April 18, 2012

Tonight see’s Chelsea take on Barcelona in the second semi-final of the champions league. Chelsea manager Di Matteo faces a decision on who to start out of Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres. Torres has a good goal scoring record against Barca, scoring seven goals in ten games against the Catalans. Above is a montage of his goals against them whilst he played for Atletico Madrid. Of the two strikers Drogba is arguably more in form at the moment after playing in Saturday’s FA cup 5-1 win over Tottenham.

In football teams tend to have sides that, for some unknown reason, they don’t not always play their best against. A bogey side. There is also a theory that some players seem to always play well against certain sides. Drogba has tormented Arsenal ever since he arrived in the Premier League. So while Drogba may have scored a fantastic goal in the FA cup on the weekend, Torres history against Barca may see him in with a shout of starting. It may have a physiological effect on the Barca defenders knowing Torres is starting. He has also trained numerous times with Barca defenders Puyol and Pique with the Spanish national side, this may give him an advantage.

Personally I would start with Drogba, as he is better at being played long balls and holding up the ball, while Torres often requires the ball played into his feet or into space for him to run onto. But against Barca, Chelsea will find they face long spells without the ball and may be reduced to long balls up to their front man when they do win the ball.

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