Chelsea Knocked Out Of Champions League By Barcelona

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07 March 2006

Chelsea Knocked Out Of Champions League By Barcelona

Chelsea have been knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona with a Ronaldinho strike booking the Spanish side's place in the last eight.

Chelsea had done well to stem the home side's threat and created chances which saw Didier Drogba head tamely and Joe Cole flick a chip agonisingly high.

Hernan Crespo sent a near-post shot wide for Chelsea before Ronaldinho fired in a late goal for the visitors.

Frank Lampard struck a late penalty for Chelsea but it was too little too late.

Chelsea had caused controversy on Saturday in arriving late for the second half against an angered West Brom and kept Barcelona waiting in the tunnel before the game at the Nou Camp.

But there were no signs of agitation from the Spanish champions as both teams began evenly in trying to wrestle the upper hand.

Barcelona protégé Lionel Messi's first touch brought a sliding tackle from Ricardo Carvalho before Chelsea threatened with a Cole cross which was just too high for Drogba.

The Catalan outfit took this as a sign to take a grip of the game and an audacious Ronaldinho flick put Messi through on goal with his shot being blocked by a lunging Carvalho.

The visitors' defence was admirably nullifying the flamboyance of their opponents and they could have levelled 2-2 on aggregate if Drogba had been more clinical with a far post header.

Barcelona suffered a setback with Messi going off with a hamstring injury after 24 minutes with Henrik Larsson coming on.

And, while the home side had more of the possession, Chelsea maintained a threat with an Arjen Robben run-and-shot being saved by keeper Victor Valdes.

A backtracking Valdes also breathed a sigh of relief when a flicked chip by Cole went onto the roof of his net.

The match failed to hit the heights of past encounters between the two teams while Jose Mourinho's unhappiness as some of the referees decisions caught the eye.

Chelsea tried to exert some attacking urgency into the game with the introduction of Crespo, who should have scored after Samuel Eto'o had forced a smart save from Petr Cech at the other end.

Crespo beat Carlos Puyol to Cole's near-post cross but shot agonisingly wide from close range.

Chelsea could not be criticised for their attacking efforts but lacked the cutting edge to break Barcelona's resistance.

Ronaldinho struck a 78th minute shot after riding a John Terry challenge and, even though Lampard scored a late penalty after John terry was felled, it proved nothing more than a consolation goal.