Lionel Messi is present a chance to re-write 2012 mistakes when Chelsea host Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on tonight in the first leg of champions’ league knockout. This is one of the heated up rivalries in the champions’ league with the two sides having equal number of wins against each other. The Argentine talisman have been revered as the greatest footballer to grace the beautiful sport by many journalist and analyst but have been powerless before a Chelsea team.
Chelsea and Barcelona have brought feelings of excitement, drama and controversy in its history with Lionel Messi a witness in one of them. Lionel Messi’s individual records against the team have reflect the shadow of the Barcelona attacker as he have only won once against the London side in 8 meetings in 12 years and that was in 2005-2006.
The Barcelona attack have never scored in the fixture although have been on the assist list. Lionel Messi have also been lucky to be on the positive end of controversial decision of the referee back in the 2008-2009 season. The Argentines last outing against the London base side was a horror show both at the Stamford Bridge and in the reverse fixture at the Camp nou.
The Argentine’s loss of the possession in the first half lead to the counter-attack that led to the only goal of the game as Didier Drogba converted a Ramirez pass into the back of the net. The reverse fixture that saw the Argentina miss a vital penalty from the spot that could have restored their lead on aggregate after being brought down by Didier Drogba. Lionel Messi’s penalty hit the upright wood-work to keep Chelsea’s hope alive as the scoreline was 2-1 then. Chelsea went on to draw the game with a late Fernando Torres goal.
It could be said that the last time, the Argentine visited a defensive minded Di Matteo’s Chelsea side with three defensive minded midfielder but there will be no excuses both sides as the have evolved from their previous style of play with Chelsea now using an attacking 3-4-3 formation and Barcelona leaving tiki-taka behind. This could possibly be Messi’s last chance to re-write an existing history about. The Argentina is known for re-writing history but 90-minutes will tell in this grueling fixture.