Lineups

Napoli were as expected, naming the same team which faced Villarreal on matchday 6. Andre Villas Boas meanwhile seemed to be making a statement with his team selection; deprived of Terry, he elected to leave Lampard and Torres on the bench, along with Ashley Cole who was replaced by the right-footed Bosingwa at left back. Cahill and Luiz protected by Meireles and Ramires suggested there would be ample opportunity for Napoli to cause problems with possibly the best counterattack in Europe.

Match

In a cagey opening few minutes Napoli made a concerted effort to turn the Chelsea defence with long balls from the back. One in particular from Cannavaro was allowed to bounce in a dangerous position by Cahill, requiring Cech to rescue the situation as Lavezzi closed in on goal. Moments later Cahill allowed Cavani in behind for the first shot on goal as he misjudged the moment to try to play offside.

Napoli focus down the left and try long balls in behind Cahill in the opening minutes

There are unfortunately no chalkboards to demonstrate poor positioning or decision making, otherwise Cahill’s would be fascinating. It’s unfair to judge a player making his Champions League debut in a knockout game away from home too harshly, but Cahill consistently seemed like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing. He wasn’t sure how close to get to Cavani or Lavezzi, whether to get tight but risk being turned or stand off and allow them more time on the ball. He was also unsure when to try to play offside and when to track his man, occasionally guessing the location of the rest of his back four and stepping up in hope of being the last man. He was also guilty of rushing to clear the ball when he had time to be more composed.

At the other end, Chelsea didn’t cause many problems for Napoli, save for an odd moment from De Sanctis as he ran out to close Sturridge down and seemed to miss the ball. That was until Chelsea opened the scoring, as what looked to be a simple clearance for Cannavaro was turned into anything but as the ball bounced up out of a divot, over his shoulder and fell perfectly for Mata to slide home. The goal silenced the crowd but Napoli seemed unfazed by going 0-1 down.

Chelsea were trying to take the game to Napoli, but this was a dangerous game to play against the counterattacking experts, although the away side did at least pay some attention to the threat by systematically fouling their opponents whenever a break looked likely.

Chelsea eventually committed 18 fouls as they tried to stop Napoli from breaking

They weren’t behind for long, as Lavezzi equalised. Picking the ball up as Napoli worked it infield, he had to do very little to evade Meireles who never really looked interested in making a tackle or even closing down, leaving the Napoli man free to line up a curling shot into the bottom corner that Cech could do nothing with. More sloppy defending from Ivanovic allowed Cavani to meet a cross at the far post and make it 2-1 despite starting his run a few yards upfield of the Serbian, who was caught watching the ball.

Napoli’s approach was clear from Chelsea’s passing chalkboard at halftime. They allowed Chelsea to adopt positions 30 yards from goal at will, but prevented any further progress, and Chelsea were unable to create anything beyond this defensive line. Their only shot on target was the pitch-assisted Mata goal.

Chelsea unable to progress within 30 yards of the Napoli goal

After halftime the game continued in a similar vein. Chelsea enjoyed a little more of the ball, but never really threatened De Sanctis’ goal, despite the English commentators getting excited by the amount of space available to both sides. In actual fact this period of Chelsea pressure was playing into Napoli hands, as the more the away side pushed up to search for an equaliser, the more likely Napoli would be to launch a trademark rapier counterattack. Predictably, it was 3-1 shortly after the hour mark as Cavani’s pressure on Luiz allowed him to set up Lavezzi for his second goal of the night.

Chelsea finally introduced some midfield steel in the shape of Essien and Lampard, removing Meireles and Malouda and reverting to a more familiar Chelsea shape, but it was too little too late. Napoli themselves appeared content with a 3-1 scoreline when they removed Lavezzi, although they nearly made it 4-1 after slicing Chelsea open and Cole was called on to clear off the line when the goal was gaping.

Conclusions

Napoli did what they do better than any other team in Europe, ceding possession, collapsing to defend deep and hitting Chelsea on the counterattack. Chelsea mistakes may have aided the goals but Cech was also called on to make a couple of fingertip saves.

Chelsea meanwhile fell hook, line and sinker into Napoli’s trap, despite surely knowing exactly what to expect, and seeing Arsenal fall into a similar trap in Milan a week earlier. A weak defence with weak protection in front of it was always going to struggle against Napoli’s phenomenal front three, even before Chelsea were drawn forward into ultimately unsuccessful attempts to score themselves. As with Arsenal, they created chances but never genuinely looked like scoring, and De Sanctis had little to do over the 90 minutes.

Chelsea only had two shots on target from within the Napoli penalty area

Lineups

With Xavi and Pique not travelling, Fabregas and Mascherano were brought in as like-for-like replacements; Fabregas in particular getting an outing in the Xavi role rather than his usual more advanced position. Derdiyok and Ballack were the highest profile absentees for Leverkusen, who lined up with Reinartz shielding that all-important area in front of the back four, and Schurrle in a lone role up front.

Match

Barcelona immediately seized possession as expected, but Leverkusen attempted to press relatively high up the pitch, effectively basing their pressing line on Busquets’ position. Barcelona are usually able to work around this through Pique, who is able to join the midfield as an additional player from the back and play incisive passes, but Puyol and Mascherano are unable to do this, making Barcelona’s forward movement of the ball from defence relatively sluggish. Both centrebacks had plenty of the ball in the opening phase of the game but were unable to do much more than shift it sideways in the face of a Leverkusen wall.

Plenty of the ball at the back but no options for a forward pass

Reinartz would be the key to Leverkusen’s defensive solidarity. His job would primarily be to pick up Messi when he dropped off the front line looking for the ball to feet, hoping to force the Argentine to either stay higher up the pitch or drop further into midfield, both areas from where he is less of a menace. As early as the second minute Reinartz was called on to track a Messi run in behind, which he did so and intercepted the ball without issue.

Messi forced deep to search for the ball, as Leverkusen prevent Barcelona from approaching goal

Leverkusen themselves had very little of the ball, but as with most teams facing Barcelona their plan was clearly to stay in the tie first and foremost. It is a difficult task to abandon all thoughts of attacking for an entire game, particularly for a team accustomed to being one of the best in their league, and so it was that Barcelona took the lead when Leverkusen were caught on an ill-feted foray upfield and Barcelona were able to break in behind the defence for the first time as Messi released Sanchez to score his first Champions League goal. The gameplan had failed thanks to a momentary lapse in concentration exposing Leno for the first time.

Only a single shot on target in the first half

Possession was the talk of the halftime interval, as Barcelona’s dominance was extolled yet with little reference to the minimal genuine threat they had generated from that possession. In truth Leverkusen deserved most of the praise for limiting Barcelona to possession with no penetration, but for a single lapse of their own concentration.

It was clear that Leverkusen needed to walk a tightrope in the second half between looking for an equaliser and keeping things solid at the back. It’s a difficult prospect, as evidenced by a goal at either end in the space of three minutes, as first Kadlec produced an equaliser then Sanchez reestablished Barcelona’s lead. It is one of football’s most frequently used clichés that you are at your most vulnerable when you have just scored, but leaving such a wide gap between centreback and left back for a straight run and even straighter pass will leave you vulnerable at any point in any match.

Leverkusen’s headed goal came after a freekick was poorly dealt with by Puyol almost leading to a chance, and another deliciously weighted cross from Castro led to a great chance for substitute Keißling. Leverkusen had the height advantage over Barcelona and crosses into the box were causing the Catalans all sorts of difficulties, so it seemed odd that they didn’t attempt more crosses to press their advantage in this area, particularly after the aforementioned substitution which added another forward to the lineup for the more secure Rolfes.

Crosses are generally unsuccessful as defenders outnumber attackers, but Leverkusen had 50% completion and one goal from six crosses midway through the second half

The woodwork at both ends was rattled as the game opened up. Firstly Castro brought a fine save from Valdes to tip a low drive against the far post. Valdes’ aversion to his near post is displayed all too frequently and one wondered if a drive to that side would have beaten the Spaniard. Secondly Messi skipped past a slightly foolish attempt at a tackle and lifted the ball over Leno from a narrow angle but against the outside of the post.

Leverkusen’s change to be more offensive ultimately cost them the tie as Barcelona scored a third at the death. Releasing Alves into a one-on-one, the right back refused to shoot and instead opted to play a low probability ball across the area which somehow found its way through a collection of defenders for Messi to slide in.

Conclusions

The match statistics, as always, were heavily stacked in Barcelona’s favour, but they were unable to create goalscoring chances against a resolute Leverkusen defence. Indeed, their goals came from periods of play where Leverkusen had abandoned their defensive stance, either temporarily or tactically, providing the space for Barcelona to finally get behind the defence at Leno. Without Xavi to create, and Pique to build from the back, Barcelona were reduced to having the ball but not being able to create anything with it.

Leverkusen for their part managed to shoot themselves in the foot by being drawn into a football match, and having exposed a weakness in Barcelona’s defending against the cross, failed to exploit it to their advantage. Their punishment is to have the second leg at the Nou Camp reduced to little more than a sightseeing trip.