FCBARCELONA.CAT

06.05.2009 10:43

Chelsea v Barça: Did you know…?

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The second finalist in this year’s Champions League will emerge from tonight’s clash at Stamford Bridge. Behind the match there are some interesting statistics that are worth taking into account.

• Chelsea have qualified from just one of their four Champions League semi-finals whereas Barça have reached the final four times from the nine semi-finals the Club have played.

• Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 17 consecutive Champions League matches. Their last defeat was in February 2006 in the first leg of the R16 against…you guessed it – Barça! (1-2).

• In fact that was Chelsea’s last Champions League defeat against a non-Premier League team.

• Barça’s next trip to Stamford Bridge was on 19th October 2006 during the group stage. Chelsea won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Didier Drogba.

• Chelsea’s last two matches against teams from the Spanish league ended in draws. Both matches were against Valencia, the first in the 2007 quarterfinals and the second in the group stage the following season.

• Throughout the entire history of European club competitions, Barça have only been held to a goalless draw in the first leg in the Camp Nou on two occasions: the UEFA Cup semi-finals against Liverpool in the 2000-2001 season and the CL semi-finals against Manchester United last year. On both occasions Barça failed to qualify after losing the second away leg 1-0.

• Meanwhile, Chelsea have a mixed record after securing a goalless draw in the away first leg. They were eliminated by Swedish side Atvidabergs in the second round of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1971-72 but qualified against Olympiakos in the 2007-08 Champions League.

• Despite the 0-0 result from the first leg, Leo Messi still leads the ranking of goals scored in this season’s Champions League with 8.

• Barça is top scorer with 29 goals (2.64 per match) while Chelsea is in fourth place with 19 (1.73). Both teams have conceded 12 (1.09 per match).

• Xavi Hernández and Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich) head the ranking of goal assists in the competition with six each.