Barcelona vs Chelsea 2012 second leg of Champions clash will see following the 1-0 victory of combative, valiantly defending yet a little lucky Chelsea threaten Guardiola’s Barcelona’s Midas touch.

Barcelona / NationalTurk – Barcelona vs Chelsea may see Chelsea having to do its best to end Barcelona manager’s Pep Guardiola’s reputation as the man with the golden touch as Chelsea visit Camp Nou to take on Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal second leg. Even a draw at Barcelona vs Chelsea will complete the major upset by Chelsea, which would have been started in the first leg of Champion’s League semi final first leg.

Chelsea’s Ivorian striker Didier Drogba outshined Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi in the two teams’ first meeting, scoring the winning goal in the game Chelsea vs Barcelona at Stamford Bridge 6 days ago.

Barcelona vs Chelsea 2012 : Drogba,  bane of Barcelona can be out

Didier Drogba, the scourge of Barcelona last week, is Chelsea’s main injury doubt having missed Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Arsenal with a knee injury.

Not only did the Ivorian striker score the only goal, he continually disrupted the flow of the game by falling to the floor, prompting ridicule and criticism of his antics on Twitter and other social media. If Drogba is missing, Fernando Torres will almost certainly lead the attack against Barcelona a club he tormented during his stint at Atletico Madrid.

The nowadays misfiring striker netted seven goals in 10 La Liga matches against Barca and twice scored doubles at the Nou Camp but has suffered a spectacular loss of form since moving to London from Liverpool midway through the 2010-11 season. he is showing signs of waking up though.

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola is in danger of tarnishing his reputation as the man with the Midas touch when the holders seek to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Chelsea in tonight’s Barcelona vs Chelsea 2012 Champions League semifinal second leg at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona vs Chelsea 2012 Champions League: Swagger Correction Required For (once?) Mighty Barcelona

Barcelona have been looking like a shadow of their former selves in latest matches. Barcelona were ineffective until very late on at Levante, lost vs Chelsea at Stamford Bridge despite many missed chances and balls hitting posts or bars and then, most pathetic and embarassing and pain inflicting of all, saw defeat 2-1 at the hands by Real Madrid in a match that they never seriously looked like winning. Since Pep Guardiola reign started, Barcelona have been champions of Spain’s La Liga, but that run has come to a crushing end with last weekend’s loss to archrivals Real Madrid.

Barcelona manager Guardiola suffered the rare embarrassment of being defeated two games in a row and having to explain why his tactics failed vs Real Madrid after he left Cesc Fabregas, Alexis Sanchez and Pedro out of his starting lineup and gambled on 20-year-old B-team winger Cristian Tello.

Barcelona vs Chelsea : Chelsea’s Di Matteo best ‘interim’ coach ever ?

Chelsea will definitely be without injured Brazilian center back David Luiz, but in his absence Gary Cahill and captain John Terry look to be forging a solid partnership.

Successful Interim coach Roberto Di Matteo, who played against Guardiola in a Champions League quarter-final in the 1999-2000 campaign, seemed to be using Saturday’s match against Arsenal as something of a dress rehearsal for tomorrow’s game.

Citing Real Madrid eccentric manager Jose Mourinho’s phrase, the Italian ‘ parked the bus ‘ in front of goal at the Emirates as they got the result that, if repeated on Tuesday, would see them through to the finals of 2011 2012 Champions League finals.

‘ Chelsea played with three defensive midfielders in the middle so it was difficult to play through there, ‘ Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stated. ‘ They wanted to practise the system they will use on Tuesday night.’

Are they shy of confidence? Obviously, watching from afar, it’s impossible to tell, but it certainly wouldn’t be out of the question. At their best, Barcelona are phenomenal, ripping defences apart at will. Recently? They’re a possession-retention machine that looks frankly stodgy whenever it attempts to go forwards. Something is wrong. Over at Barcelona Blaugranes, Gabriel Roberts is attributing that something to a lack of swagger, which seems as good a word as any:

Whoever gets the nod from Guardiola, they must play with confidence. Barcelona must come out believing in their superiority, and each player must receive and distribute the ball with the decisive and stylish touch we’ve come to expect from a colossal match at the Nou Camp. I’ve written before about the Camp Nou swagger—how an electric energy can build between these fabulous little footballers on their extra-wide pitch and in front of their 90,000 fans. Each successive successful pass contributes to this energy, and in time it can build to a methodical, mesmerizing demolition of the opponent.

Barcelona vs Chelsea 2012 UEFA Champions League: Pep Guardiola drops the f-bomb when asked about Tello

The pacy yet composure lacking Tello showed flashes of promise but wasted many of Barcelona’s best chances with a wild effort, while Sanchez scored immediately after coming off the bench.

If Barcelona play vs Chelseaat their peak, there’s nothing Chelsea can do to stop the hosts from going through. But recapturing that swagger after a very rough week will be a very tough ask for Pep Guardiola and his tired players.

The 41-year-old former Barca and Spain midfielder has inspired the Catalan club to an impressive 13 trophies since he took charge in 2008, including three straight Spanish league titles and Champions League triumphs in 2009 and 2011.

Pep Guardiola apparently does not like the criticism that has been heaped upon him for his squad selection last week vs Chelsea or over the weekend vs Real Madrid. In his press conference before tonight’s Champions League second leg Barcelona vs Chelsea, he took offense to the suggestion that Christian Tello had no place on the pitch vs Real Madrid last week.

‘He played a f****** good game. I mean most of the dangerous chances were created by him,’ Guardiola exclaimed protecting his player.

Besides actually getting angry and swearing, thus endangering his title as “World’s Classiest Man,” Barcelona manager Guardiola has plenty more to say, especially with regards to injuries, or non-injuries, and what that means to his squad selection. He’ll have more decisions to make for the Barcelona vs Chelsea second leg of Champions League semi finals, as more and more Barcelona players are battling injuries and the critics are circling, ready to pound with two times the ferocity than they did after the disaster of a weekend Barcelona had to endure in the hands of Real Madrid.

Barcelona vs Chelsea : Messi is ok to play against Chelsea

However, elimination from Europe’s most elite club competition after Barcelona vs Chelsea game would be a fresh blow following Saturday’s 2-1 La Liga reverse at home to Real Madrid which put their bitter Spanish rivals seven points clear at the top of La Liga with only four games left.

‘ Well, Leo had a gastric issue,’ Pep Guardiola answered when asked about Messi’s condition. ‘ The club doctor saw Lionel and he called us before the training session. He didn’t go to it as he didn’t feel well but now he is ok.’ assured the Barcelona manager.

‘As for Gerard Pique, there is no problem at all. He has had an injury for a long time. I have many players and can choose Javier Mascherano and Carles Puyol, who are a good combination in central defense.’ Guardiola stated entering final hours prior to Barcelona vs Chelsea game.

Allowing Barcelona to dominate possession, defending resolutely and looking to unleash swift counter attacks worked first for Chelsea the for Real Madrid, but Chelsea also needed and needs for tonight’s Barcelona vs Chelsea game a slice or two of luck to thwart World Player of Year and Champions League top scorer Lionel Messi and his team mates. Luck cannot knock on the door twice, eh mate Let’s put another shrimp on da barbiie !!!

In conclusion, a bunch of players could or could not play and Guardiola doesn’t much like being questioned, but then again, who does? Still, it seemed like The World’s Classiest Man was ignorant to criticism and just continued about his day. Apparently not. Maybe he is being exposed as human in the same week that his Barcelona may be exposed for being mortal. The pressure of the thought that Barcelona era can be closing can put Barcelona into a lot of stress vs Chelsea tonight.

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