choked yet again yesterday, preventing me from posting.

In any event, the 2nd half of Liverpool-Villa was very exciting, as Villa battled back fiercely, scoring a goal and threatening several other times. Liverpool also had excellent chances, but were unlucky. Great game.

FF