Chelsea and Barca have 'old bills' for clearance

Barcelona is coming to Chelsea in one of the most anticipated clashes of the 1/8-finals in the Champions League. The instant form favors the Catalonians, but Chelsea is the most dangerous when underestimated. Both teams have a rich history of meetings with each other, all after 2000. Interestingly, out of a total of 12 matches, only two are in the group stage of the WS and the other 10 are in the eliminations.

For the last time, the rivals went out against each other in the 2011/12 semi-finals when Chelsea went on to Stamford Bridge 1:0 and Camp Nou 2:2. Since then, Barca`s Pedro Rodriguez and Cesc Fabregas are already in the `blue` of London.

The most memorable were the games in 2009. Then the two teams were again rivals of the semi-finals and the first game ended 0:0. On the rebound in England Chelsea led and was already in the final, but Andres Iniesta`s goal in the added time brought Barca`s final mentioned by sporttips success.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte must decide who to start at the top of the attack. More likely, this is Alvaro Morata, who has already been fully rebuilt, but Olivier Girush has chances after having already scored his first goal for the team. Marcos Alonso will return to the squad, but Tiemue Bakayoko will miss the game. David Luiz and Ross Barkley will be at least questionable, but even if they fall into the group, they will not be holders. The three defenders of Thibault Courtois will be Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Gary Cahill, and N'Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas and Daniel Drinkwater will have to stop Barca`s midfielders and help Eden Hazard in building the attacks.

Barcelona will not be able tto use Philippe Coutinho who has already played matches in the Liverpool tournament. Lionel Messi will try to score his first goal against Chelsea in its ninth match against Lond oners, and the magnificent Luis Suarez will be another big threat to the home side. Ousmane Dembele is healthy and is expected to be in the starting lineup of the Catalonians. Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic will be the rest in the midfield of Barca. Nelson Semedo is punished by defenders, but Valverde will be able to use the usual captains Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Samuel Imtiti and Jordi Alba.

* Chelsea recorded 3 losses in 4 games before winning its last two games with a goal difference of 7:0

* `Blues` has only 2 defeats of 16 matches against Spanish teams

* Barcelona receives only one lossin all official games in the season

* The Catalonians did not hit their three goals in the group in the Champions League

* Messi has not scored in its eight games against Chelsea and only once won the team from Stamford Bridge

Champions League, 1/8-finals:

CHELSEA - BARCELONA
Probable Players:

CHELSEA (3-5-1-1):Courtois, Azpilicueta, Christensen, G. Cahill,Moses, Drinkwater, Kante, Fabregas, M. Alonso, HazardMorata

Senior Coach: A. Conte

BARCELONA (4-4-2):Terr Stegen;S. Roberto Pique, Umutiti, Alba;Dembele, Rakitic, Buscakes, Iniesta;L. Suarez, Messi
Senior coach:F. Valverde