#3 Chelsea vs Barcelona, 2000
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This fixture took place in an era where Roman Abramovich did not own Chelsea, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was still Barcelona’s captain and PSG’s director of football Patrick Kluivert was playing as a striker for the Catalans.
However, the drama that transpired in this fixture propelled it into the ‘classics’ category. The first match was held at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea surprised everyone by putting down one of their most memorable performances till then against Louis van Gaal’s team.
First Leg – Chelsea 3-1 Barcelona
(Video Courtesy – JustFootball YouTube Channel)
One of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, Gianfranco Zola, pulled the strings and scored one while Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo scored two goals as Chelsea pulled off an upset win against the Catalan club. Luis Figo then scored one for Barcelona to make the score 3-1 in favour of the London club. However, that away goal would prove crucial in what came next.
Second Leg – Barcelona 5-1 Chelsea a.e.t
Barcelona were at it in the 2nd leg as Rivaldo scored first off a deflected shot before the in-form Portuguese Figo doubled the lead. But Chelsea came back into the tie around the hour mark as Flo hit the back of the net thanks to some good work by Zola, giving Chelsea the aggregate lead at 4-3.
But Barcelona were not done as Pep Guardiola’s cross was headed in by Dani Garcia to level the aggregate. Rivaldo missed a penalty towards the end of the game thereby bringing extra-time into play.
However, Barcelona were up for it in the extra 30 minutes as Rivaldo made amends for his earlier penalty miss to score one after Figo was fouled. Later, Kluivert found the net to take the tie away from Chelsea once and for all.
This match was a fantastic display of attacking football with the better team prevailing eventually. It is, hands down, one of the best ever matches in CL history.
