After an exciting evenly held first leg at the Stamford Bridge, the second leg at Nou Camp promised a lot. Chelsea had fond memories of their last visit to this ground but a Lionel Messi show put an end to such hopes for the Blues this time around. The Argentine was in ruthless form tonight making the most of every little situation and showing the world why he is still the best around.
Messi shot Barcelona into the lead inside 3 minutes thanks to some poor goalkeeping from Thibaut Courtois who will want to forget the night as soon as possible. The second goal came from a Cesc Fabregas misplaced pass with Messi providing the assist this time. It was far too easy for the third goal with Messi making hay of Chelsea’s leaky defence.
The Blues did play some good attacking football and perhaps the 3-0 scoreline is unfair for them on the night but Chelsea were unsure and wasteful in the final third and far inferior to Barcelona in terms of finishing, Here is how the players performed on the night for the Blues.
Thibaut Courtois: 4/10
A sloppy goal conceded early on, he seemed unaware of his positioning. Messi took full advantage of it to shoot Barcelona into the lead
Marcos Alonso: 6/10
Had a brilliantly struck free-kick hit the bar. Was good on the overlap but defensively frail.
Antonio Rudiger: 6.5/10
Worked hard all evening and did not put a foot wrong.
Andreas Christensen: 5.5/10
Looked solid defensively on most occasions but was troubled from time to time by Luis Suarez.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 5.5/10
A solid outing from but his misplaced pass led to Barcelona’s third goal. A rare moment of causal football from the Spaniard.
N’Golo Kante: 7/10
Worked extremely hard all match and did well to marshal the midfield.
Cesc Fabregas: 5.5/10
Unable to get his game going despite Chelsea seeing a lot of the ball. His mistake led to Barcelona’s second goal.
Victor Moses: 6/10
Fought hard and did well on the right flank. However, his game had no end product.
Eden Hazard: 4.5/10
The Belgian chose to go missing in the worst possible might for the Blues. Had no influence in the game whatsoever.
Willian: 6.5/10
Looked like a real live-wire throughout the match and keep running at the fragile Barcelona defence. No end product, however.
Olivier Giroud: 6.5/10
Picked over Morata and justified his selection with some excellent holdup play.
Alvaro Morata: N/A
Came on at a point when the game was already over for Chelsea.
Davide Zappacosta: N/A
Introduced too late in the match with too much to do
