Top 5 matches between Chelsea and Barcelona

#4 Champions League Semifinal, 2nd Leg, 2009

Chelsea v Barcelona - UEFA Champions League Semi Final

One of the more iconic games for Football Club Barcelona, this game had quite a few talking points. It just felt like the game was working towards a signature moment, and most thought they got it right at the start. Michael Essien volleyed home a magical from the edge of the box in the 9th minute to put Chelsea up a goal to the good.

Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea were made to absorb Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona pressure for the remainder of the game, knowing that conceding even one meant the end of Chelsea’s Champions League campaign on the away goal rule. Chelsea were so close to achieving their objective but then entered the magic man for Barca, the ultimate son of Catalunya, he who was bathed in Blaugrana stripes, Andres Iniesta.

Deep into stoppage time, Andres Iniesta received the ball at the edge of the pitch where he wedged the ball right over goalkeeper Petr Cech and into the the top right corner. Off came the jersey, understanding what was to come in his magnificent career as a result of this triumph. He gleefully celebrated with his mates in the corner, as Chelsea were sunk into the woes of defeat.

Their hard work was not enough to deny Barca and that was something Manchester United would learn in the final when they would eventually fall to Barcelona as well in the final in Rome. Guardiola’s men were unstoppable, at 2009 was perhaps Barcelona at the peak of their powers. Andres Iniesta would once again have a chance to rip off his jersey in glee, when he would net the match-winning goal in the FIFA World Cup Final against the Netherlands at South Africa in 2010.