Surprised no one has mentioned Eden Hazard so far. I feel its the first time he's going in to a game of this calibre as our leading light and world super star- (Im aware he was an important part of the team that got to the semis a few years back) but he's at the peak of his powers now and properly world elite. 

Barcelona train with the only guy in the world better than him at dribbling but hopefully he's got the marbles to really turn it on Tuesday. 

Can't wait! 

Barca will be just as cautious of our attack. hazard, morata and pedro/willian on form are deadly. the midfield battle will be interesting. 

they could play 4-3-3

      semedo   umtiti   pique   alba

paulinho/busquets   rakitic   iniesta  

      dembele   messi   suarez

Edited February 17, 20188 yr by enigma

Cut the lifeline from iniester to messi,suarez and co  and this shouldn't be a problem it all depends on Contes team selection and tactics unfortunately.....KTBFFH

Crazy the amount of people who want Fabregas to start.

We have no attacking thrust with him instead of Pedro/Willian and no defensive stability if he plays in a midfield two.

19 hours ago, DJSankiller007 said:

I think the best chance we have is with this team :

            Courtois

  Azpi  Christiansen Rudi

Moses  kante Luiz Palmieri

Willian   Morata   Hazard

Alonso has no pace to keep up with Barca attack thats why Palmieri starts.

Luiz is a big game player doesn't matter he is not on top form he gets up for big games.

Willian is more suited to this game tracks back more than pedro and is good at free kicks also a better dribbler.

Willian and Hazard has to pin back Barca fullbacks stop them from joining attack make life difficult for them thats the key.

I like that lineup but if Alonso is fit he will start. Moses is a better defender than Zappa even if he is a bit slower. 

‘Also I cant see Luiz playing midfield. I’d play Danny drinkwater. ‘

Bazed On our form this season it’s gunna be tough. 

9 hours ago, enigma said:

Barca will be just as cautious of our attack. hazard, morata and pedro/willian on form are deadly. the midfield battle will be interesting. 

they could play 4-3-3

      semedo   umtiti   pique   alba

paulinho/busquets   rakitic   iniesta  

      dembele   messi   suarez

Man, no way Semedo gets to start ahead of Roberto and no way Busquets is not playing. So you line-up is very plausible if you switch Semedo and include Busquets. Perhaps Raki will get swapped out in favour of Paulinho...

On 2/16/2018 at 02:51, PloKoon13 said:

As with all Chelsea - Barca games, I feel like this will be the making of someone.

Despite how rude I was about him in the Watford match thread, I have a peculiar feeling that it will be Bakayoko...

Should be the making of Morata. For all the times he's messed up, he will have to make up for it all. Especially since he has experience playing against them when he used to be a Real Madrid player.

Bakayoko won't even be a thought in people's minds. He's out, thankfully.

Edited February 17, 20188 yr by ChelseaFanBoy

10 hours ago, southlondonblue said:

Surprised no one has mentioned Eden Hazard so far. I feel its the first time he's going in to a game of this calibre as our leading light and world super star- (Im aware he was an important part of the team that got to the semis a few years back) but he's at the peak of his powers now and properly world elite. 

Barcelona train with the only guy in the world better than him at dribbling but hopefully he's got the marbles to really turn it on Tuesday. 

Can't wait! 

The match is likely to revolve around Hazard & Messi from both oppositions.

I look at it this way. Hazard FC vs. Lionel Messi. Who will outshine the other ?

That's the million dollar question.

Our in form XI....

                            Courtois

          Azpilcueta  Christensen  Rudiger

Moses         Ampadu       Kante          Alonso

                          Willian

               Giroud            Hazard

 

Our experienced XI....

                            Courtois

               Azpilcueta  Luiz  Cahill

Moses         Kante   Drinkwater     Alonso

                          Fabregas

                 Morata          Hazard

 

 

we play the away game vs barca 3 days before we play burnley away. f**king fixture congestion. 

16 minutes ago, enigma said:

we play the away game vs barca 3 days before we play burnley away. f**king fixture congestion. 

I could be wrong but I think now we are into the next round of the FA cup the quarter final will take place instead. Though your point is still completely valid, imagine if we get drawn something like Man Utd away it will be even worse!

Edited February 17, 20188 yr by boomerdog

42 minutes ago, boomerdog said:

I could be wrong but I think now we are into the next round of the FA cup the quarter final will take place instead. Though your point is still completely valid, imagine if we get drawn something like Man Utd away it will be even worse!

if we won the first game or drew : fcuk it and send the U23! If we lost dramatically : field the main 11 for this !

Barcelona are playing with a strong lineup against Eibar. Plus having Coutinho and Dembele on the bench.

Barcelona in their last 3 games won only one and two draws, one clean sheet. ( Draw against Espanyol and Getafe ). Let's see how they will do today.

1 hour ago, IliyaKrostin said:

Barcelona are playing with a strong lineup against Eibar. Plus having Coutinho and Dembele on the bench.

Barcelona in their last 3 games won only one and two draws, one clean sheet. ( Draw against Espanyol and Getafe ). Let's see how they will do today.

GOAL! EIBAR 0-1 BARCELONA (Suarez, 16)

Barcelona don't need too many chances, and Suarez doesn't need a second invitation after missing that one earlier either. 

He's on the shoulder from Messi's superb curled through-ball and dummies around Dmitrovic before slotting in the opener.

3-5-2 seems like the obvious option, but it's gonna be hard to find that midfield 3. Fabregas simply can't defend and DD hasn't performed at all recently, worst man in the team last night imo. I actually believe Luiz (if available) would be our best midfield option, and then we might as well play willian in a 343 who is still more useful without possession than cesc.
Slightly leaning towards Moses on the right as I find him stronger defensively and gotta be Alonso on the left, no doubt. Up front I think giroud just about has the edge, might be the ideal striker for this game between hazard and willian.

What I'd like to see
Courtois
Azpi-Christensen-Rüdiger
Moses-Kante-Luiz-Alonso
Willian-Giroud-Hazard

What I think we'll see:
Courtois
Azpi-Christensen-Rüdiger
Moses-Fabregas-Kante-DD-Alonso
Hazard-Morata(who might actually be better for 3-5-2)

On 2/16/2018 at 10:18, DJSankiller007 said:

I think the best chance we have is with this team :

            Courtois

  Azpi  Christiansen Rudi

Moses  kante Luiz Palmieri

Willian   Morata   Hazard

Alonso has no pace to keep up with Barca attack thats why Palmieri starts.

Luiz is a big game player doesn't matter he is not on top form he gets up for big games.

Willian is more suited to this game tracks back more than pedro and is good at free kicks also a better dribbler.

Willian and Hazard has to pin back Barca fullbacks stop them from joining attack make life difficult for them thats the key.

 

Sounds about right to me. No Cahill in defense, no Fabregas or Bakayoko in midfield. Kante needs someone beside him who can tackle. Luiz or Drinkwater is all we have. By playing a two man midfield we can have 3 upfront. We are at home and should be on the offensive not defensive. I'd play Giroud instead of Morata. Morata did sweet FA against Hull. I have a feeling Conte will pick a defensive team and we will not win but we shall have to wait until Tuesday night to find out his selection. We mustn't concede a goal at home. That's important.

46 minutes ago, Luiz4Chelsea said:

3-5-2 seems like the obvious option, but it's gonna be hard to find that midfield 3. Fabregas simply can't defend and DD hasn't performed at all recently, worst man in the team last night imo. I actually believe Luiz (if available) would be our best midfield option, and then we might as well play willian in a 343 who is still more useful without possession than cesc.
Slightly leaning towards Moses on the right as I find him stronger defensively and gotta be Alonso on the left, no doubt. Up front I think giroud just about has the edge, might be the ideal striker for this game between hazard and willian.

What I'd like to see
Courtois
Azpi-Christensen-Rüdiger
Moses-Kante-Luiz-Alonso
Willian-Giroud-Hazard

What I think we'll see:
Courtois
Azpi-Christensen-Rüdiger
Moses-Fabregas-Kante-DD-Alonso
Hazard-Morata(who might actually be better for 3-5-2)

 

43 minutes ago, TheBluesBrother said:

 

Sounds about right to me. No Cahill in defense, no Fabregas or Bakayoko in midfield. Kante needs someone beside him who can tackle. Luiz or Drinkwater is all we have. By playing a two man midfield we can have 3 upfront. We are at home and should be on the offensive not defensive. I'd play Giroud instead of Morata. Morata did sweet FA against Hull. I have a feeling Conte will pick a defensive team and we will not win but we shall have to wait until Tuesday night to find out his selection. We mustn't concede a goal at home. That's important.

 

Agree with you both, except Luiz.

He is in absolute zero form, i would rather speculate with Ampadu, especially after his performance against Hull, he's young enough to recover by Tuesday. Rather speculate on him than gamble with Luiz.

I'm hoping Willy to play instead of Tibo [emoji57]

 

 

 

I think there's two options depending on Conte's midfield choices:

I also don't even know if Luiz or Bakayoko will be ready. Alonso was rested yesterday so I'm sure he'll start.

3-4-3:

Courtois

Azpi - Christensen - Cahill

Zappacosta - Kante - Cesc - Alonso

Willian - Morata - Hazard

 

3-5-2

Courtois

Azpi - Christensen - Cahill

Zappacosta - Kante - Cesc - Drinkwater - Alonso

Morata - Hazard

 

Maybe Conte will feel comfortable going a 3-4-3 with Kante and Drinkwater in the middle as opposed to Cesc. I guess we'll see...very excited.

3 hours ago, rad said:

I'm hoping Willy to play instead of Tibo

 

 

 

119 mins 

Barca over the last month haven't played particularly well, well Messi has but......they are going to be wary against us, Iniesta- Busquets are old legs in MF, Pique and co don't want a flying Hazard thats for sure, my nagging doubt is Messi has to turn up against us one day, we have to set up to win at the Bridge, or we are out, no Torres this time, lol

Edited February 17, 20188 yr by Ballack & Blu

59 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

Barca over the last month haven't played particularly well, well Messi has but......they are going to be wary against us, Iniesta- Busquets are old legs in MF, Pique and co don't want a flying Hazard thats for sure, my nagging doubt is Messi has to turn up against us one day, we have to set up to win at the Bridge, or we are out, no Torres this time, lol

You mean no Drogba this time .

Time for Hazard to step up on the big stage against a big team and put in a world class performance and show everyone why he is one of the best players in the world, he has it in him. Going for a 2-1 Chelsea win. 

3 hours ago, Preno11 said:

Time for Hazard to step up on the big stage against a big team and put in a world class performance and show everyone why he is one of the best players in the world, he has it in him. Going for a 2-1 Chelsea win. 

We have an excellent record against them at home, so motivation shouldn't be a problem whoever plays. What we do need, though, is pace in defence and midfield, which means no Fabregas, Cahill and Luiz.

11 hours ago, Ballack & Blu said:

 no Torres this time

I love you ;P