When the dust settles on Stamford Bridge tomorrow and the Chelsea players wake up to headlines and pictures of their behaviour the morning after the night before they might just understand why there is absolutely no sympathy for them from the footballing world.In a Champions League semi-final second leg that saw Andreas Iniesta score a 93rd minute goal that sent Barcelona through to the final on the away goals rule, denying Chelsea a second successive European final appearance, was also a game that was marred by the ill-discipline of some of the Chelsea players.
At the final whistle the Norwegian referee, Tom Henning Ovrebo, was surrounded by a number of Chelsea players, notably John Terry, the captain, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba - who had run onto the pitch to remonstrate with the official - who, it was felt, had ignored four certain penalty appeals. Drogba's rant could see him face action from UEFA as he was caught swearing into the Sky television cameras shouting "It's a disgrace, its a f****** disgrace" and then, reports suggest, further abusing Ovrebo in the tunnel.
So Chelsea felt aggrieved that they were denied, in their opinion, four definite penalties which, presumably, would have settled the tie but the way in which some of their players conducted themselves during the closing stages of the game and at the final whistle was, without question, wholly unacceptable. To see Terry, the captain of both Chelsea and England, berating the referee at the end of the game was an absolute embarrassment, made even more embarrassing when he was quoted as condoning Drogba's actions.
What sanctions UEFA decide to dish out to the Stamford Bridge outfit remains to be seen but with suggestions that UEFA president, Michel Platini, had directed the referee to enforce decisions in order to avoid a second successive all-English final it is unlikely that they will get off lightly.
This conspiracy theory was just one of the many excuses Chelsea used to divert attention away from the fact that they had failed to kill off Barcelona in a game which had presented them plenty of chances to do so. Having made a perfect start through a sublime Michael Essien volley, Barcelona knew that they needed to score to level the tie, something they'd failed to do at the Nou Camp a week earlier. Chelsea were once again resolute in defence but, unlike in Barcelona, also looked willing to attack.
The first of Chelsea's penalty appeals came shortly after the Essien strike when Florent Malouda, the Chelsea midfielder, was held back and felled by the Barcelona right back, Dani Alves, on the edge of the area for which a free-kick was awarded. This would suggest that the referee conceded that it was a foul but, as the offence clearly started outside of the penalty box, only worthy of a free-kick rather than the penalty Chelsea were pleading for. Surely the most hardened Chelsea supporter would admit that, on reflection, it would have been an extremely generous decision had a penalty been awarded.
In the second half, and with Barcelona still failing to find any real rhythm, Chelsea created another opening which lead to the second penalty appeal, which was equally as dubious, but one which often divides opinion. Drogba raced onto a through ball with Barcelona full back, Eric Abidal, in hot pursuit and when inside the area went down claiming that Abidal had tripped him with Victor Valdes, the Barcelona goalkeeper, collecting the loose ball. In real time it did appear that Drogba may have been brought down but the more replays that were shown the bigger the doubt was that it was a penalty. The Chelsea striker may also have been a victim of his reputation for being somewhat theatrical in those situations, nevertheless it wasn't the stone-wall penalty that Chelsea were stating it was at the end of the game.
In between the aforementioned penalty shout and the third potential penalty, Drogba had a glorious opportunity to put the game beyond doubt but could only muster a stab at goal which was saved by Valdes having created the space to score an almost certain goal for a striker of his calibre. Barcelona were also reduced to ten men before the third, and most convincing penalty appeal, arrived when Abidal was harshly adjudged to have brought down Nicolas Anelka, the Chelsea forward, as the last defender when replays showed that no contact was even made.
It was Anelka who was involved in the next episode of Chelsea's spot-kick denials when, having received a ball from the left, he flicked the ball round Barcelona's former Manchester United centre-half, Gerard Pique, who clearly handled the ball, preventing the Chelsea front man a clear shot on goal. Pique's reaction, when running away with the ball, was that of a guilty man and was extremely lucky not to have been penalised.
As the game wore on, with Chelsea still emerging with decent attacks, Drogba was brought off by Hiddink who was of the belief that his striker was injured but, judging from Drogba's reaction, it was another case of the Ivorian feigning injury which, this time, backfired. The withdrawal of Drogba encouraged Barcelona to push forward with more conviction and it soon became an increasingly nervy atmosphere within Stamford Bridge and in the penultimate minute of injury time an Alves cross eventually found its way to Lionel Messi after Essien failed to clear, Messi then rolled an exquisitely weighted ball to the edge of the area which was dispatched with equal aplomb by Iniesta which sparked a mass pile-on involving the Barcelona players and staff near the corner flag.
With the last roll of the metaphorical dice, Chelsea through caution to the wind and adopted Wimbledon tactics which saw them earn a corner for which their goalkeeper, Petr Cech, decided to be a part of. The corner glanced off of Cech's head and found Ballack who hit a first-time volley into the onrushing Samuel Eto'o. Ballack and the Chelsea players instantly claimed a penalty, feeling that Eto'o had blocked the shot with his arm which the referee could not have been better placed to have judged. Ballack was so incensed that he raced alongside Ovrebo for 40 yards which involved him, at one point, grabbing the Norwegian official which resulted in a booking.
The final whistle was blown a few moments later which cued the scenes that will populate the images of tomorrow's media.
It should be a matter of huge concern for the London club as the discipline of three of its more experienced players, all of whom are captains for their respective countries, was far beyond unacceptable and set a horrendous example to the millions of youngsters who were privy to those ugly scenes. People can forgive reasoned arguments but when a referee is surrounded and circled out so publicly as the deciding factor in a game and in the manner in which it was done then there is absolutely no sympathy to be had.
Did you see Frank Lampard or Essien lambasting the referee or Cech having to be restrained by stewards for fear of an attack on the official? No. So that does that mean that they were less disappointed to have fallen short of reaching a European final than Terry, Ballack and Drogba? Or is it, perhaps, that they accepted that despite the disappointment and nature in which they lost they had the chances to have put the game beyond Barcelona?
If the referee was as bad as Chelsea complained he was, then why didn't a single Chelsea player question the dismissal of Barcelona's Abidal? Or is it OK as long as the decisions are going for Chelsea?
Although originally applauded for their efforts in the first leg, Chelsea have, ultimately, paid for the negative approach which not only saw them stop Barcelona from scoring in their own back yard for the first time this season, but also saw them fail to secure an away goal, an avenue rarely sought on the night, which could have proved decisive. And, if to be ultra-critical, Chelsea need look no further than the theatrics of Drogba which, unquestionably, contributed to the four minutes that were added for injury time and, arguably, denied his side a penalty and a place in the Champions League Final on May 27.
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