ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Chelsea- Clown referee

Posted by on 05/07/2009

This is an absolute JOKE! Chelsea fans across the world are still in shock after being screwed by Drogba's reputation, a clown of a referee and probably UEFA. FOUR penalty appeals! FOUR, but not one given! It wasn't that we didn't play well, it wasn't that we messed up our tactics, it wasn't that we had the wrong players on - we're not going to the Champions League Final because of one man, and his awful decisions.

Never before has such a magnificent, footballing side been so brutally cheated. Drogba was right - the ref was a disgrace! I fully support all the players actions - Ballack was right to try and wrestle a good decision out of him, Terry was right to confront the ref at the end and Droggers was right to tell the nation the truth!

How can a professional referee perform so badly? The man has reffed in the Champs League for the last seven years but he looked like he couldn't handle a Sunday League match - not least because his dumpy figure doesn't seem to get round the pitch anywhere near fast enough! It wasn't just Chelsea who were complaining about the Ref - the Barca bench were screaming at him as well.

So many dodgy decisions - obvious penalties missed, tackles going unpunished, even throw-ins badly called. The sending off that I'm happy to admit wasn't a sending off. And those appeals. The first may not have been considered 'denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity' but what about when the guy wrenched back Drogba? What about when Pique handled in the box? Pique had practically started walking off the field for goodness sakes?!

At the death he had a chance to put it all right - when the ball clearly struck a Barca arm in the box. Clear as day. And nothing. Nothing!

People are calling for Darren Fletcher's case to be reviewed to let him play in the final, but a more pressing matter for UEFA should be organising a replay of this joke of a game, with a proper referee this time, to see who actually deserves to go through to Rome!

He should have been arrested by his police protectors who had to get him to the airport - because his decisions were criminal!

It's an absolute disgrace that the ref gave such a shocking performance, and we can only assume that there are people at the top of the European game who don't want us to proceed, that don't want an all English final. And that's worse.

Comments

Posted by Rob on 05/07/2009

Now you guys know how Liverpool fans felt in 2006 when liverpool was playing Sao Paulo for the World Club Championship and a stupid Mexican referee called off side about 6 goals they scored. You have to wonder about their personal agenda.

Posted by diablo on 05/07/2009

I find it mildly amusing that every Chelsea fan is blaming not being in the final on the referee. As a Man Utd fan, I can admit, at least one if not two of those were stone cold penalties. However, Chelsea had every opportunity to score a second and Drogba SHOULD have. A 1-0 lead with the danger of an away goal is not a very safe lead at all.
And for goodness sake, stop grasping at straws by claiming a conspiracy. It is hard to imagine that UEFA conspired to have Chelsea miss every decent opportunity, as well as had the foresight to know that it would take 93 minutes for a winning goal. If they were that determined to have Barcelona in the final, would they have let it go that long?
Granted, the better team did not make it to the final, but please, don't pin this solely on the referee and a conspiracy.

Posted by OneUnited on 05/07/2009

LOL. All better now, Mr. Thornton? That was some dummy-spitting rant, son. How ironic your previous post was entitled "Barca Cry Babies" Put away just one of your open-play chances and Chelske would have had the honour of playing Manchester United again in the Final. As it turned out, Drogba bottled it in front of goal and your overrated "stars" went on to embarrass themselves, their club and the Premier League after the final whistle. As a Soccernet representative and correspondent, for you to throw your support behind the players actions means YOU have just been given a red card, sir. Not only will UEFA completely disagree with you when the time is right, but like the rest of us, will be relieved Manchester United don't have to face the sort of tactics and antics offered by Chelsea over the two semi-final legs. Should be a cracking final now.

Posted by DEJI on 05/07/2009

LAST NIGHT'S GAME AGAINST BARCA WAS A TOTAL CHEAT ON CHELSEA, I BLAME UEFA FOR ALL THE MESS, THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,IF THEY SO MUCH HATE THE ENGLANG TEAMS THEY CAN KEEP THEIR GAME TO THEMSELVES.

Posted by Richard on 05/07/2009

You're a joke.
Please don't come up with such lameduck ideas like having the match replayed. Did Barca ask for one when Chelsea did not turn up in the first leg?
Are you trying to say that matches going in favour of any team other than Chelsea should be replayed?
Please, spare us the agony of watching Chelski go through another 90 minutes.
As far as football goes, after 90 minutes, mistakes or not, the victor is the victor.
These things happen. Accept them.

Posted by Heron on 05/07/2009

As one would say...Karma's a B****

Posted by Quentin Brendan on 05/07/2009

So we'll put you down as "Undecided" then . . .

Posted by Matt on 05/07/2009

Booo hooo! Your team lost, show some dignity. The ref was right. Flopping should not decide a semi-final.

Posted by Jason on 05/07/2009

Disgusting! I would have believed it if it had happened in Barca. But not at the Bridge in front of our fans. Overbo deserves any threats he gets he's taken a years work and thrown it in the bin.

Posted by Brian on 05/07/2009

Come on! You support that kind of nonsense? Drogba and Ballack should see suspensions for their actions. You can not confront a ref like that regards of the situation.

As to the game, it was poorly called. But you are having a laugh if you think the final appeal was a penalty. It hits the arm with the guys back turned at his shoulder. No way that is a penalty. As you say, Drogba's reputation is influencing calls. Maybe if he did not go to ground with every challenge, things would be different.

Posted by TrueBluezLo0neyTizzle88 on 05/07/2009

i totally agree with this artical this hurts alot to see my team get scamed

Posted by cowbell on 05/07/2009

this is just the beainging of chelsea.

Posted by Bryce Balsley on 05/07/2009

And to think that on top of all that ManUtd is going to appeal the Fletcher send off and UEFA could even reverse it. If they do reverse it (and to be fair it was a poor decision) then UEFA should think again about the decisions by Ovrebo.
But no, they'll probably give ManUtd what they want and give Drogba a stiff penalty.
Makes me sick.

Posted by Franck Tago on 05/07/2009

while I understand the pain and chagrin experienced by the fans of Chelsea, it is quite obvious to me that Barcelona deserved to qualify more than Chelsea. Barcelona is a far better side and they actually understand what technical soccer consist of. Drogba looked so foolish screaming and vamping against the referee. Maybe if the chelsea players knew anything about ball control , dribbles , step overs or field vision , they would have gone to the next round which is the final. So to conclude , I will only say this , blame yourself Chelsea , blame yourself for that lackluster style that you play.

Posted by Larkin Fowler on 05/07/2009

I must admit it comes as no surprise that a Chelsea fan is defending the absolutely abysmal behavior of Ballack, Terry and Drogba at the end of last night's game. While I completely agree that several penalities were clearly denied Chelski during the game (and do not forget the clear Henry penalty at the Nou Camp which would most likely have seen Barca deservedly win the 1st leg 1-0), the behavior and language were completely inappropriate. My guess is that if Barca had come in 1-0 winners the 2nd leg might have played out quite differently, but who knows. A replay you say? Fine let Chelsea start 1-0 down as they should have been and let the lads go out it.

Posted by arsenalilove on 05/07/2009

The referee was bad but the better team won. For once, the beautiful game won over the ugly. In 2 games they played with 2 defensive walls the whole time. The got a lucky break when Abidal was sent off yet they continued to play defensive. Pathetic.

Posted by gbenga on 05/07/2009

i hope all chelsea fans still recall carling cup 2007 final against the arsene babies and now realise what it means for a referee to undo all what you have done.

Posted by BemusedChelseaFan on 05/07/2009

I am not going to comment on the ref, only on your hypocritical behavior. The ref made it hard for us, no doubt, but all of those penalties have not been given in the past. However, the behavior of our players, especially Ballack and Drogba, is inexcusable. Drogba could have sealed our finals spot. Instead, he flopped around like a fish, fluffing every chance he was presented with. Barca played their game, despite being one man down due to Anelka's dramatics. I think Drogba was a disgrace. Not only does he miss blatant goal-scoring opportunities, but then he decides to berate someone else for his failings. His foul language compacts his terrible performance. Furthermore, his actions brand our team as bigger crybabies than Barca by acting childish and immature. You wrote a blog about how Barca were cry babies, criticizing them for their post-match behavior. Now look at the team and yourself: have some dignity like John Terry, congratulate Barca and move on.

Posted by Scootz on 05/07/2009

The fact that you are advocating your players to act like baboons is what is a disgrace. They are professionals, and after the worst decision of the night went against Barca, Abidal being sent off for Anelka tripping over his own feet, I'm sure you were laughing your way through the rest of the match. Had Drogba not missed a breakaway and several other chances been finished by Chelsea, this game wouldn't even have been close.

For you, the disgrace of this game is that after Chelsea clearly blew their own opportunity to advance to Rome, they find no excuse other than to blame the ref. The most classy Chelsea star, Terry, will tell you this, while the biggest winer baby Drogba, will spite the ref because he is a selfish brat that can't take things not going his way. He is lucky to have even participated because of all the yellows he should get for diving. All I can say is you need to grow up. Barca is better, they proved it, and they advance. End of story.

Posted by joel on 05/07/2009

you're a joke, blaming the ref is the easy way out for any team. for god's sake, Chelsea was a man up and a point up and could probably had scored if anelka and drogba would put away their chances instead of diving in the wish of getting a penalty. i'm happy i won't have to see chelsea parking their bus in front of a goal again in the final

Posted by Faisal on 05/07/2009

Dear Andy

Clearly you're an upset chelsea supporter in obvious frustration. The fact of the matter is that Barcelona qualified and rightly so. Its the manner of the defeat, conceding a goal right at the death of the match is the the reason for your frustration.If you really think carefuly without your hurtful emotions, barcelona had a few bad decisions as well. Inesta had a penalty claim turn down as well in nou camp. In SB, malouda was triped right at the line of the box, drogba? no matter how many times he had penalty claims, the ref should avoid it, because he keeps on falling down every single game, against liverpool, juve, arsneal( Fa Cup) so what do you expect? the only real one was anelka's shot off pique's hand. the referee was not fair on barcelona too, sending of a defender for no reason while they were chasing the game without three first choice central defenders. Credit to Barcelona for believing at all times,and tough luck to Chelsea, simply did not do enough

Posted by Buck on 05/07/2009

Um, I know this isn't going to be popular, but a ball hitting an arm is not "handling the ball" and not necessarily a foul.

It is a foul if someone plays the ball with an arm or hand, but just because a ball touches an arm doesn't make it a foul.

FIFA has been pounding that into the heads of referees for years now, but fans don't seem to understand.

Chelsea can feel hard done by because there were 4 calls that "could" have been penalties, but none of them was a clearcut penalty call. The calls for handling the ball could have gone either way. The Drogba foul was probably the best chance, but when a player has a history of diving, they don't always get that call.

Posted by Amazement on 05/07/2009

I wonder what happen to the RESPECT campaign, and the Ballack, Drogba scene reminds me of what Ashley Cole did last time...

Posted by kayode on 05/07/2009

sorry chelsea fans, the world wants to see beautiful football if it means wrestling out ugly football like chelsea played over two legs. sorry sorry sorry, chelsea fans!

Posted by Emre on 05/07/2009

Emre
For such big games referees with experience are the kind that is required. Tom Ovrebo made a total mess of his career, the game and UEFA to the world with his bad officiating. UEFA should look into this with all seriousness. The red card on Abidal was not call for that is one, then the handballs where all as clear as the sunlight but yet he obviously did not know what he was doing.

On the other hand i will agree with Guus Hiddink although no proof, UEFA am sure do not want an all english final match as same as last season. This i will regards as injustice to the beautiful game soon people will begin to loose interest with the game if such officiating continues. You can see because of a referees misjudgement chelsea lost out of the campaign.

If UEFA does not look into this then it will assume they have a hand in it. To all chelsea fan the did is done there is nothing we can do, other to sit back and see what UEFA will tell the world. If nothing comes out life must go on.

Posted by Kelvin on 05/07/2009

Now you know how Barcelona felt during the first leg when they keep getting roughed up by Chelsea yet the ref does nothing.

Posted by frank_doberman on 05/07/2009

Barca was the better footballing team, no question. Also both teams had 90 minutes to win, Chelsea had their chances but didn't take them.

As far as I'm concerned Ballak should have been sent off for his go at the ref. That was as near to assault as you get!

Stop bleating.

Posted by Dan on 05/07/2009

Agreed. Horrible. Stop saying to get over it and show dignity. If it happened to Barca, people would be freaking out as well.

Posted by Karim on 05/07/2009

Its funny that chelsea are the ones complainnig about the referee this game and Barcelona were the ones last game. In Barcelona Ballack should have been sent off for two bookable offenses and Henry should have won a PK. Now in this game Chelsea should have had Two penalties and Abidal shouldnt have been sent off. The refs were poor in both games and all the decisions that went wrong even them out. Chelsea have no one to blame but themselves, if Drogba could finish breakaways he would have had one goal in each game. Chelsea should have finished Barcelona off but they didnt becuase they got complacent so it is there own fault they are not going to Rome. And it is their own fault that with 10 men, they let Barcelona score the goal they needed. I mean seriously, Messi had all the time in the world to pass the ball to Iniesta and he couldve taken 10 touches before he shot the ball, the marking was so bad.

Posted by AA on 05/07/2009

What a joke of a blog. Although I understand that being a Chelsea fan you have to always be behind your team, this does not justify what you wrote. A poor Chelsea side, yes POOR in every aspect of the game (except maybe physically) did not deserve to go to the final. Overrated old players with little or no talent, cowardly tactics and kicking the ball as far as possible away from your goal does not warrant you a place in the final. Chelsea (and apparently their fans) are disillusioned. They blame the referee rather than their poor performance. Barcelona playing for much of the second half a man down and a goal down managed to eliminate them. Other half decent teams wouldve played the clock down, passing the ball around attempting at least to score the second goal and put it beyond Barcas reach. But their non existent technical ability stood in the way. I must admit though that the referee made some mistakes I feel only for Abidal and Alves. Baecelona will miss them in the final.

Posted by david on 05/07/2009

drogba went down for every challenge.. he makes me sick
chelsea deserved to lose and a final between barca and man u is way better than man u and blue babies

Posted by BarcaBarcaBarca on 05/07/2009

It's always easy to see it your way, isn't it?

Chelsea were probably the better side in this second leg but things probably balanced themselves out; in the first game the referee was terrible (mostly towards Barca), and in this game he was terrible (mostly towards Chelsea).

But the four penalty "appeals" are a joke as only the hand-ball on Pique could really be argued: the others were not even close penalties.

If Chelsea wanted this game they were up a man with a 1 goal advantage playing at home with 15 minutes left; did they go for the jugular? Or did they put 10 men behind the ball and take 30 seconds to take throw-ins and free kicks?

The way Chelsea played football was blasphemy and for that they were rightly punished by the football Gods!

Posted by etokkemmer on 05/07/2009

we were robbed by the ref. i strongly beleive that uefa dons't want two english side to be in the finals at rome. so we have to take things as it comes.

Posted by DieHardBarca on 05/07/2009

As one poster said....karma is a b**ch. LOL

We can debate over each and every of those calls but i don't really care. As a Barca fan i still remember our heartbreak back in 2005 when Carvalho held our goalkeeper back while John Terry headed in the goal that sent u through. A clear robbery, Barca fans, myself included were dessimated.

This time around with another decider at the bridge, it is u who must feel the pain. I would have preferred to have beaten u forthright but this way is perhaps even better. Go feel the pain we felt. Even more ironic was your last article.....lol. Who's the cry baby now??

Posted by addyreal on 05/07/2009

All chelsea haters!

Why can't u all agree that chelsea was robbed?

This is bad for football. Most especially for a big league game like uefa champions semi final and second leg at that!

I don't blame those who see it as a conspiracy.

Posted by BarceWillBeDestroyed on 05/07/2009

There is no way people can say Barca is "better". In the first leg, yes, but they did not create a single real chance or shot on goal until the 93rd minute yesterday. They looked completely lost out there against Chelsea's defensive solidity. Possession is meaningless if it does not lead to chances and clearly Hiddink instructed his men to let them hold the ball when not in danger areas (notice no sprinting at the man with the ball anywhere outside the 18-yard box).

Yes, Chelsea had chances to finish off the game, but even if only one of those penalties had been given then no one would have argued with the result. When is the last time you have seen a ref have such an impact on a game?

Sir Alex has his blueprint for how to beat a Barca team that only knows how to play one way (and a way that was completely shut down last night).

Posted by Adebayor2 on 05/07/2009

I am glad to see some responders disagree with your ridiculous opinion on Chelsea's massively unprofessional behavior. Ballack should be banned for several matches and Drogba should have been sent off as well. After Drogba attempted to buy a penalty through play-acting injury time and again, the ref could be forgiven for not wanting to give Chelsea more advantage than just one un-warranted sending off.

That said, it was a poor performance from the ref. Pique's handball and Toure dragging back Anelka were both great shouts, and the sending off was just wrong, but Chelsea had chances to put the game away, and failed to do so. Their behavior after the game was an absolute disgrace, but at this point it's to be expected from Ballack, Terry, Drogba and Lampard.

Posted by Playmaker 10 on 05/07/2009

I think everyone needs to take a few steps back and look at this match more rationally.
1] Chelsea should have sealed the deal in open play. They did not. Period.
2] Chelsea were playing against a 10 Man Barca team for about 30 mins...and still only had about 30% of ball possesion and did not press further up field.
3] All 4 penalty claims are just that...claims. The ball striking Eto'o? If that was given, that would have been very harsh indeed considering, that his back was turned and it was ball to hand and not hand to ball. Drogba doing down in the penalty area under Yaya Toure's challenge? Replays show that Yaya got the ball first! He did get Drogba yes. But he got the ball first. Not a foul. Lampard's shot striking Pique's hand? Okay, Barca were fortunate to get away with that one. It was not hand to ball. It was ball to hand, but I do think under most circumstances that would have probably been called.
4] Abidal's red card. I dont think replays support that anelka was fouled.

Posted by etokkemmer on 05/07/2009

uefa should be disappointed by having such a ref,i don't know what they will want to show to the rest of the world.i am totally disappointed.
etok

Posted by Kubala SB on 05/07/2009

Maybe if Chelsea would have played in both matches, they would have gone through. If Chelsea would have advanced, football would have been the loser, as negative tactics would have been rewarded.

I have no problem with Chelsea going home after they got away with shoving Valdes down in 2005 to score the winner. As far as Ballack's shot being handles goes, Ballack shouldn't have been playing yesterday - he should have received a second yellow in the first leg when he took down Iniesta who was going to be in on goal.

Posted by Jose on 05/07/2009

Andy, I understand your frustration. I saw the match and although I desperately wanted Barca in the final I could not help but feel that Chelsea was, at the very least, slightly cheated. There were surely 4-6 situations in which a penalty could have been whistled in Chelsea's favour, and 1 of them in my opinion was crystal-clear: Piqué's handball.

In all fairness however, the ref was erratic in ALL of his decisions (e.g. Abidal's red card), had some very tough calls, and was facing a team (Chelsea) with players that tried everything to get a penalty. We all know Drogbá and Anelka aren't the cleanest of players, which they proved yesterday, and perhaps that played a crucial role in the ref's pivotal decisions.

Nevertheless, Drogbá had plenty of chances to send his team to the final, but he didn't. Contrastingly, Barca managed to score a last-minute equaliser after surviving with only 10 men on the field for 30 minutes. Some credit has got to be given for that. IMO, Barca deserved it.

Posted by lol on 05/07/2009

lol would u be just as angry if it was barca who had 4 penalty claims denied? would u call for a rematch then? or would u jus say jus like every body who isnt a chelsea fan, a refree makes mistakes. and seriously only piques hand ball shouldve been a penalty, but wat refrre is gonna call a penalty in the 95th minute of the game? especially wen its jus that the ball hit the hand, it wasnt like anelka shot and it was goin for goal and pique puut his hand in the way, piques hand was already out nd anelka tried to pass to himself thru pique nd it hit his hand. if it wouldve happened in the middle of the game that wouldve been a penalty, but not in the 95th minute.

Posted by etokkemmer on 05/07/2009

I never seen such a Clown referee before,he dons't worth to handle a match of that magnitude.
etok

Posted by Sam on 05/07/2009

I am sick of hearing that Bara play beautiful football. I am yet to see it against teams that can actually defend. All these people saying, oh they deserve to go through because they play beautiful football should be shot! There was no penetration. All I saw was Barca playing around the edge of the box and then fluffing passes into the box or shooting erratically. It is like some of you expect teams playing Barca to leave their defense at home so these flair players can score freely. Crazy. Chelsea were MUCH better in London, no question. Much better chances, better organised and more skilful with their passing to open up Barcas absolutely horrible defense.
The ref was disgraceful also and I feel for the players who in all likelyhood has had their dream taken off them because of one mans incompetance.
In all honesty I believe Man U will tear Barca to pieces, Barca cant defend so Ferguson is simply going to get his charges to sit back and counter with Ronaldo. Final Score 3 - 1 ManU

Posted by aruiz1004 on 05/07/2009

That ref was a joke. All those calls that were missed would have made the end result go in our favor. The ref should be suspended. I don't blame anyone for their reaction. I hope everyone who is putting their opinions on here all actually play or have played the game. If you have then you would totally understand their reaction. Go Blues and screw Man U......

Posted by Maan on 05/07/2009

In my view, there were a lot mistake been made by the ref, and that is why Barca is moving on. for reality, chelsea was the better side because they show Barca Can not score 6 goal @ chelsea like what did to Poor Madrid. In my opinion, UEFA need to change Away-goal rule, it is not fair to a team played so hard to be eliminated like this. I am Manchester Fan From Minneapolis. not trying to offend anyboby

Posted by Sympathy on 05/07/2009

I do feel sorry... not so much for Chelsea, but the fact that an incompetent referee had to officiate a CL semi-finals. Absolutely ruined the game for any football fan out there.
Abidal's red card? Yes. An absolute joke. Pique's handball. definitely.
It also brings up the possibility of fans of the losing team to whinge and find excuses on why they lost and audaciously ask for a replay.

But the fact is Barca persevered and pressed on to the end. Chelsea just did not have the mental capacity to focus and close out the game.
Shame on you Andy for condoning and even supporting such behaviour from Ballack and Drogba. While they have the defence of adrenaline and emotions to their actions, you had the entire time to reflect on your words while you wrote this article. Take a leaf out of Terry's book and be gracious in defeat.

Posted by TheBlues on 05/07/2009

This is directed at all the pathetic commentators who are arguing that Chelsea "got what they deserved" when they were screwed out of the Final. First off, just because Chelsea wasn't able to get the crucial second goal, that is completely irrelevant. The referee didn't mess up one time at the end, he missed a bunch of obvious spot-kicks. Abidal grabbed Drogba, even if it wasn't a "scoring chance", which it was. Pique slapped the ball, and Eto'o threw his hands up in the box like he was doing the wave. Bottom line is, Chelsea were the better team who would have advanced if they got even one penalty call. Instead, it became increasingly tougher to get the second goal because of the injustices in the box. Barca said, hey if they're not gonna call it, let's do it, which was ingenious. Chelsea wasn't able to score simply because the refs didn't let them.

Posted by HELLWITHCHESLSEA on 05/07/2009

BLAH BLAH BLAH..u all only complain when u lose. That's what pussies are known to do. COMPLAINT!!! but you lose guys...with no dignity at all. OH come on. admit that you all are more inferior and get over it. 11 vs 10 and letting one in at the end. oh how big a conspiracy that is..basically pussies, go back train more and come back again next year. Pussies really.....

Posted by lee on 05/07/2009

Barca will win CL but not through Messi or Henry goal, referee can do it for them. I suggest that Barca should sell all player in next season, buy referees is good enough to win all game.

Posted by gannon on 05/07/2009

that ref needs to be fired the hand ball at the stopage time was completely gay if it wasnt for him chelsea might have had a chance to win.

Posted by New Product on 05/07/2009

You Chelsea supporters should purchase my new product...Chelsea Replica Panties! They are the same style as those worn by Drogba! They are perfect for diving and come with a pocket for your handkerchief (to wipe your tears).

Posted by Nikki19000 on 05/07/2009

O, puh-leez! Chelsea robbed?

You scored at 9 minutes on quite a shot by Essien. Then you proceeded to play long ball defense and entertain the crowd with repeated dives by your over-rated hot-head Drogba.

A second goal would have prolly been forthcoming had the chances Drogba spurned for drama and Anelka spurned for drama had actual players interested in scoring something besides penalities.

Would Henry or CR7 have flopped so many times on clear open paths toward a strike?

Face it, you had 90+ minutes of football of which you lead all but about 11 minutes of. If ya can't manage a kill-off in 84 minutes now why would that be the referee's fault?

Face it, Chelsea played a risky game and lost the bet at 93 minutes. It's what happens.

Posted by p on 05/07/2009

did you seriously just call for a replay of this game? my god. and you wonder why people hate chelsea so much. its not the money - a lot of teams are super rich. Its the attitude of fans like you. Accept that you got screwed and concentrate on building a team next year that can beat a team that doesnt have any center backs.

Posted by Dave on 05/07/2009

This was a Champions League Semifinal and as such one could expect the referee to let the players earn their spot in the final.
The referee allowed Chelsea to bully Barca with foul after foul on Messi and Iniesta without protest from Barca. Everytime a one-two pass was played the man making the cut was body checked out of his run by Chelsea with no call. Even Tommy Smyth commented on this.
None of the handballs in the area were deliberate and the referee is well within his rights not to award a penalty at his discretion.
Drogba's reputation as a diver saw off the other claims, let him learn to play like a professional and not like an actor and the next time he gets a legitimate penalty it will be called.

Chelsea have no one to blame but themselves for having lost the match. You can't cheat being 1-0 up against ten men. No one told Hiddick not to kill off the game with passing when they actually had possesion.
Come on Chelsea fans...better than that!

Posted by Black Bush on 05/07/2009

Any fan that defends the outrageous behavior of Terry, Ballack, and Drogba is a disgrace to the game. Chelsea is not the first team to have penalties denied and would not be the last. Referees are humans and they make mistakes; that is part of the game. You have to overcome those decisions during the course of the game sometimes in order to win things.

Threatening and intimidate the referees is the last thing the game needs. Besides, Chelsea ridiculed Barca’s claims that Wolfgang, who referred the first game, did not make the right decisions. Now the shoe is on the other foot, wear it.

Posted by Baran Cansever on 05/07/2009

Is this a joke?
Last week this fanatic absurdly hails Chelsea’s performance as “defensive master class”, I have never seen a more embarrassing display from a team of such perceived quality.
Drogba lacks professionalism, Ballack has always composed himself in utmost reprehensible manner, and Terry went about pouting like an amateur. The first two should of undoubtedly seen straight reds for their abysmal conduct.
There was no reason for Chelsea to win that game and their goal, though splendid, was completely unrepresentative of the two-legged match. Barca outclassed Chelsea with creativity, flair, and phenomenal passing. Stop complaining, for the final outcome was entirely deserved.

Posted by steven on 05/07/2009

Doesn't matter who showed up at Rome Man U will systematically shred them anyway.

Posted by Chris Allen on 05/07/2009

I agree that the game was a bit rediculous. However, I feel you are exagerating with your claims. Atleast two of the penalty claims were clearly were fair takles. Just because we make penalty claims does not mean we deserve penalties. I feel as Chelsea, we need to admit defeat and work towards the final next year.

Posted by Heron on 05/07/2009

Karma's a B**** after all.

You guys still have the FA cup final to play for dude. If you get all your guys out of competition because of bans your hopes of CL glory can be postponed indefinitely.

PS. I still hope Everton wins, being a Everton fan myself.

Posted by Scouser on 05/07/2009

So its the ref's fault that Drogba and company can't finish. Yes the ref was bad on both sides, but that doesn't merit a conspiracy. And wasn't Barca down a man? I feel bad for the chelsea fans who have to watch boring game after boring game. You do cheer for a team that plays really physical and has 9 men in the box at all times. So its your fault as well. Look how bad the ref was in the first leg. Xavi and Iniesta complained after the game and had every right. Cause as usual Chelsea just ran through people on the pitch. Nothing was done about it either. Two starting defenders for barca didn't play and thats the only reason Chelsea had shots on goal. Cause if Henry, Marquez, and Puyol play its 27 shots to 3 again. If the first leg was called right at Camp Nou it would have been 4-0 on aggregate going into the second leg. Chelsea fans should be use to losing. Cause you can't buy chamionships with old players. I look forward to watching Chelsea lose in every competition again next year

Posted by mtluk1131 on 05/07/2009

Chelsea was without question the better side. sure some people dont like the way the play but the style wins game. screw pretty soccer and get a result. the ref was horrible theres no disputing that, and Chelsea should have had ATLEAST one penalty. Regardless of this the behavior after the game is unexceptable, and it really makes the club look bad. Chelsea had plenty of opportunites to finish the game and they couldnt do it. Im a die hard Chelsea fan and yea, they didnt get the calls, but its seriously a shame to see Chelsea reactions to the loss. Barcelona is hands down the worst flopping team, messi specifically even trying to dive by the box in the final minuites, and to say Chelsea are bigger whiners than Barca is ridiculous. this whole thing would be ten times worse had barca been on the wrong end

Posted by Ruben Cuellar on 05/07/2009

I might not know the whole lot about soccer but what I do know is that Barça is a better team. By far a much better tear than Chelsea was this Champions League. How can you play not one, but two games with your whole team! your whole team in the box. It was not only ridiculous but embarrassing to watch a good club do this away and home. Eric Abidal did not deserve a yellow card, not to mention a RED. Please do not blame this on the ref, yes you were denied two clear penalties which, if Abidal would of not been sent off might of never happened. I am a Real Madrid fan and because of Chelsea's approach to game 1 I decided to root for Barça because it was such a nice game, Two giants of football facing each other. It was not fair that Chelsea played like homoes. I can say one thing Chelsea had clear opportunities of putting this one away. Drogba sucks you know it, I know it thats why he will be traded this season. A player like Drogba leaves a bad name for Chelsea. He is a foolish player.

Posted by ferenc on 05/07/2009

andy thornton,who the hell are you? you're completely ridiculous,a crying baby... "chelsea fans across the world"? this is a joke compared to manunited or barca. you should have played football not killing the game. what you did in barcelona? ballack should have been sent off,the fault on henry was a penalty etc. ridiculous stupid guy with your rematch idea.

Posted by Louis on 05/07/2009

Well now you guys know how man utd felt when Jose Mourinho's Fc porto knocked us out of the champions league paul scholes scored a legitimate second goal only for the officials to refuse and jose mourinho's porto scored a late equaliser, so that is how it feels!

Posted by Eidel on 05/07/2009

Chelsea played like turtles away,they played like turtles at home and they played like turtles a man up. Stayed in their shells for 183 minutes and only sticking their heads out to try to bully there way into a penalty or set play. Boo hoo it didn't work out this time. You EPL "elite " are so brainwashed. At least basketball has a rule you can't camp in the box. Fifa should make a new rule: PK for 10 men in there own penalty area. There you would have some real progress for the game.

Posted by Rob on 05/07/2009

Yes, the referee was horrible. But how many times did Chelsea have a chance to put in a second goal? How many times did they choke? The ref made some horrible calls but Chelsea shouldn't blame the ref when they should have had the game sealed up with a second and probably even third goal. If Chelsea fans want to blame someone, blame the team for missing out on their opportunities...

On the topic of the ref, though. I don't know why he's still reffing... especially games of this level.

Posted by Daniel on 05/07/2009

The ref was terrible during the game, but that doesn't give any player an excuse to act like a 5 year old throwing a temper tantrum.

Posted by Daniel on 05/07/2009

The ref was terrible during the game, but that doesn't give any player an excuse to act like a 5 year old throwing a temper tantrum.

Posted by BJ on 05/07/2009

All this conspiracy talk is absolute nonsense. If there was a conspiracy against Chelsea, Abidal would not have been red carded. If there was a conspiracy, they would have told the ref not to give Barcelona any red cards whatsoever.

Chelsea should have killed the tie when they were a man up for 30 minutes. They were the better team and should have won, but these things happen. Move on. Call for replay, some form of change in officiating, but dont threaten a man's life for his mistakes. Everyone has a bad day at work, and you know what happens, they get fired, which im sure will happen to this guy. Its not like he ruined peoples lives like Madoff.

Posted by al on 05/07/2009

wow...Chelsea are some of the worst sore losers i have ever seen. Countless times theyve taken advantage of highly questionable refereeing decisions in conjunction with the obvious big 4 media bias. they lose one game because they didnt get preferrential treatment and they act like children throwing their toys everywhere. it disgusts me that anyone supports that team and justice was served the other night as pure beautiful football prevailed over the ugly kick and run diving crap chelsea call football.

rant over.

Posted by Vijay on 05/07/2009

okayy...accept it guys...chelsea played d worst football of their lives!!! if only chelsea wud match with the class of barcelona...they wud have easily gone through...about the penalty claims...abidals tackle on drogba...i think drogba fell too easyy....pique handball....barca wer luckyy...the rest..werent even penalties...so stop tryin 2 blame d referee for the loss...70-30 possession of the ball..its a bludy JOKE!!!this is not what the world wants 2 see from a CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL!!!...so chelsea fans...STOP CRYING!!!!...and if u remember...henry was fouled on the penalty in the first leg...wat about that??? and if drogba wud not waste time diving in the match...there wudnt be 4 mins extra time also...and i think drogba and ballack shud be heavily fined...if dey wer in manchester united...sir alex..woudnt even play them from now....now its gonna be an exciting final...cause im pretty sure...man utd wont play the way chelsea played

Posted by PC on 05/07/2009

I am surprised most people here are focusing on clubs rather than the game - SOCCER. Whether the officiating balanced out or not, whether Chelsea ought to have sealed the game or not; the officiating of yesterday's game does not encourage fairplay. Officiating should be without sentiments and "balancing" as some people are putting it to be here. The rules ARE THE ONLY GUIED TO REFEREE's DECISIONS;

1) The Red Card against Abidal wasn't suppose to be; and to me that was what the referee wanted to make up for - too bad.
2) The foul against Malouda in the 1st half was right inside the 18yd box, yet a PENALTY was not given; rather a free kick was.
3)In FIFA rule, if a player's hand is raised when it comes in contact with the ball, it is Handball. In the case of Ballack and Eto, Eto's hand was not by his side, but raised.
As for Chelsea players' reaction after the game, they very mad @ the daylight robbery and injustice metted against them.

Posted by Your friend...Tom Henning Øvrebø on 05/07/2009

Guys
It´s not elegant at all...let´s be gents!
I would eat some pasta and pizza with some prosecco at piazza Navona while you guys try to understand that soccer was fair yesterday...
What a final, at least good soccer...
It is not elegant to cry the day afther, as someone said...train and for once in you life star to play real soccer... will see you next year!
By the way Essien would not score that goal in a million times!
As a Barça fan I´m so sorry for you guys... but Ballack (the loser) and Drogba act as kids with no ice cream...
You forget last week? Or you guys just scream when you do not get what you "think" you deserve?
Now Rome...What a final!!!
We will see, by the way who will be the referee??? ;-)
"...UEFA should be organising a replay of this joke of a game..." Hey...tell me what kind of cigarettes you smoke...;-)
Are you serious???

Força Barça!!!

Posted by oakley_konatchi on 05/07/2009

Beautiful football for both legs..I mean come on... think again, in both matches all football viewers manage to feel the thrill and suspense... Bad judgments is part of the beautiful game.... Football is a bitch boring game if the referring becomes too accurate (e.g. PES)....

Posted by Madi on 05/07/2009

Looks like Drogba was trying to shift the blame. I could understand his feeling of guilt but what I find hard to understand is the rest of the team joining in. It's a f**** disgrace.

Posted by sadat ali khan on 05/07/2009

have you lost your mind... has your sanity gone to the dustbin... the only disgraces on the field yesterday were drogba, anelka , ballack and company... pathetic players and pathetic team...

Posted by OvreboIsAFaggot on 05/07/2009

STFU all the dumb man utd fans and non-chelsea fans in here. That was clearly a chear against chelsea. 4 penalty appeals....Barca didn't even have a shot on goal until the 90th minute. Ovrebo should NEVER be allowed to ref another champs league game, and I hope he NEVER refs a game in the WORLD CUP.

Posted by Doug on 05/07/2009

Game over!!! Better team won. Game was poorly officiated, stop the crying already, Terry, Ballack, Cole, Drogba, and all of Chelsea. If only Anelka and Drogba would stop flopping and try to play through the play, maybe the second goal would have come and game over for Chelsea. Over the past 4 or 5 years all Chelsea's players do is whine and cry whenever anythng doesn't go their way!!!!! get over it. I'll also say messi dives alot also. Great players or say good players stay on their feet, not on their back. Stop crying!!!!! and maybe you'll get some calls.

Posted by rohan on 05/07/2009

Well, being a Braca fan the world is balanced after all. In 05 I did not here Chelski asking for replays when Carvalho held back Valdes for John Terry to score. In 02 I didnt hear Mr Hiddink critizing the ref when Korea beat Spain and Italy. In the Nou camp I didnt see Ballack critizing the ref for not giving him his marching orders. What i did hear was Hiddink saying it was a mans game a few days ago, so why was Drogba on the ground everytime he was touched. What i did hear from this author was that Barca are CRY Babies, "that they should stop complaining when things dont go there way." And finally if i was a Chelski supporter, i would be pissed off to see my team up a goal and a man and couldnt close the deal.I would also be pissed if my team spends so much money over the years and the best they could have done over two legs is look like a team in Italy fighting off relegation by hacking the ball away every chance they get. O, what about Henry's penalty in Camp Nou. Suck it up chaps

Posted by Liverpool Fan on 05/07/2009

Look Chelsea got what was coming to them. they had so many chances. Drogba's is whining about the call the ref made, yet if it was him getting hit with that ball, he would say it wasn't a hand ball. The sportmanship of Chelsea is clearly horrible. At the end Chelsea displayed their true colors. Chelsea never deserved to go through against Liverpool, so Barcelona just finished the job. So quit whinning Chelsea supporters!!!!! Barcelona cleary wanted the it more than Chelsea, they deserved to move on to Roma, they've had a great year as well. So again Chelsea supporters if you feel like you have been robbed well it's just what you get for robbing Liverpool. I wish the best luck to Manchester Untied and Barca

Posted by Addy on 05/07/2009

We are all missing the main point. Ever wondered why is it that only Chelsea reacts like a burnt soul everytime a bad decision goes against them???? Let me try to throw some light on that. Chelsea football club is a great team because they bought all the players from the supermarket. They have that money remember? 7 players from the Barca squad come from their youth academy. How many Chelsea players do you know from their academy in the last 5 years?? 3 years back when they had drogba sent off they got the best ref in Anders Frisk n they got him to retire. Where were the Chealsea fans when Victor Valdes was held back in the fourth goal in their 4 -2 victory at stamford in d 2nd leg ???? Chelsea think they are the upper class with the riches but face it mates.... u never gonna win the champions league. You deserved it and you got it. Your backside is burnt because Iniesta scored a great goal thats all folks !!!

Posted by slowie on 05/07/2009

oh come on chelsea fans, are you kidding? always talking about fair play and Drogba and Anelka falling to the floor with no contact ... always criticizing non English teams for that and forgeting all the kicks chelsea players threw down yesterday? referees permitting this... only pique's hands were penalty for me,all other plays were the physical kind of play english people claim, so don't say this is unfair. maybe you don't deserve it in the last minute, but don't complain, the red card was not even a foul, 25 minutes left to score the 2nd goal anb being unable, replacing Drogba for Belleti, just for fear ...
I thought luis garcia liverpool goal that was bad, not this,and please with no money from Abramovich, where would you be? remember 6 players from Barça come from Barça junior team, that's sport, not money!!!

Posted by EdmundoWyler on 05/07/2009

The away goals rule must stay and Chelsea's away approach - pure catenaccio - is the reason why. Both matches need to be worth watching. The refs were terrible in both games and Chelsea were clearly good enough to have won last night. They lost because they tried to kill one of the matches, rather than win it. Why does nobody question Hiddinks tactics? They ultimate left Chelsea vulnerable to a single late strike.

Posted by alinco lopez on 05/07/2009

its not fair for the refree to do such a thing to a big team like chelsea in a big match like this....may be he doesnt want chelsea to win or he has some bias minded about the team.....infact the refree need to pay for his misfortune...

Posted by hargrove on 05/07/2009

All ManU fans need not reply to a story about a bad referee. "Sir" Alex has to have some compromising pictures of somebody. Getting advice from the UEFA secretary on how to go around the system and lodge an appeal because they coincedentally shared a car together after the game. Yes, Chelsea should have capitalized on the chances, but how often does a team score every chance they get. Does that still give the ref the right to not call the fouls. I'll be the first to say Drogba goes down way to easy for someone that is said to be so strong, but a foul is a foul. And he was fouled. The hand balls were too obvious to argue. Those weren't even a matter of opinion. They have to be called.

Posted by zurdoG on 05/07/2009

I am a man u fan. I empathize with you man. the referees for both second legs were horrendouos. I hardly catch the names of referees but these two i will not foget. Roberto Rossetti and Tom Henning Ovrebo; jokes i tell you utter disgraces to referees. Alves pulls Malouda down in the first half and "Ovjoke" is standing right there, clear as day....wow man i really feel it fo chelsea fans. It was a total disgrace

Posted by ssyl on 05/07/2009

Oh come on, I think that Barca is the right team to go into the finals.

Firstly in the 1st leg, the obvious penalty on henry was NOT given and there were other errors made by the referee against Barca.

Secondly in the 2nd leg, Barca were down to 10 men and Chelsea still chose to be so passive in their play. I mean, Barca totally dominated the possession with 10 men.. I am sure all would agree that abidal didn't deserve to be sent off at all when Anelka tripped...

Thirdly, out of the many Chelsea penalties flagged for, only 1 seems legitimate(the pique one). Ballack flagging a penalty for handball when the ball barely touched the arm of the back facing Eto?? Come on, talk about begging and whining for penalties..

Granted, the referee was terrible! Barca just edged Chelsea out by a hair, they were just slightly better. They were better because they pressed on to score the 93th min winner. That's just the difference.

Try again next yr Chelsea.. and try to have more class..

Posted by soccerfan on 05/07/2009

i cant believe the road chelsea are taking,blaming the ref,i'm a chelsea fan and i'm disappointed in drogba ballack and the rest,score your goals drogba then you wouldn't have to attack the ref,i'll be supporting barca in the finals,they hang on and found a way to win and i think they played as poorly as they can,blame yourself chelsea not the ref

Posted by UnitedFan.. on 05/07/2009

I also like some of the other posters am in fact a Man U supporter. I watched this match played start to finish. And I'm appalled at how horrible this ref performed. It was a disgrace to say the least. The scoreline could have easily been 4 or even 5 for Chelsea within the first half of play. It was a horrible game for the ref without a doubt. It's crazy how 1 man can change the game, without even playing for either side.

Posted by hunk on 05/07/2009

im no chelsea fan but watching that game was pretty agonizing even for me. I do feel for chelsea. really disgraceful refereeing. penalties not given and that red card was a joke although he does deserve one in an earlier challenge which should have been a penalty as well. but i still think that drogba should have done better with those chances as well. he sucked

Posted by essien 5 on 05/07/2009

if this was man utd, liverpool, arsenal (any team these haters support), we'd be hearing the exact same cries. i love the comments about how 'flopping' should not decide a game. that is not the contention. handballs are. last i checked, they were part of the rule book. you can fake a fall, but how do fake a handball...better yet, 2 of them? i'm not down with any conspiracy, cos you need the evidence for that. but biases aside and loyalties at bay, be at least honest enough to admit that the game was chelsea's for the taking (whether defensive minded or not - barca had 1 SHOT on goal) if the ref had any sense of justice whatsoever. hate chelsea, thats fine. but don't deny that they were robbed. use some common brains lads.

Posted by Neutral observer on 05/07/2009

An ironic posting given your previous one berating Barcelona for being upset at the official after the first leg. I agree that Chelsea should have had at least one penalty, but what sympathy I did feel for Blues quickly evaporated with the behavior of Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba, and I hope that Drogba won't be allowed to play in the Champions League next season for his antics. It's a shame to have such an important game decided by the referee, but I think it's a worse shame that Drogba and Ballack made first-class jerks of themselves and - by association - their club in such an important match.

Posted by Chelshit on 05/07/2009

Thank god chelsea is not goin into the final. They would be so afraid of losing, they probably will park their team bus right in front of the goal like what happened in the 1st leg semis. Call it tactics if you want, but i'm just so thankful i won't sleep through another football match....PHEW!

Posted by richard P on 05/07/2009

when this happens to Man u i don't wanna hear any complaints. Messi is gonna run circles around Evra while Xavi is show up all of Carricks weakness. The return of Henry the Man U killer will be in time for the finals, you weren't able to stop him when he had no help at Arsenal now he has a great team behind him along with THE best player in the world. Messi!!!

Posted by JRS on 05/07/2009

So everytime the ref makes a bad call you can lose all control and act like raving morons...way to live up to the Headhunter reputation Chelsea. Your actions were the disgrace not the refs calls.

Posted by richard P on 05/07/2009

I watched the game yesterday and the referee was horrible. I'm a fan of both Chelsea & Barcelona and i would rather see the game played with the brilliance and flair of 2 good teams so i'm bitterly disappointed for Chelsea but estatic for Barca. For all you Man U fans that are quick to jump on Chelsea and laugh i hope when this happens to u i hear no complaints from you. We will see the complete disctruction on Man u. With the space Messi will have on the right with evra this is going to be how much will they score. All Barca has to do is force Ronaldo to pass the ball we all know he can't create for his teamates only for himself.

Posted by FL on 05/07/2009

To be fair, Chelsea has every chance to win it but they didn't. So they should should part of the responsibility. All credit to Barca for not giving up.

The ref was a disgrace. How to respect a ref when such obvious decision was not given. UEFA should take some action or forever been accuse of conspire aginst Chelsea.

We need better tech to help the ref to make decision especially important ones & better ref.

Posted by Mafioso on 05/07/2009

Listen Andy, It's obvious that the Referee didn't do a good job and made bad calls equally but he made the right decision not to give those penalties because they were not intentional, If my hand is already in the air and you kick the ball to hit my hand do you deserve the penalty?..........Nofor fans of any team being put in that position of course i would want the penalty but if it is a ball-to-hand it should not be given and thats exactly what they were.

Posted by melvin on 05/07/2009

im not a chelsea fan or a barcelona fan.....im not a fan of any english or spanish teams....but i have been foloowing soccer for about 25 years now and am a huge fan of Juventus.this info is for you readers out there to know that im a neutral.

i saw the chelsea v barca game..both legs................all i can say is that THE BETTER TEAM LOSS!!!

anyone can see that..its so obvious..i urge everyone to look at the game from a neutral persepective.......

defense is also part of soccer as much as attack is chelsea did extremely well in both aspects....barcelona were lost.......chelsea were more deserving of a place in the final....

my team juventus got knocked out by chelsea......still i think it was chelseas semi final.......barca were relieaved to get away with a 1-1 tie and win the semi final...

previous reputations of players shudnt be looked at.....dont say drogba is a diver...just look at the game itself...........

this match disheartened me a lot..it was a disgrace

Posted by Fannypack on 05/07/2009

"Barca said, hey if they're not gonna call it, let's do it, which was ingenious. Chelsea wasn't able to score simply because the refs didn't let them."

Amazingly accurate, and a very astute observation. But I swear I have I seen this low-brow tactic played out before. Ah, that's right, wasn't it just a week ago? However, if I remember correctly, all the Chelsea fans were defending poor match officiating. Football can be such a strange game sometimes.

Just as well though; I don't think I could endure another 90 minutes of watching Chelsea lose to Man U and go home trophy-less yet again.

Posted by Melvin on 05/07/2009

i just wish the chelsea v barca match was like a hockey game in north america..or a wrestling ..........

so drogba and ballack can actually beat up yaya toure and Pique.......and maybe somehow get a shot at the refree.........just a thought.......

Posted by Melvin on 05/07/2009

i just wish the chelsea v barca match was like a hockey game in north america..or a wrestling ..........

so drogba and ballack can actually beat up yaya toure and Pique.......and maybe somehow get a shot at the refree.........just a thought.......

Posted by Melvin on 05/07/2009

i just wish the chelsea v barca match was like a hockey game in north america..or a wrestling ..........

so drogba and ballack can actually beat up yaya toure and Pique.......and maybe somehow get a shot at the refree.........just a thought.......

Posted by J on 05/07/2009

From an impartial fan...It doesn't matter how many 'fouls' you have, 4 or 30, it's whether any of them are actually foul calls. The foul calls are both jokes (one Drogba flop and one great clean tackle on Drogba), and neither of the handball claims are hand to ball. The Pique one his hand was clearly already there and he just couldn't react in time to get it out of the way, so it's ball to hand not hand to ball, and the second one eto is trying to get his hand down and is turning the other way. Tough way to go out, and all could easily have been INCORRECTLY called handballs by other refs, but all the right calls and it wasn't the ref that blew the game.

Posted by ONE REF on 05/07/2009

A few years back I refereed a finals game in our local street hockey league. Best of three. Game 3. A period and a half in... one team was up 3-0 and the other team was pissin and moanin. In the next 30 minutes, they scored six unanswered goals and i never heard another word from them... while the other team were screaming bloody murder for those same 30 minutes. Look, I'm not a professional. I'm a player in the league who volunteered to ref. But in all my experiences, losing really adds to the volume and heat of player arguments.

I root for Chelsea but didn't see the game. But I do hate seeing how they regularly surround the ref after a decision or game... I'm glad to see Drogba doing the right thing for the kids - even if he doesn't truly believe it inside.

Posted by Kevin on 05/07/2009

Chelsea have their chances to win the game but they did not take it. Barca deserves its winning.

Ball hit player's hand within 16m50 should not be penaltied - This reminds me back Euro 2000 match of France and Portugee semi-final. I was so upset for that penalty when ball hit defender Xavier's hand. If ball didn't hit his hand, ball did not get thru the net either.

What's penalty that Chelsea try to get? Nothing for these situations from yesterday game.

Posted by the redsss on 05/07/2009

agreed entirely with this article refs make mistakes i didnt realize lightning could strike 4-5 times people say flops cant decide a game i think hand balls should especially when blocking a run on net and a shot on net its a disgrace like drogba said and Ovrebo should never ref again in his career and a game of this caliber needs to have a rematch i do think the ref favored barca for whatever reason but UEFA needs to do something about this fire the official rematch w/e not a big deal to me but its just wrong to see that turn out chelsea beat my reds but hell no one should leave the champions league because of a match like that...

Posted by Barca forever on 05/07/2009

this is a disgrace pathetic little man barca can score a million goals without the help of a stupid refereee

Posted by OYONMI CHRISTOPHER on 05/07/2009

Lets face the fact Chelsea were robbed by d ref yesterday,for Christ sake how can a ref tht has being handlin champions league matches for the past seven years ignore the call for four penalties in a match like that,uefa have to punish him real hard.

Posted by OYONMI CHRISTOPHER on 05/07/2009

Posted by bigdaddy272392 on 05/07/2009

All I have to say is "anything can happen in a game of soccer"

Posted by Red Devil on 05/07/2009

You know, even though I hate Chelsea, I have to admit I feel bad for you guys because of your absolutely horrible correspondent. You are playing against a 10 man Barca without Abidal, Marquez, and Henry, and you let up a goal at the end!! OH BOY, WHAT A CONSPIRACY!!! Admittedly, the referee was bad, but you guys had a lot of goalscoring opportunities that you threw away, including you, DROGBA!!! You are WRONG, Thornton. You lost. SUCK IT UP!!!

Posted by DONKRIX on 05/07/2009

D BLAH BLAH GUY SHOULD BE SHOT WE ALL KNOW DAT UEFA DONT WANT AN ALL ENGLISH FINAL CHELSEA WERE ROBBED D REF IS A DISGRACE TO FOOTBALL IN GENERAL FINE CHELSEA HAD DERE CHANCES AND DIDNT TAKE SAME WITH BARCA IN NOU CAMP WE DONT WANT A REF LIKE DIS AGAIN HE SHOULD BE BANNED 4 LIFE

Posted by Orlando Bumberger on 05/07/2009

To be honest, I hate Chelsea and believe Barca is a far superior team; however, based on their performance last night, they do not belong in the final. People are making a big deal about penalties not called, but only one of those incidents was potentially a penalty (Pique's handball), and let's not forget Abidal's undeserved red card. If anybody should have seen red, it should have been Drogba for falling down so much and wasting so much time pretending to be hurt. He is a joke, and if for no other reason, I am glad Chelsea did not make it to the final because I won't have to watch him ruin the game again.

Posted by hugo on 05/07/2009

Mr. Thorton, you are correct in that the referee missed several calls. First, Abidal should not have been sent off - Anelka triped with his own feet. Essien should have received a red card for this tackle from behind, cleets first, on Iniesta. Ballack should have been sent off for his trying to wrestle the referee after the last PK claim - it was not - Eto'o can't even see where the ball is going - much less block it with his shoulder/back. Drogba should have received two yellows, one for falling after he felt a slight pull on his shirt and a second one for throwing his childish tantrum after the challenge from Toure. Chalsea should have ended with 9 man, Barca with 11. Remember that Chelsea had no problem wiht the Ref. when the first game ended in a favorable 0-0, with a missed PK call on Henry and the hard fouls on the Barca player. Chelsea should be ok this time around, it just so happens the score did not favor them...how pitiful.

Posted by Mickelson3 on 05/07/2009

Sorry, you were the one telling Barcelona to stop crying after the first leg?? Let me tell you one thing then: stop crying!!!!

Posted by habeeb on 05/07/2009

Your Message to Barcelona: STOP CRYING, PLAY ACTING, MOANING TO THE REF, ETC AND START PLAYING FOOTBALL!
Now goes to you Mr. LOL LOL LOL

Posted by Mickelson3 on 05/07/2009

Message to Chelsea: STOP CRYING, PLAY ACTING, MOANING TO THE REF, WAVING IMAGINARY PENALTIES, ETC AND START PLAYING FOOTBALL!

Posted by Kayode PH on 05/07/2009

Serves Chelski right. Now they know how we (Liverpool)felt when Riise got them that late late late injury time own goal last year. What goes around comes around. Go Barca !!.

Posted by Lino Ventura on 05/07/2009

Maybe if you cry and whine about it even more you can get a federal bailout from the US government who will rule it a 1-0 win in your favor. You should have taken your chances and you know it.

Posted by boringboringchelsea on 05/07/2009

your not going to the Champions League Final because of one man, and his awful decisions
and 31% posession
keep then ball, then you can complain about being cheated

Posted by otunbakunle on 05/07/2009

It is highly regretable that,a referee that is brought to officiate a match of this magnitude has failed the footballing world with his unbelievable decisions.It is noteworthy that he not only disgraced himself but his family members and his Nation would be ashamed of him because of his sheer bias in his judgement and the utter disregard of the RULE OF THE GAME.
He has modified the penalty rule and has told the world that the goal post has changed.Well,what can Chelsea FC do than to take heart and forge ahead..Thank you.

Posted by ali on 05/07/2009

soccenret and all it's journalists are biased to the premiership and all the english teams..
- none of the chelsea pen shouts were "clear cut" as u keep mentioning..
malouda's and drogba's shouts shudnt have even been freee kicks in open play..they were barely touched..stop whinging..
netblal is turning more physical than football..i thought the premierhsip was supposed to be more physical..drogba goes down more easily than alves..what a disgrace..
if u played football or knew the rules of football u'd know a ball playing the hand ins not a hand ball and the hand has o move in direction of the ball for it to be a handball..
so the ref got all the calls right..if anything he aided chelsea by sending off abidal for a non existant ful caz anelka tripped up on his own feet..and chelsea stilld efended against 10 men..chelsea ONLY HAVE THEMLSEVES TO BLAME!
stop whinging like u told barca to do after the first leg..

Posted by Enorme Nuez on 05/07/2009

To solve this issue there needs to be a governing body for referees outside the UEFA and FIFA. All refs should go through the same training and know all the rules. Important decisions are made by these referees that affect the outcome of football match regardless of the importance.

It is very sad that in this day of professional sports referees make countless mistakes. They need to use technology to help these referees out. Four decisions that changed the outcome of the two CL semis, the Fletcher tackle and subsequent sending off, the Abidal sending off, Daniel Alves foul on Malouda in the box that was clearly inside the area and the non-call on Pique handball. All these decisions were made by the referee right away yet the linesman had the best view - except the Daniel Alves foul. Fletcher got the ball first and then the player; Anelka got bumped but went down after tripping himself; Daniel Alves fouled Malouda, yet the foul was given outside the area. Pique palmed the ball. Sad

Posted by kb on 05/07/2009

referee's biggest mistake in that match was not sending ballack and drogba off for their antics at the end.. that took some balls.. i would've dished out red cards like xmas cards for that sort of abuse.. ref did have a bad game but it wasn't a conspiracy.. it's not a movie u know - it's not like uefa decides hmm ok let's get abidal sent off somewhere in the 2nd half n then just when the chelsea fans r all happy n singing thinking of revenge in the final, we'll screw them with an iniesta goal off the first barca shot on target and end it with an intense debatable decision so all the chelsea players run around the bridge like headless chickens.. blame uefa?! LoL.. blame iniesta, blame essien, blame drogba, blame cech.. blame whoever.. but uefa!? LOOOLLLL!!!!

Chelsea.. chelsea chelsea chelsea.. bring back the zola, dessailly, leboeuf, di matteo, petrescu, le saux, wisey, vialli, gullit days? plz? enough with the drogbas n ballacks.. this is not what CFC is about.. def not..

Posted by Chelsea Sucks on 05/07/2009

It's amazing that the only way Chelsea could have won this game, as pointed out by Chelsea fans, is with the referee's help. You guys sound like Liverpool fans. How about getting to a final by scoring more goals in open play than your opponent. Man Utd had a penalty against them that was blatantly wrong and Fletcher was red-carded - did you see him yelling/screaming at the ref? Did Man Utd blame the referee and attack him? Nope, but they are a classy team - something Chelsea can never and will never be.

I would have loved to see Roman Abramovich's expression and vital signs when that goal went in. Maybe he'll throw in a couple of billion pounds and buy every good player on Earth. Then again, he still won't get his holy grail. Man Utd vs. Barcelona will be fun!!

Posted by ERNEST OMAGBE on 05/07/2009

I was made to understand that Tom Henning Ovrebo last refd a competitive match a couple of years back.The last time he refd in euro cup was like 7years back,I STAND CORRECTED.The question is,why bring in a ref that is "match rusty" to ref a match that was as important as that.It is amazing for UEFA to have selected him.He is indeed a thief. If i was made to profer a punishment for him,he should be stripped of his title as a professional ref.and banned from ever handling a match. I GIVE HIM A STRAIGHT RED CARD FROM THE GAME......

Posted by WOW on 05/07/2009

are u f***ing kidding me?! do me a favor, go back and read your last post, then look at what your saying in this post. sh*t happens mate, but you look utterly ridiculous right now.

Posted by BarcaFanZac on 05/07/2009

First off, I am a Barca fan and I will admit that Pique did have a handball in the box and I would have given the penalty. As for Malouda, no that was not a foul, he dropped like a rock when barely touch. Drogba being pulled down? Well if you give that one then you have to give the one at Camp Nou where Henry was pulled down. Eto'os? His back was turned and if his arms had been down the shot would have hit him in the shoulder and not the arm pit so that is not a penalty. Now, as for the red card, poor decision, Anelka tripped over his own feet. Ballack is lucky to even have played in this game as he should have been sent of last game. Also, failing to score more goals against a 10 man Barca playing with a make shift back line is pathetic. Chelsea had plenty of chances and Drogba could not finish when it counted. The game was poorly refereed however, the actions of Ballack and Drogba should not be applauded or condoned by anyone. Absolutely disgraceful actions by those two

Posted by nadimhoooo on 05/07/2009

by reading this article it tells me that this guy who wrote it is a white boy that never watched soccer before in his life. pique handling the ball with his hand is no way a penalty UEFA rule because hand hand were already extended before Anelka touched the ball which means its not a foul. 2nd Etoo didnot handle the ball with his hand i dont know what happened to people eyes. this game showed that Barcelona were better team than chelsea becasue with one man down they still manage to control the game. enough said every body in this world would rather watch barcelona VS MU because no body wants to watch 10 players defending the hole F game like chelsea did.

Posted by nadimhoooo on 05/07/2009

pique handling the ball with his hand is no way a penalty UEFA rule because hand hand were already extended before Anelka touched the ball which means its not a foul. 2nd Etoo didnot handle the ball with his hand i dont know what happened to people eyes. this game showed that Barcelona were better team than chelsea becasue with one man down they still manage to control the game. enough said every body in this world would rather watch barcelona VS MU because no body wants to watch 10 players defending the hole F game like chelsea did.

Posted by george johnson on 05/07/2009

Let's get this straight, you're CONDONING Drogba's buffonish behavior. 'Chelsea Correspondent' indeed.

Posted by george johnson on 05/07/2009

Let's get this straight, you're CONDONING Drogba's buffonish behavior. 'Chelsea Correspondent' indeed.

Posted by george johnson on 05/07/2009

Let's get this straight, you're CONDONING Drogba's buffonish behavior. 'Chelsea Correspondent' indeed.

Posted by Matt on 05/07/2009

Honestly there were four legitimate penalty calls the referee could have given. He calls one and Chelsea are more than likely through. I'm not a Chelsea fan ranting, but the officiating for the match was very poor, and unacceptable of a UCL semifinal. Get an experienced referee for the big games, or you're more than likely going to end up with a mess. Yes Drogba's behavior was unacceptable, but in the heat and passion of the game, you have to understand where he's coming from. It's sad that a 1-1 game with two beautiful strikes is ruined by botched officiating. Credit Barca for playing through and finding a way to win the game, because remember, if Iniesta doesn't net that goal, not near as many people would be complaining about the officiating. I think UEFA should review the calls, but a replay is absurd.

Posted by Jygflowers on 05/07/2009

Chelsea fans just don't know how to dig this defeat. It wasn't that your team was bad, nor it was better than Barca. The thing is that refs mistakes aside, Chelsea played cowardly and even when it had clear opportunities to score (like those Drogba had) they couldn't.

Now Chelsea fans, felt the same faith that German fans felt when England defeated Germany with that infamous ghost goal in the World Cup final of 1960, as well as all the combination of refs' mistakes that lead England to that lonely cup. Who's a crying baby now. Chelsea fans must learn that cruel lesson that some others have learned over the years.

It wasn't fair, but Chelsea wasn't the best team in the field during this series either because it never proposed anything but defending with almost the entire team in their own box. And You call that football? - Give me a break. And explain how with one man more than Barca, Chelsea was still defending in its own 3/4 of the field. It was just inconceivable.

Posted by Fernando on 05/07/2009

Stop crying about the PKs. I will explain every single one and you should all shut up.

1.The chelsea player was lighly blocked and the second barca player was right on the ball. The chelsea player couldn't reach the ball regardless of the infraction. No referee would call this PK.

2. The second PK possibility, the same thing happens. Drogba is triped by the defender, but the second defender would have taken the ball from Drogba regardless of the fall. No other referee would give a PK on that one.

3. The Barcelona defender touches the ball before he touches Drogba. It could be possibly a PK. The referee would have called a PK if he had not given a red card to Barcelona few minutes before. It was a pay off for the previous mistake.

Chelsea Fans! Did you get it? It was a fair game. Both sides lost equally on this game.

Posted by Arsenal 81 on 05/07/2009

Well my friend, get over it. If you haven't noticed yet, there's politic too in football. How come that in the biggest sport in the world, they haven't allowed the use of Camera yet?

If it was so, Arsenal would have win the Champions League. Fair? What's a joke!!! Screw you Mr Blatter, It's time that a true legend take over, viva Beckenbauer!!!

Posted by Snave TruBlu Evans on 05/07/2009

I have been a Chelsea fan all my life. I live all the way in Jamaica, i never miss a match. i cried when iniesta scored, i just wanted to get my hands on that referee. it was a great match, Chelsea played very well, and so did Barcelona. we should have won that match, i will never forget that day.

And i totally defend drogba's actions towards the referee, but the expletives in the camera was bad, i must admit that.

i love chelsea with all my heart, and i will always support them.

Posted by Blaz on 05/07/2009

I'm Arsenal fan. I didn't care who won yesterday, all I cared was that Man U lose the final. After the game I hope Man U win it. I haven't seen a team robbed of a win like Chelsea yesterday ever. What pisses me off even more is seeing all the Barca fans claiming better team & beautiful football won. Atleast admit you were lucky like Pique did and don't be so arrogant.
4-0 for Man U in finals.

Posted by gloryglorymanunited on 05/07/2009

While Drogba is an certainly overrated disgrace if I was a Chelsea fan, and thank goodness I'm not, I would trash Ballack if for only 2 reasons.

1) He stood like a statue when Iniesta got the ball and ducked like a coward when he shot the ball. Stand up like a man and charge the ball down.
2) Instead of playing for the ball after his last shot to maybe get 1 more cross or shot in, he goes running after the ref while the ball is still in play. He is always crying to the ref while the ball is still in play.

Bottom line is with all Chelsea's financial power they have brought in players with mediocre talent but no character.

Posted by drogbaisadisgrace on 05/07/2009

'chelsea cry babies' or better 'andy thornton cry baby'

first of all. HAHA! ur post pathetic.. read ur last post n read ur new post n ask urself 'why am i pathetic?' haha.. never blame the ref if ur team play like hell.. do u watch both of the match?? do u still remember barca's penalty appeal in the 1st leg?? can't u feel that fair?? 1st leg+2nd leg = both of team got the worst decision by the ref.. its fair but chelsea who missed the final can't accept the result even they know that they completely not deserve to be in rome as their stinky way of tactics which has been said as a 'modern football' or maybe english type of play.. why chelsea appeal to get penalty?? can't they score in open play at their home?? what a loser.. drogba?? look at ur own performance be4 telling the ref was f**king disgrace..chelsea play sucks.. they don't have any talented player.. oh i'm wrong.. drogba can dived hundred time in 90minutes and they have andy who will always back them.. thank you crying andy.

Posted by Justin on 05/07/2009

You can all complain about us complaining but I don't see how anyone can say that we don't have 3 or 4 serious penalty claims. The dumbF*** that wrote that the ref was right, you are just as bad as all of us Chelsea fans complaining. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard and we will be back next year just as we were the year before this. These things happen in football and I can understand anyone that is saying the players should have behaved more properly but anyone that says that the ref did right, open your eyes.

Posted by chelseafan on 05/07/2009

Just wanted to say that yes the ref sucked big time, but we can't blame everything on him. How about Ashley Cole? It was his missed kick that set up the Barca goal. How this man plays for England or any top flight team is beyond me, as his screw ups are constant and many. In short, Cole is crap, and I hate to say it but the fact that we would even have him on the field, never mind the bench, is very poor decision making indeed. Oh well, hopefully next year will be the year (if we can get rid of this guy)! Go Chelsea!

Posted by Gregory Conran on 05/07/2009

You sir...ARE the disgrace....

Please imagine the thousands of children watching that game that must have turned to thier parents and asked (probably while wearing a Chelsea shirt with Drogba printed clearly on the back of it)..."Mummy why does Drogba think that the referee is a F****ing Disgrace?".

For you to condone those actions...is down right disgusting indeed and for you to back the players that have acted in this way shows very immature reporting skills.

My opinion is that the ref did a very poor job, I tend to agree that 1...and let me say that again 1 of the posible penalties may have been a penalty, but equally the Barca player did not deserve to be sent off.

Quite simply the reason Chealsea lost is because of Drogba, if he didnt dive so much a classic case of the boy who cried wolf.

Hats off to Terry who reportedly went to the Barca change room and shook each hand..he was the pnly person who had any right to complain to the ref as he was Chelsea's captain.

Posted by A-Mac on 05/07/2009

I can just about handle the bleating of Chelsea fans about the referee, no douubt the bloke was a disgrace. However, if I hear one more idiot (including Mr. Thornton), claim that it is some sort of UEFA conspiracy, I think I'm gonna spew.

Surely even the biggest mug would agree that if UEFA had advised the referee and his assistant's (bearing in mind that is now 3 people who could bring one of the biggest sporting federation's in the world to it's knees with such information) you would think the last thing he would do is send off Abidal for a foul that every Chelsea fan I see seems to agree was non-existant.

Please do not suggest that Abidal was wrongly sent off in one breath and then claim a UEFA conspiracy with the other.

Here's hoping both Fletcher's and Abidal's red cards are resciinded and both the FA and UEFA throw the book at Drogba for what was another mental outburst. Surely this is grounds for Chelsea to get Drogba some professional help.

Posted by drogbaGotHisKarma on 05/07/2009

So is Drogba the pot or the kettle? After years of him cheating by going down and killing momentum of games by rolling around on the ground and clutching his lower back for 5 mins, Karma finally came back and bit him. The ironic thing is Drogba is a phenomenal player when he doesnt cheat, but as soon as his shannanigans kick in he doesnt even look half the player.

Posted by Robbed on 05/07/2009

Every comment on here that does not support what that article, is from people that dont support Chelsea! I assure you, if anything like this happened in a normal league game with a team you cared about, you would be scraming CHEAT, instead your saying that Chelsea dont deserve it, they acted badly. Fair enough, Drogba went over the line, and Ballack as well, but being someone with half a brain and a knowledge of football i can tell you now, Chelsea should be in that final, and everyone that supports Chelsea around the world has a very big reason to feel cheated. Saying we werent good enough to take our chances is rubbish. If a penatly was given instead of a free kick (sorry for wanting the correct decision) it would have been over in 25 minutes. Instead, it was only the begining. 1 of those penatlies would have killed the game. Stuff the chances!

Watching it live i am still in shock, all i can suggest is UFEA got what they wanted. That ref shouldnt have walked onto the pitch

Posted by 433 on 05/07/2009

Waa ha ha ha - who's crying now?

Posted by Christino on 05/07/2009

Thank God the referee is not Nigerian. What we saw was a typical 419 scam.

Posted by Sanchoy on 05/07/2009

I believe, the UEFA had a definite hand in all these. Although I do understand that Hiddink was right to admit that it is tough to accuse of a conspiracy, but action of the referee was clearly premeditated. I am trying my best not to accuse the referee of incompetency, since he has been officiating at this level for several years. now EUFA has two choices ahead of them. First is to admit that what happened was wrong, and the second is to admit that the referee was a f****** JOKE. I predict, EUFA will announce a half hearted admittance of the referee being in a tough state to officiate under such atmosphere. But they will not admit to anything clearly.
At the end of the day, Chelsea is out of the Final. EUFA's purpose solved.

Posted by Drogba11 on 05/07/2009

I'm sure hellwithcheslsea is a liverpool fan
losing 3-1 at home when your suppose to be on fire that is embarrassing!

Posted by Drogba11 on 05/07/2009

I'm sure hellwithcheslsea is a liverpool fan
losing 3-1 at home when your suppose to be on fire that is embarrassing!

Posted by Siguy on 05/07/2009

Show some sportmanship. Their is no conspiracy, how could there be when Barca barely won.
Talk about cry babies you Chavski lot are

Posted by Josh on 05/07/2009

Only one of those was a penalty (Pique's handball), and remember Barca weren't given a clear penalty when Henry was fouled in the first leg.

Chelsea's problem was not killing the game off when they had the chance (when Drogba's one-on-one shot was saved by Valdez' foot).

Stop you pathetic whinging.

Posted by Josh on 05/07/2009

Only one of those was a penalty (Pique's handball), and remember Barca weren't given a clear penalty when Henry was fouled in the first leg.

Chelsea's problem was not killing the game off when they had the chance (when Drogba's one-on-one shot was saved by Valdez' foot).

Stop your pathetic whinging.

Posted by al on 05/07/2009

people can argue all they want about non pk calls. But if you go back and look at replays drogba was pulling jerseys and flopping. When a ref sees many flops he is going to be hesitante to call anything. Ref was bad for both sides. Barsa was down to 10 men on a bad red card. Chelsea had there chances but Valdez was on top of his game. Is it the refs fault that drogba missed that shot??? Is it the refs fault that Iniesta had a great goal???? Cry and moan all you like but the final is set Manchester United vs. Barcelona. Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo.

Posted by THANKGODTHEBLUESAREOUT on 05/07/2009

It doesn't matter if I'm a Chelski hater or neutral. But Chelski is a club with a bunch of sore losers. When they lose, the fans and players alike behave like spoilt delinquents.

You said Barca are cry babies? Look at how Chelski are reacting now. Trying their outmost best to intimidate another official.

The way I see it, it's gods' will to allow Barca to go through. Because Chelski simply didn't wanna play football. Each time a Barca player gets the ball, Chelski only have 1 thing in mind, that is "KICK/PUSH/SHOVE OR TRIP THEM"

You want the truth? The truth is Chelski do not play football. Perhaps you all would do better in some boxing or wrestling match.

Chelski players are all actors. Isn't it laughable that big lads like Dogba or Analka fall over easily like ballet dancers at the slighest of touchest? Oh yeah the referee was a joke, certainly at one thing, that mistake of sending Adibal off as he got fooled when Analka dived to the ground.

Kharma.

Posted by Tony McGann on 05/07/2009

You liver by the sword, you die by the sword Mr. Drogba. A dog smells his own dirt first.

I thought the harshest decision of all, one that has not really been brought up, was teh sending off of the Barca defender.

A fitting end to Chelsea's season.

You ain't got no history.....

Posted by Tony McGann on 05/07/2009

You live by the sword, you die by the sword Mr. Drogba. A dog smells his own dirt first.

I thought the harshest decision of all, one that has not really been brought up, was the sending off of the Barca defender.

A fitting end to Chelsea's season.

You ain't got no history.....

Posted by barcelonafc95 on 05/07/2009

I have completely lost any respect for Chelsea and their fans after the diving and the way this dick is trying to twist things. Drogba had a perfect chance to put this game away and failed to do so. You can't blame the ref for a terrible miss like that. I'm not saying Barcelona played better but Chelsea did not put away all the oppurtunities that they have gotten. If you decide to blame the ref for that, then you are a coward and you have only your team to blame for letting you down

And weren't you the one who was just calling Barcelona cry babies? What the hell do you think you are doing right now?

And I don't care how much you love your team. Drogba and Ballack's behavior was completely unacceptable and they both should have been punished. They should learn from Terry, who went to the Barca dressing room after the game and congratulated them for moving on.

Maybe you should stop blaming other people for you and your team's screw ups.

Posted by CheseaAllTheWay on 05/07/2009

I'm a Chelsea fan. We were very unlucky in our claims, 4 to be accurate. However, I always say you must take your chances. Complaints are based on past events and are especially defunct when they have no bearing on the future.

The aftermath barrage of hostility was senseless. At the end of the day, the referee’s inadequacies are only such - PAST EVENTS - cannot be recalled.

Barca played poorly and will be destroyed by MANU.

Regroup guys. Guus is best tactician ever... period

Posted by Truth on 05/07/2009

In a game a very few chances, there were precious few times to "kill the game off" The only legit time was Drogbas terrible left foot, other then that all of Chelsea's created chances were STOLEN by being taken down in the box, hand balls blocking a cutting movement. Seriously, How many chances did Chelsea have to really kill off the game? The Ref completely changed the outcome of this match, but there's nothing those of us in Blue cand do about it now. But we know, and the nuetrals know what happened on May 6,2009.

Posted by George on 05/07/2009

I can't believe people are still whining about this. It's OVER...chelsea had plenty of opportunities to SCORE A GOAL in OPEN PLAY and they didn't. People squabble at refs at youth games, rec leagues etc all the time, and anyone with a brain knows it still never changes anything. Yeah the ref made some terrible mistakes both ways. Atrocious reffing is a form of ADVERSITY, and professional athletes with SELF DISCIPLINE, CREATIVITY and CHARACTER find ways to overcome these things ON THE FIELD. Having said that, Chelsea has played anything but "magnificent" football over the past two legs (why don't they hire 11 trained gorillas to scamper around the goal area); the only thing as entertaining as essien's goal was the flurry of tantrums at the end of the game. I'm still getting a few chuckles out of it.

Posted by John on 05/07/2009

haha poor Chelsea still can't get their hands on the holy grail,such a team does not deserve the right to be named "magnificent football side".In the end a 10 man team (that has won this cup twice in their history,chelsea none) beat this self-proclaimed "magnificent football side"...Stick to what you're good at Chelsea F.A. cups and Carling Cups....

Posted by w00t77 on 05/07/2009

As a united fan, i was sincerely rooting for Chelsea to qualify, then United would have a much much more easier opponent in the finals. Having Chelsea as opponents in the finals is like having one hand on the throphy already.

But Chelsea, as weak as they are, had to concede a stupid injury time goal in injury time against 10 men!!!

So stop blaming the referee, any team that can't defend against 10 men is a disgrace. So yeah, in short, Chelsea were, is and forever will be a disgrace.

Posted by jack spahr on 05/07/2009

I've been a Chelsea supporter for the last 52 years. I watched the game and was disappointed by the result and by the refereeing. The result, however, was never going to be changed by ranting and raving. Chelsea fans have every right to be indignant but the poor refereeing decisions for both teams should be handled by the clubs administrators. The referee was poor, no dispute, so many pundits from diverse sources have highlighted his mistakes. The problem is twofold. Possible action against some Chelsea players, who should really have grasped the idea, by now, that this is not a form of protest that has positive results, and quite the opposite ussually. The most important aspect is that video refereeing has to come in to existence, time to move into the 21st century. Most other sports have, and it is not so time consumming. Just a remark on some of the comments on this blog.........grow up please.

Posted by Oliver Chettle on 05/07/2009

I'm not a Chelsea fan. This was perhaps the most shocking example of a referee's mistakes determining the outcome of a match that I have ever seen. If many games were damaged by the officials as badly as this one was, the sport wouldn't be worth watching any more.

Posted by kobe on 05/08/2009

how can a referee who ruled out a goal in the Euro 2008 by LUCA TONI against ROMANIA be allowed by UEFA to referee in such a big match against CHELSEA FC and BARCELONA?
And he does the same thing again. Ehat should be done to the referee and the the Chelsea Players

Posted by Adam on 05/08/2009

Im not complaining about loosing to Barcelona. Drogba had a few opportunities to score and the score should had been higher and instead of relying on one goal to get them through. But all fans of the game should realise this ref should not have been given the opportunity to ref at this level. For both Barcelona and Chelsea there were too many bad decisions made by him. Wasn't this the same ref who denied a goal in euro 2008 for Italy??
As a Chelsea fan i can accept the outcome. But i couldn't understand the decisions made by the ref for both sides. Even the red card!!
Always next year.

Posted by bluedownunder on 05/08/2009

I'm a Chelsea fan and think the claims of a conspiracy are ridiculous,UEFA would prefer not to have an all English final again but that's the end of the matter - they're not going to get a ref to influence an outcome. As to Barca and their beautiful game, I watched one of the Man U Porto clashes recently and Porto are equal to Barca in ball movement and skill, they just don't have the big guns that Barca have. Porto really troubled United and should've went thru but they missed many chances late on in the second leg. So unless Barca are as impressive as Porto were they are going to be runners up - no question.

Posted by the man on 05/08/2009

idk if this is the same author who last week wrote that barca were cry babies, but now chelsea are exibiting the same whining that was condemned. and now everyone in england thinks its ok to bitch about the ref. But if barca does it, it turns into something unsportsmanlike and wrong. chelsea lost. no amount of complaining will change that. GET OVER IT. i feel bad for chelsea too. they got robbed. but if u want to see man u beaten, then barca is the team to do it. u all need to get behind barca now, and we will finally see manchester lose.

Posted by Rudy on 05/08/2009

If you can't see that Chelsea was robbed, you are a moron anyways. Mind you own team.

Posted by Steve Hmelnicky on 05/08/2009

As an unbiased American who loves this sport I was ashamed at what I saw the other day. Despite who you root for it was clear as day to me and many of my peers that a "screw job" definitely seemed to be in place. I blame UEFA completely for either A. fixing this match to prevent a repeat and an all English final or B. for having a ref on the pitch who is obviously completely inexperienced and has made poor calls in past tournaments. The fact that Ballack was not sent off at the end of the match tells me one of two things, either the ref knew he made a mistake and didnt want to punish Ballack for it or worse he is a weak ref and individual to let another man yell at you like that when you are supposedly the one in control. Id have preferred to see him stand by his decision strongly and issue Ballack the red card. This is completely unacceptable and leaves a sour taste in my mouth towards UEFA and the Champions League.

Posted by Aaron on 05/08/2009

question-who's the cry baby now?

Posted by Sunshine on 05/08/2009

The internet is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately its accessability means that any old yob can throw together a couple of sentances, add some exclaimation marks for emphasis and call it an opinion piece. Not only is it poorly written, but the opinions expressed are disgracing Chelsea fans everywhere. Please stop trying to force the idea that just because a few decisions didn't go your way, the world is ending. These things happen. Bad decisions happen. The referee is only human, and the point that Chelsea had plenty of open play opportunities to put the game to bed is a very valid one. Chances are the referee will be repremanded and dealt with appropriately by the governing body. Drogba's, Terry's and Ballack's actions were disgraceful, and one has to wonder what exactly they've been taught all these years about being a good sport. And you for that matter. Grow up.

Posted by joe on 05/08/2009

it really a joke when he write that "Never before has such a magnificent, footballing side been so brutally cheated" because this is just the same with what happened durng the world cup 2002 in the match between south korea and italy...

Posted by Leon on 05/08/2009

This is absolutely hilarious!
These are the same Chelsea posers who last week where telling Barca to "stop crying about the ref" after the ref screwed Barca completely in their own stadium!

And Hiddink is the same man who a week ago said "people shoudnt talk about refs",and the same man who said the same thing when S.Corea miraculously made the semi finals at the expense of a Spanish side that scored 2 legal goals.

Show some dignity you lousy hypocrites. The refs sucked on both games,they tied both games, and the better team is through.
Do you really think pathetic Chelsea deserves a champions league title? These games are reserved for the real teams,not thugs that sub strikers for defenders so they can spend the 2nd half all-out defending against 10 men. Hilarious!

Posted by barca on 05/08/2009

CHELSEA are fucking scums, how can you play soccer just to defend, they get a lucky goal and then resume their defending tactics. Attack is the best form of defence. Chelsea change ur style of play if you want to compete with the best teams. Chelsea fucking scums

Posted by Go Man U on 05/08/2009

Stop sulking. You are behaving like Drogba. In the words of a famous Lemur...You and Chelsea are like Pansies! You played like Pansies.

Granted out of 4 penalty claims, only 1 is for real. The handball by Pique. Drogba vs Abidal? No way can Abidal bring Drogba down if he really wanted to stay up and fight it out to win the ball. Rooney wouldnt have gone down. Gerrard wouldnt have gone down. Torres wouldnt either.

It was not called. Too bad. Not all calls are called. The better team didnt win...or did they?

25 mins to play against a 10 men Barca and you chose to defend more than attack?

Stop blaming the ref. Stop this conspiracy crap. Next season go spend another tons of millions and buy more stars. and hope you can buy your way into the cup. Champions are built through time, effort with the youth squad, reserve teams etc...not built from spending.

Posted by Rager on 05/08/2009

It is time for Chelsea to part ways with Drogba. Not because of his egregious display (which in my opinion was entirely justified), but because he spent half the game on the ground rather than trying to put the ball in the back of the net. I am fed up with Drogba always playing for the foul rather than the goal. It is time Chelsea part ways with him and bring on a new striker who cares more about scoring goals than appealing for penalties.

That said, Tom Ovrebo should, at the very least, be ashamed of his failures, and UEFA should issue an apology on his behalf to the millions of disappointed fans around the world.

Furthermore, UEFA should overturn all cards issued and allow Manchester and Barcelona to play on a clean sheet with full sides. Otherwise, United is going to walk all over the fortunate Spaniards.

Posted by Aussie on 05/08/2009

lol.
You must be kidding right...Chelsea lost because the y implemented the wrong strategy.
Playing defensive in both legs..trying to steal a goal and keep that lead even when barca was 1 man down.
You were cowards..and you deserved it...
so hack it.
and with the penalty decisions..
lets recall, the henry penalty in the first leg...lets also recall ballack red card offense in the first leg....who are the cry babies now...

Posted by andy r on 05/08/2009

Just pointing out to the barca fans when abidal got sent off you still had 11 players on the pitch... Tha retard with the whistle was your best on ground... Ovrebo will be back refing under 12's games soon! and he'll make crap calls there aswell

Posted by MeChelseaMeBigBaby on 05/08/2009

Dont worry Chelsea fans,failures like this only make it closer to the day Abramovic decides to dump this nonexistent "club" and then Chelsea can go back to where it belongs.

Battling relegation that is.

Posted by KR on 05/08/2009

Wasn't it last week that you were mocking Barcelona for complaining about the officials? If hypocrisy had a definition...

And I'll tell you something else, too -- even if the ref had called even one penalty for you last night, who's to say that you would have converted? Didn't last year's Final teach you anything?

Posted by kk on 05/08/2009

It is very funny seeing all the comments from Chelsea fans. They had 84 minutes after they scored the first goal (27 of them with the opposition down to 10 men) and could not score a second goal. While I agree that the referee had been horrible, if Chelsea had not gone ahead with their anti-football, they would have be playing United in the final.

For a neutral fan, it is really great that Barca went through. A success of Chelsea tactics would have prompted more and more coaches would have started following this approach in the CL. As a neutral I have been bored down to death by the 3 semi clashes between Chelsea and Liverpool in the previous seasons. To and extend the same goes for last seasons CL final. The English teams are going the path Italians teams did at the beginning of the century.

Posted by Joe on 05/08/2009

I realize that there was some very poor refereeing in this game but I find it amusing as well that everyone is neglecting to mention the piss poor reffing from the first game. I imagine that has to do with the fact that it helped Chelsea out then but they were screwed this game. I really think that he only missed the Pique call, which incidentally cancels out the missed Henry call in Camp Nou. So there is more than just the referee, although it is a shame that someone so out of his element is given such an important game...

Posted by stizel on 05/08/2009

well, seems like andy has got you guys to talk. great job with the post!! the ref's a joke. chelsea just wasn't clinical enough. and combining that will result in not getting into the final. lacking any one of the above, chelsea would be in the final. well, try again next year, just like how the scousers always say... "we are too good not to win it..." haha...

Posted by Blue Boy on 05/08/2009

Drogba called it "a fcuking disgrace" on worldwide tv. No, pal - your misses were "a fcuking disgrace". And your behaviour always has been. That guy epitomises what has been wrong with CFC for years now. His ego has compromised the high-risk, exciting football that drew me to Chelsea when foreign guys like Vialli, Zola and Guillet were running around and the rest of the league were eking out 1-0 wins through bombs into the box. Now we just have one focal point in attack and, awesome finisher that he is, heaven help us when he's not on song. He should've put us ahead at Camp Nou and had 2 gilt-edged chances at The Bridge. Esp playing as the lone striker, he should've taken all 3, and the Penalty shouldn't be a talking point. The more you think about it, all the more worse than The Penalty this becomes.

But wait, I'm not finished yet...

Posted by Supa on 05/08/2009

Honestly i can't see what you Chelski fans have to complain about, other than your own teams shortcomings. If Drogba was any kind of finisher and less of a diver that game would have been beyond barca long before the final whistle. Yes OBVIOUSLY the ref. was CRAP, it was plain for all to see, but whinging over debatable penalty calls and crying conspiracy to the heavens doesn't change the fact that Chelski were 1-0 up, at home, with a man advantage and failed miserably in their efforts to either kill off the game IN OPEN PLAY or to keep barca out for 90+minutes. Any fan will tell you, banking on a 1-0 lead at home when the away goals rule is a factor is a recipe for disaster.

Posted by Blue Boy on 05/08/2009

More on Drogba:
Even worse is his attitude. It was like a carbon copy of last year's final - he misses a few chances, has to work a bit harder, spits the dummy and off he goes. Sure he was subbed instead of sent off, but don't believe the feigned indignation - I saw him limping and rubbing his leg, he didn't want to be there when the pressure was on and he didn't feel up for the fight. And as for his petulance after the game, I would've smacked my 5-year-old's arrse red for that, and grounded him for a month. As much as it's nice to see some of Drogba's goals for CFC, our season derailled after he came back into the team. The sooner that guy goes, the better. Clear off to Milan (how you wanted to) and see how your ego handles Ibrahimovic outclassing you, sunshine.

But wait, I'm not done yet...

Posted by Blue Boy on 05/08/2009

Drogba part 3:
Barca showed him what class is - one shot on goal, one goal. But really, isn't this sort of thing always on the cards when you only have the ball 29% of the time. 29%! We shouldn’t have to rely on one goal in 180+ minutes. We shouldn't be playing on the counter. We've got the money for a decent team but end up buying egos and megastars on their way out (Deco, Sheva, Veron, etc etc etc) Anelka the exception, but gets pushed aside for Drogba! We've got the core of a great defense, Frank and Essien (even though his mistake cost us the goal….) to take our midfield both forwards and back, Anelka up front. If we get a coach that buys us decent players to fill the rest of the roles, (not wedgeing in expensive old megastars with their glory days behind them), we could compete.
All of which is a way of saying that deep down I feel so utterly sad about it because those whining, diving, lucky SOBs at Barca are a better football team than Chelsea.
And that is all - for now.

Posted by ASD on 05/08/2009

As always teams loosing complain about refreeing. The way Chelsea approached the game they didint dexerve to be in final. First leg may be tactical but they played negative football and blues supporter called it wondeful display of defence. Overall they deserve to loose and for the shake of footabll also

Posted by chibuzor Eze on 05/08/2009

Personally, i dont believe any fucking conspiracy. Abidal was given a frivolous red card. was that also part of the conspiracy? fergy should design a system to tear this Barca team apart. Forget fletsher red card, barca will have 3 key defenders missing in the final. So all Man U will have to do is to try to contain thier attack, because thats the only way barca can deffend.
then Ronaldo and Rooney can tear their harpless defence to pieces.

Posted by K on 05/08/2009

I'm surprised at the lack of recognition that it is CHELSEA's fault that they could not prevent 10 man Barca from scoring a goal in the last minute.

I mean, you have ONE minute to hang on and you gifted the goal to Barca! What is the point of blaming the referee for extremely dubious penalty claims? All Chelsea needed to do was defend for one more minute and they didn't, so there, be a man and accept the result.

Posted by will on 05/08/2009

Maybe Chelsea would have got their second or even third goal if the ref hadn't let Barca play 3 keepers...

Posted by Fair Play on 05/08/2009

Is it fair play match? What a idsgrace & cheated match!!
FIFA, UEFA and Ref Association always say FAIR PLAY. We don't think so!
We all feel being cheated by you!!
Three of you made mistakes, all gave a lot of unreasonable excuses, or apologise only. Never learn from mistakes and let this problem continue...
But, when clubs, managers or players make mistakes, you talk very loud and fined & banned them.
UEFA & Ref Association must take full responsibilty of this match!
Give us good actions taken of this match and STOP all the nonsense excuses!

Posted by Ryan on 05/08/2009

Seriously it's not all that complicated. Chelsea fans need to actually read the rule book they are so franticlly waving around post match. There was ONE legitimate penalty claim, and that was against Pique for handball. The rest involved Drogbas theatrics and clearly accidental handball. If we take that ONE penalty and minus the one from the Nou Camp are we not square? Whilst we're on the first leg, Ballack and Puyol both should have gone. Niether did. Both games were poorly officiated but that my friends is the game we love. Referees are human. You know when Kaka mistimes a ball? Or 'The Gelled one' falls on the ball on the 27th step over attempt? People make mistakes, sometimes big ones, but in the grand scheme of things, over two legs the better team made it through. Simple.

Posted by hazydavey on 05/08/2009

What a load of nonsense.

You don't "deserve" to win just because you claim the greater number of penalty appeals.

For starters, only Pique's handball was clear cut, the rest were borderline at best and none of those non-calls was more outrageous than the absurd sending off Abidal, who never touched Anelka (nor was Abidal the last defender). Anelka could have been carded for diving and the same is true for Drogba several times over.

Nor did Chelsea outplay Barcelona in either leg.
Chelsea scored a single (albeit spectacular) goal in open play over two legs and even with 30 minutes with a man advantage could do no better than claim they should have been awarded penalties.

Sure it hurts, but this Chelsea whine is a bit much. You lost. Show some class.

Posted by BluesFan1978 on 05/08/2009

I watched the match. Its unfortunate, but it is what it is. I've represented my country at both rugby and soccer. There are times when decisions by the referee do not make make sense. That said, the reaction of both Ballack (during the match) and Drogba after the match was not called for. And besides, you have it within you to score a try/goal to decide a match. If you can't do it, you should not blame the referee. That's life. I sympathise, but Chealsea fans are certainly not the only fans in the world who have legitimate reason to feel that they have been robbed. Chin up. If the players actually learn from this hearbreak, then I would expect Chelsea as a team to go on to bigger and better things.

Posted by Kyle on 05/08/2009

There's a difference between being robbed, and letting someone walk in and rob you. If you can't score at home, with ten men, playing against a team without their best defender and a third of their strike force, you deserve to lose. Honestly. If Drogba and Anelka BOTH chose to blatently dive in the box. I'm suprised they didn't get booked for diving. If they stay up, and shoot on goal, then things might have been different. And you wanna complain about PKs? The Henrey PK in Barca, maybe? And had Abidal never been sent off (and I have NO idea why he was sent off) the Pique situation never would have happened. Honestly, Chelsea refused to win that game. You blame UEFA for stoppin gan all English final? I blame Chelsea. Drogba and Ball(s)ack are punks and should be heavily, heavily fined. Bunch of babies.

Posted by HL82 on 05/08/2009

Chelski Cry Babies
WHY DO YOU NEED PENALTIES TO WIN A MATCH??
WHY BLAME THE REF?
MAYBE COS YOU CAN'T SCORE FROM OPEN PLAY?

Posted by daihot on 05/08/2009

From a tactical point of view, Flectcher's red card was deserved because it was a tackle from behind and in the box. So the call is a penalty and a yellow card since the forward was not the last man through on goal.
As for Chelsea, the red card on Abidal was wrong because Anekla trip on his own heel. As for the four penalty appeals, first one on Mouludna was not because the call was for obstruction first which happen on the 6 yard line, not in the box. Second appeal should be called but I guess given the reputation of Drogba, he didn't get the call. Third appeal should be called because clearly Pigue hand was lifted up and his reaction shows he was surprised not to get a call. Last appeal was defintely not because the ball hit Ettoo on his shoulder blade! Anyway Chelsea don't deserved to go through because they play ugly football!

Posted by daihot on 05/08/2009

Posted by Hirsty on 05/08/2009

Who are the cry babies now?

Posted by Mr. Neutral on 05/08/2009

It was harsh for Chelsea. I agree the best team didn't win but the best team doesn't always win in football. That's reality! And yeah, the ref did a bad job but I think Chelsea lost because of the many scoring opportunities they missed. I can understand the fustration of Chelsea fans. Chelsea did a great job in containing Barca over 2 legs, deserved to win but didn't. Still, however fustrated it may feel, it doesn't give the players (role models to many) a reason to act in such a manner. At the end, it will look like this from UEFA's point of view: Yeah you were the better team, yeah you deserved to play in Rome, yeah the ref did bad, yeah we'll punish the ref, yeah we feel sorry for you too, yeah you bought the game to disrepute, and yeah we'll punish you too! Ref and Chelsea will be banned from Champions League for 1 yeah...er...I mean year.

Posted by Abdulaziz on 05/08/2009

Its unbelivable how losers behave. Am also very disapointed in the content of your write up. Football is not a do or die affair. Its also not politics. THe nature of ur write up leads me to believe you might be in support of the threats levelled against the referee. I remember last season when Arsenal lost in the quaters to Liverpool because of two questionable decisions in both legs.A clear penalty on Hleb by Kuyt at the Emirates and a very dubious dive by Babel at Ainfield cost us the game. Did u hear anyone complain? Fans should realise sometimes things just dont go your way no matter how hard you try. Thats why a 3rd division team beats a Premier league side. THAT'S FOOTBALL,THAT'S LIFE.

Posted by G_qiu28 on 05/08/2009

I would like to challenge OneUnited comments.

1st of all if man utd were in the same shoes as chelsea, will u react like nothing happen n cooly say man utd should focu on blaming themselves on the miss chances? since, u're a man utd fan then i doubt so.

Secondly, every wrong decisions made by the referee had given barcelona certain amt of motivaion to go all out to attack even with 10 men since they know that the refree does not fall in giving penatly easily then they won't cautious in their defence and it has shown in pique n eto handball.

Lastly, chelsea did not say its a conspiracy frm the uefa as the manager refuse to comment it as he said he will need to prove it if he has any substantial evidence. In fact, it was the media who is the one circulating the existing of conspiracy.

Anyway, i can agree with u that chelsea are to blame themselves to certain extent with drogba open miss. But the refree wrong decisions hold a greater responsibility to the match.

Posted by messiesrey on 05/08/2009

All you have to do is read this biased blogger's previous post to see how ironic and one sided he is. At Camp Nou the Barca players were called cry babies for contesting the calls. Ballack stated that "Footballers always complain when they don't get what they want". English fans have overtaken South American's for pure classlessness. Terrible losers and poor sports.

Posted by Gooner2517 on 05/08/2009

I agree with diablo. You Chelsea fans need to realize that your precious 1-0 lead is not safe at all. Barcelona was a man down for God's sake. How can you allow a shot on the edge of the area with 20 seconds left? What the hell did you expect to happen? Criminal defending on Chelsea's part. Yes, the ref made bad calls, but they were not all against Chelsea. Barcelona had appeals for a spot-kick when Messi went down. And how about that red-card? Anelka didnt bother refuting it at all because he didnt want to look like more of an idiot. Our Russkie Arshavin tried to tell the ref he was making a bad call. Chelsea fans, stop whining about a conspiracy and that everyone is against you. Their not.

Posted by David Leung on 05/08/2009

In your own words, "STOP CRYING, PLAY ACTING, MOANING TO THE REF, WAVING IMAGINARY CARDS, ETC AND START PLAYING FOOTBALL".

Posted by Gino Ruggiero on 05/08/2009

I'll just say to you what English fans and media have been saying to Italian football for decades: If you try to play organized defensive tactics and end up conceding a late goal, it's your own fault!!!! You have a 500 million dollar club and you tried to play with 11 men behind the ball. Stop blaming the referee, the conspiracies, the grass was too high, etc. etc. GET OVER IT CRYBABY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Gino Ruggiero on 05/08/2009

Posted by Calcio Kid on 05/08/2009

English fans and media have been saying this to Italian football for decades: If you play organized, defensive tactics and end up losing, it's your own damn fault! You have a 500 million pound club and you tried playing behind the ball and scoring on counter-attacks and guess what? It didn't work! Stop blaming the ref, the conspiracy theories, the height of the grass on the pitch etc. etc. Get over it crybaby.

Posted by redevil on 05/08/2009

my condolences chelsea. I'm a die had MAN UNITED fan and therefore HATE chelski, but you guys got hosed. All the Barca talk about you guys not wanting to "play" is just bunk. Chelsea played to their strenght and fully deserved to win. The ref was absolute bullocks! Take heart in the fact that MAN UNITED are going to show that the BPL is superior!!

Posted by George Mwangi on 05/08/2009

For God's Sake!!! When Chelsea Loose... there is always a talking point... (unfair referees, offside goals, poor tactics etc etc)Where did they get this inferior way of dealing with defeat? is it from Mourinho? cant they admit that 10MEN outplayed 11?? Look at the overall possession? almost 70% against 30% what kind of a game is that?? atleast we have been spared to watch a "boring" final... lets enjoy the Beautiful game... BARCA vs MANU... what else do we expect for a GRAND FINALE???

Posted by kemily on 05/08/2009

all of you talk nonsense...try go to the pitch and play football. i bet u run like a duck

Posted by Sean on 05/08/2009

"Never before has such a magnificent, footballing side been so brutally cheated." Ha ha, riiiiight. Chelsea. Magnificent. LOL. I'm a Gooner all the way, but this time around I think the two best teams have deservedly made it to the finals.

Posted by ProRef on 05/08/2009

Here's what the Ref thinks: "Hey I already screwed up but giving a wrong red card to Abidal. How much advantage do you need Blues? Just finish Barca off quickly and let's go home. I'm not giving you any more advantage so don't come screaming for one. You already have the biggest advantage playing against 10 men so don't depend on me to help you again! Oh gosh, do it yourself for heaven's sake. If you can't score against 10 men then I suppose you don't deserve to go through."

Posted by serio on 05/08/2009

Thats the beauty abt football. Its unpredictable and full of drama. Having said that:
1. Drogba and Ballack should be ban for 6 months at least for their disgraceful behaviour
2. Barca were the better team and deserved to go through. They had over 60% posession over 2 legs. Chelsea were not playing football. They were trying to kill it.
3. Chelsea were trying to find a scapegoat for their own failure to progress..and they found it in the ref
4. Drogba should make a career in acting instead. He makes a good stunt man cos he is able to fall for nothing and makes it as tho he got shot in the legs, arms and head..all at once. *and Ronaldo should join him too
5. If Barca didnt score that goal, all you chelsea fans wont even remember who the ref was and would hv probably said..well ref makes mistakes sometimes, all the penalty claims was 50-50 anyways
6. Its better to lose and play attractive football but chelsea managed to lose AND play ugly football. Bravo guys!

Posted by Kelvin on 05/08/2009

Come on Chelsea, be sporting lah. Don't just lose a match & start blaming the officials. The whole team of Chelsea should be sacked because they are such a disgrace. Gus Hiddink should also be sacked for having such a team.

Chelsea are sore losers.

Posted by AY on 05/08/2009

stupid ref, i don't need to say much but the all world see what happen,but what did UEFA have to say about this if it s true they have no clue of what he did is such a ref a professional enough to officiate in big match like this he kill the game and every one who have emotion it s not fair

Posted by AY on 05/08/2009

u are a completely fool know nothing than ur fool thought for say Chelsea fans complain we have to say the truth and tell of what ever happen in game like the bar ca play Chelsea at home do not mean they wine the game the man kiss Chelsea ur a big fool with ur word

Posted by Joostice on 05/08/2009

It's always the same whenever Chelsea lose. Before it was that graceless Mourinho throwing his toys out of the pram, now this.

Learn to concede defeat with some grace and honour. Play beautiful football the way it's supposed to be played, like Barcelona. Stop resorting to thuggish fouls and physical intimidation.

And issuing death threats to referees may be acceptable in Russia, but this is Europe. Learn it.

Posted by nobody on 05/08/2009

i still think that it is ball to hand in pique case. but ok, say it is a penalty, then its 2-1.

but then, if we go back to henry case in nou camp, it is even a clearer penalty. but barca did not behave like chelsea did.

thus it is still 2-2, with barca having an away goal, thus rightly go to the final.

Posted by Matt on 05/08/2009

I am absolutely incensed at the very, very poor refereeing in the second leg of this semi-final. If we had lost in the 93rd minute after some decent refereeing, I would've been okay with the defeat. Our boys gave it their all - and granted we missed one or two good opportunities to extend that lead. But I'm very upset at the way in which we missed our opportunity to make the final.

Having said that, can I just say that Andy Thornton, you are a terrible Chelsea correspondent. I absolutely cannot stand reading your 7-year old trash on here, and I would give anything to be able to come in here and read a blog from a less-whiny, more mature and football-intelligent correspondent.

You whinge, you whine, and you make every Chelsea fan look like a spoilt brat, and it's been hard enough to shake that image since Roman Abramovich entered the scene.

So either grow up, Andy, or do us all a favour and let somebody else represent Chelsea.

Posted by Pitpit on 05/08/2009

The ref was a clown.. There was at least 4 obvious penalty by chelsea but none was given.. Barca red card was garsh... I seriously dun understand why this ref was reffeing the SEMI FINAL 2ND LEG!!!! He just dun want chelsea to advanced to the final...

Posted by FiqTrueBlue on 05/08/2009

The referee was no doubt in wrong. Abidal red card and denying Chelsea penalty kicks. Yeah yeah most neutral fans will say Drogba should had kill the game off. But the referee should had given at least a penalty to Chelsea. Imagine Ballack screamer that hit Eto'o upper arm at the last moment and the referee called it a penalty and Lampard score, Barca fans will indeed bitch bout Abidal red card for a long time. So ultimately, the referee will be blamed no matter who the winner was cause he was a joke. You cant blame us for complaining about the referee. Our clearest penalties was denied.

Posted by unitedfan on 05/08/2009

one can't help but thinking that theres a certain sort of karma in football, one that works outside of the normal refereeing rules. what with the antics of drogba, ashley cole, etc, chelsea's negative tactics, the number of times they've tried to bore, kick and frustrate opponents into submission, when this is the one game they probably deserved to get something out of, fate comes back to haunt them. it works in a weird way. look at the european champions of the past years, even liverpool and porto, there has always been something about them thats special and magical. the two best footballing sides overall in the past couple of years in the competition are in the final. a russian cash inflated, egomaniac, unsporting, ugly team winning the cup? not this year, not just yet.

Posted by Wale on 05/08/2009

My comect is short.... I really respect barca game but the blame will goes to amature refree and all officials that can not come up with 1 penalty out of 4 fouls which they are clear and seen even with ppl watching at home on there 10inch tv they see it clearly not to talk about ppl on the pict live!!!! The ref and official are all clowns and fargot

Posted by hiddink on 05/08/2009

celebrating a 0-0 at nou camp after cattenachio was understandable, even for a self-respecting team of international captains and millionaire star footballers. but home advantage. one nil up. against 10 men for 25 minutes. and chelsea still played like a bottom-three side would away from home. good riddance, i say

Posted by B on 05/08/2009

Message to Barcelona: STOP CRYING, PLAY ACTING, MOANING TO THE REF, WAVING IMAGINARY CARDS, ETC AND START PLAYING FOOTBALL! This is from your last blog. If Chelsea in general, and Drogba in particular, had done this, they might have won the game. Drogba's drama was why there was so much extra time to begin with. He provided Barca the time they needed to score that goal. And then he curses on live tv in front of millions about it. So sad. I didn't think Drogba could be more of an embarrassment to football after last year's Champions League Final, but he's done it. The only legitimate penalty shout (in this leg) was Pique's handball, but after that ridiculous red card, there was no way a ball to hand penalty would be called. And a pen isn't a sure goal anyway. If there was a conspiracy, Bosingwa would've been called for a pen if the 1st leg against Henry, and Abidal certainly wouldn't have gotten that red in the 2nd leg. Ridiculous sour grapes. You should've defended better.

Posted by hasan on 05/08/2009

The Ref was bad I agree, but his decisions were bad for both sides not just against chelsea as you would have the readers believe. Chelsea had the advantage of an extra man for almost half of the second half, but what did they do. They sat back and allowed Barca to try and create something.
Both the goals were fantastic individual efforts which deserved to send their team through. Everybody is jumping about Barton's behaviour, but what about Ballack and Drogba? The two of them deserve to be punished as strict as the rules allow. They are a disgrace to the game.

Posted by rekk on 05/08/2009

its like you never watched football in your life.
1-0 is never a good score to keep, and never, against barca. and refereeing can always turn bad, how many times have we seen that? trust me, he isnt the worst that ive seen. why do you wanna score with penalties anyway.
and........ haha. its called karma.

Posted by Hash on 05/08/2009

CFC got what they truly deserved. I am a neutral EPL fan and I have found CFC to be revolting and an absolutely disgusting team.
Why they did not get the decisions is thier own doing in my view.. They have a history of going to ground like nancy boys wearing maxi pads.. they are known to intimidate and rant.. so its just pay back and they deserve it.
Drogba is a joke for a footballer... he is just a muppet who falls even if he rubbed next to my 92 year ol grand ma... he should be given one heck of a BAN.
Ballack is no better looking at his past history..
In Terry England let alone CFC have an illeterate goon who acts like a prat and has no class nor character. he is one of the poorest role models. A coomon criminal would be able to be a better role model.

Posted by JohnnyTooBad on 05/08/2009

Lol! OneUnited and Jose, you hit the nail on the head. All the Chelsea fans were calling Barca players "cry babies" after the first game. Seriously, who are the cry babies now? Hypocrisy is far more disgraceful than poor refereeing could ever be. Chelsea and its fans, please try to lose with some dignity because you are giving the whole Premier League a bad name with this behavior. Once again John Terry is the only person with any class.

Oh, and after you cool off, go back and watch the replay again: Malouda flopped in the box, the ball hit Eto'o in the shoulder (same spot exposed when lining up in the wall) as he was trying to get out of the way, and Drogba getting pulled down was almost the exact same play as Henry getting pulled down. Pique's handball was obvious but is was also accidental, i.e., under FIFA rules it's not necessarily a handball.

Football is a game of passion but Chelsea fans need to cool down and realize that the match was poorly refereed for both teams.

Posted by puneet on 05/08/2009

To say that players should not act this way or that when faced with such unbelivable refreeing is just plain stupid. Adrenaline and passion for the club overweigh professionalism when faced with so many unfavourable decisions. Agreed Drogba was at fault for not burying the tie, but that doesnt change the fact that the penalties should have been given and had they been, Chelsea would have made thru. Barca is the more attacking side and it is frustating for their supporters to see a team play so dwefensively, but Chelsea would not have won any other way. They just had to bottle Messi and co which they did admirably till one Ovrebo came and crapped on the pitch

Posted by Red on 05/08/2009

To you conspiracy theorists; if you had even half a brain, you would realise that the best way of avoiding an all English final is not to reduce Barca to 10 men with 20 minutes to play when they're 1-0 down. Fair enough, the ref was poor, but only Pique's handball was clear-cut. And Hiddink claiming it was the worst he'd ever seen. Doesn't he remember how his South Korean team cheated its way to the world cup semis?

Posted by football fan on 05/08/2009

it is hard to accept that when u playing very hard to reach the final, creating chances and the opponent tackling and blocking the ball with their hand as they will and those go unpunished...5 penalty appeals and 3 clear penalties...knowing u being trick all those 95 minutes of play...it is not about not getting to the final...it is about justice...anyone can go crazy when u trying your best to defend, creating chances, score and at the same time the referee denial your right and at the very last minutes the score to knock your team out...and now everyone laughing at you and ask u to shut up and just accept it....THIS IS INSANE!!!

Posted by eraj on 05/08/2009

go back to your blog " BARCA CRY BABIES"

re-write it using Drogba , Terry , Ballack... just change the heading to "CFC THUGS ACT LIKE BABIES"

Posted by Oluwafemi Samuel on 05/08/2009

Congratulations to Barca, though we made them look ordinary, it was an interesting game. We had our chances, we should have taken them and just bury Barca.

The ref, the ref, the ref. The officiating of the game was outrageous. The ref needs to be investigated because I personally think his acts during the game were downright criminal. He is lucky this is not the Jose era.

I hope that as the various footballing authorities are trying to eliminate diving and racist abuse, refs like this should be eliminated from the game

Posted by Dave on 05/08/2009

No excuses only goals count. Bad reffing is only an obstacle to be overcome.
Well barca have to feel that they were just lucky to have survived. They certainly didn't win in a convincing fashion in either leg. In fact they were never able to actually win a match versus Chelsea.
I am sure they will get demolished by Man United. The beautiful style that barca uses is fun to watch versus weak spanish and german defenses, but it simply doesn't work well against the modern football employed by English sides. That has been in evidence now for several years.
I also think Man United will deploy themselves tactically the same as they did versus Arsenal rather than in the overly defensive manner of Chelsea. Pace and pressure that cause turnovers in midfield followed by explosive counterattacking with FINISHING. Manchester is more capable of possessing the ball and passing better.

If Messi was in the PL he would be an afterthought. Ronaldo could have 50 goals a season in Spain.

Posted by FiqTrueBlue on 05/08/2009

I wonder how you guys react when your team face a situation like this. I guess similar reaction? Possible? And for the craphead who said this

''Come on Chelsea, be sporting lah. Don't just lose a match & start blaming the officials. The whole team of Chelsea should be sacked because they are such a disgrace. Gus Hiddink should also be sacked for having such a team.

Chelsea are sore losers.''

What the heck are you talking? Don't just lose match and start blaming officials? The officials should be blame you idiot. Abidal red card and denying Pique handball. You don't know what are you talking about. And we're Chelsea fans are speaking the truth thats why. Done, we're out and we want to tell the world that the referee was in wrong at stamford bridge thats all. Drogba was right for once ''HEY It's a disgrace, a disgrace it's a F****** Disgrace!''

Posted by Omo Eko on 05/08/2009

There shouldnt be shout about who is better among the two teams, the team that qualify is the best among the two? Chikana.

chelsea fans sorry o.

Posted by andy r on 05/08/2009

Leon- learn how to spell Korea dumbass

Posted by Simon on 05/08/2009

Why can UEFA let the opposing teams select/vote for the ref for their matches?

It is because UEFA continues to pick the ref, conspiracy is definitely in the air.

Posted by andy r on 05/08/2009

question 4 HL82- chelsea scored the same number of goals from open play as barca didnt they?

Posted by Nij on 05/08/2009

While the game itself has much room for debate, I think most can agree that the conduct of the Chelsea players was bang out of order. Despite how bad the referee is or how emotional the blues are, such blatant bad behavior cannot be accepted, particularly in the case of Drogba. Badmouthing in front of national tv is not something a high-profile footballer should ever do, especially considering the number of young viewers out there. Thankfully, among all their cheats and thugs, Chelsea have a true model pro in John Terry. Mr. Andy, I cannot believe that you are supporting such actions, and your statement only serves to discredit your entire article. After reading your articles over the two legs, I see nothing nothing more than naive, biased rantings of a blues fan. For the sake of Chelsea, I hope Soccernet finds someone better than this gutter journalist.

Posted by Ro on 05/08/2009

stop whining like a little b****...Man up and accept that your team of overrated stars couldn't kill the game off when they had the chances. Stop crying for penalties and what-if's. also brilliant strategies by your coach Guus to take off drogba when Barca were down to 10 men....u guys must be really proud of your championship winning character........NOT

Posted by b on 05/08/2009

come on Chelsea.
Look at Man U. They pay the ref well.
If you want the same you gotta pay too.
nothing is free, OK ?

Football is not a fair game anymore.

Posted by noah on 05/08/2009

i am a fun of Man' U' but seeing chealsea loose to barca' by the fault of the Ref' is very ignoring and feeling bitter. I wish chealsea to meet my side, Man'U' of course for Man'U' to give them the benefit fo the dought that we score them 5-0. Anyway fight the good fight for the Ref' to be suspended.

Posted by ludwig johnson on 05/08/2009

Very good game but Chelsea is unlucky because one man make worse decision. Chelsea should got 4 penalties but they got zero. For big game like semi final why still have referee like that. Very unbelievable.

Posted by Isk on 05/08/2009

Hey Diablo !! It's not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 penalties thats should be awarded to chelsea, hey, I'm alright with 1 or 2 penalty decisions that the referee made not to award to chelsea since hes also human and he makes mistakes, but this is 4 penalty we talking about and what about the lines man??!! i dont see any reason why the lines man cant see when Pique handled the ball in penalty box, and the referee just 10 to 15 yard out when the ball stuck Eto'o hand.

I guess You had done the same if you were in the Chelsea fans shoes, blaming the referee and i dont know why UEFA apointed him to referee this match,it's should be an italian ref or swiss ref This is just unbelievable.. it's so unfair.

Posted by Olufemi Olubori on 05/08/2009

In a very objective manner: the ref was a f**** disgrace to all, even to Norwaygiens[refs body, nation's league, FA, soccer communities & general populace]. If UEFA still wants to keep the CL 'religiously attractive' to all stakeholders[i.e. fans, spectators, ever strong media, advertisers, etc] then ref like Ovrebo should be discard with otherwise we might find it hard to delete the theory -CONSPIRACY.
All said, CFC remained the uncrowned camp!

Posted by ivan on 05/08/2009

Chelsea deserved to go to Rome...And Barcelona is juz a finalists bacause of a damp referee...I hav never see a such poor refree...If he is killed by a chelsea fans, nobody with sympathise him!!! Drogba and ballack's decision is very good...

Posted by kenechukwu on 05/08/2009

i think ur article is the worst form of hypocisy i've ever withnessed.first u call barca players cry babies and then just aweek later you promote hooliganism in football not to talk of crying more than those you call cry babies.of all ur so called clear penalties,only pique's own was a penalty and if you'd admit that the referee was human enough to wrongfully send off abidal then i don't know what else to tell you about that. Drogba should learn to play instead of always falling to the ground.he had chances to finish off the game but he decided to throw them away.

Posted by shahrizan on 05/08/2009

Your are talking out of emotion. Your ideas are lame, Thornton.You are the real JOKE now and a disgrace for soccernet. Chelsea and Drogba should rather blame themselves for not killing the game off when they have got the chance to do so. Barca deserves to go through with their positive approach to the game. Get this funny article out of here.

Posted by Johny_the Monkey on 05/08/2009

to Franck Tago - Obviously you were watching a diff match as I was when you say Barca deserve to go through. Barca ? 0 shots on target till the 93 min? possesion does not win u games, shots and goals are all that matter. Chelsea have more shots on target than Barca and which part of Barca deserve to go trough I do not know. The only SIN is Drogba failing to score his one on one chance and the ref failed to give us one penalty out of four clear ones. its SICK. The ref have Barca jersey underneath and Michael Planiti tattoed on his balls. nuff said ...

Posted by stables 1 on 05/08/2009

Braca in the end over two legs were the better side most of u are forgetting the first leg in which Chelesa bored the world with their 1950s style of play. You can argue the penalties all u want but the fact here is that CHELSEA PLAYED AGAINST BARCA FOR 40 MINS AGAINST 10 MEN AT HOME AND COULDNT SCORE IN OPEN PLAY! stop blaming the ref and attack and maybe u will make a final. Ill tell u now penalty decsisions aside u play Man Utd at home with 10 men and they wont need to rely on penalty decisions to score. CIAO CHELSEA now we can look forward to A GREAT FINAL IN ROME!!

Posted by Johny_the Monkey on 05/08/2009

the ref was actually making things equal when he sent off a barca player to make it 11 vs 11. coz otherwise its 11 vs 12.

Posted by HELLWITHCHELSEA on 05/08/2009

HEY PUSSIES!!! STILL CANT STOP CRYING?? OMG WHAT A SORE LOSER...GO BACK AND SUCK ON YOUR MUM'S TITS. THIS ARTICLE IS UTTERLY NONSENSE. WRITTEN BY SOME STUPID FAN SUPPORTING A STUPID CLUB. NO WONDER CHELSEA CAN ONLY BE THE THIRD BEST IN ENGLAND. GO SUCK SOME TITS MAN. CONSPIRACY MY ASS!!!!! EVERYTIME CHELSEA LOSE, YOU WILL BLAME THE REF, THE PITCH, THE SUNLIGHT, THE NOISES, THE COMMENTATOR, THE PIZZAS BUT NOT YOURSELF. USELESS FUCKS.

IF YOU HAD ATTACKED EARLIER ON INSTEAD OF PLAYING LIKE SOME BALLLESS BITCHES YOU MIGHT HAVE WON..BLAMING THE REF INSTEAD OF YOUR INCOMPETENCY!!!

OMG TOTAL LOSERS!!!

NO RESPECT AT ALL

LOSER CLUB

LOSER FANS

LOSER ARTICLE

TOTALLY USELESS ASS LICKING PUSSIES

CHELSEA DONT DESERVE ANYTHING. NOTHING!!! MAYBE SOME PANTIES FROM ROMAN ABROMZZZZ. HE IS THE BIGGEST ASSHOLE PUSSY IN CHELSEA AFTER DOGGYBA.

Posted by Jesus on 05/08/2009

the handball at about 60min - definatley a penalty.
drogba's dive - definately not a penalty when two players are giving a bit and one just drops.
the red card - still can't tell what the contact was or how it was done from a couple of metres away.

the funny thing was, after the dubious red card (cos obviously the ref was in barca's pocket), barca were clearly the more attacking team - even if they weren't doing it particularly well. they deserved to get one back because chelsea didnt deserve it with anelka and drogba diving like italians

Posted by HL82 on 05/08/2009

andy r

Yes they did score the same number of goals from open play. My bad. But for 20 mins they played against 10 men and still begging for penalties. Cos they couldn't score anymore? Just sitting back and hoping the ref would eventually grant them the penalties?

Posted by Tito on 05/08/2009

Chelsea had several chances to put that game to bed and blew them. They should have taken the game out of the referees hands. You can argue all day that they deserve to go to the final, but the fact is when faced with the opportunity to win the game, even with a one-man advantage, Chelsea weren't good enough.

Posted by ah_drew on 05/08/2009

To react like how Drogba and Ballack did is just poor human instinct. Every players dream is to reach the champions league final, and when your dream is taken away by extreme poor decsions, tempers will fly for sure..

Can any Man UTD Fans tell me, if that was your team playing against Barcelona and all the decisions was going against u. Can Ronney, Ronald, Anderson and the rest remain calm?? I doubt it... I assume Ronney and Ronaldo will go nuts and would have been sent off at half time based on the refs decisions

Posted by gonner on 05/08/2009

@joel they're goals not points

Posted by Liam on 05/08/2009

Ha Ha, you're taking the p*ss right?

Posted by you what? on 05/08/2009

@richard P " you weren't able to stop him when he had no help at Arsenal "

Bergkamp, Vieira, Pires, Ljungberg, grow up dicksplash

Posted by yonghsin on 05/08/2009

Andy, u're a fucked up correspondent for ESPN Soccernet. Soccernet deserves better.

The fact that u encouraged those actions by the Chelsea players shows how much dignity you have.

Congratulations. Time to grow up, buddy.

Posted by m.u fan on 05/08/2009

im manchester united fan and i think the ref maybe has their own agenda...barca play very bad without henry and i think chelsea deserve to play in the final.

Posted by al-gore on 05/08/2009

When a team cannot play on the other team's half, it doesnt deserve to win. What happened when Barça could not get a single shot, had a man down and were dealing with a two-tier defense? They kept attacking.......bcoz they simply dont resort to tricks

Posted by me on 05/08/2009

most of you cunts dont know what you are talking about. Granted chelsea could and should have had the game done and dusted by 60 minutes except for players inability to finish. but dont forget that those penalty decisions also happened during the cause of the game (it was not after). Yes barca should have had a PK in the first leg and using the same arguement drogba should have had atleast on PK for the same reason in the second leg.The malouda one is debateble.
Let me hear any t*t claim the pique or whatever his name is was not a PK.
And sence when did the excuse that your head was turned the other was and your hand was up in the air in the box an excuse for handling the ball.
Cunts all of you.

Posted by Steve Louis on 05/08/2009

Pique's handball was a stone cold penalty. After that, NOTHING! Drogba went down WAY too easily every time, and the simple fact of the matter is, had he stayed up, he may have been able to score a goal that would have won the game for Chelsea. He is after all, arguably the most powerful player in the world, yet all his strength goes to waste when he simply falls down as he is apt to do. As for Malouda, the contact was clearly fifty fifty, and there probably was a slight foul in the box by Alves, but Malouda simply drops to the ground! Have some pride, man!

I will talk about the red card, however, since you relegated that to about one sentence. Anelka clearly trips over his own legs, and that was a monumental decision clearly in Chelsea's favor. Nice to see the fans ignoring that. Seriously, get some class, some better strikers, and try again next year. Maybe one of these days the Blues can actually win a Champions League.

Posted by Cayden on 05/08/2009

This is directed to all the myopic idiots here who cannot see that an injustice had happened and Chelsea were robbed of a place Champions League final.

Contrary to popular opinion, Barcelona were not the better team in the semi-finals. In the first leg, for all their possession, they could not break down a resolute Chelsea defence. They might even have conceded a goal but for their keeper's heroics to deny Drogba when he was clean through.

At Stamford Bridge, Barca had over a dozen chances and missed every single shot they took except for the one that counted. They passed the book around without purpose. Their players were lost and outmuscled by Chelsea in every challenge. Messi was marked out of the game, and Eto'o looked ordinary. Lampard and Ballack bossed the midfield and in attack Dragba and Anelka tormented the Barca backline, which was absoultely shite. John Terry and his defenders were so untroubled that Petr Cech could have taken a tea break.

Posted by Cayden on 05/08/2009

Chelsea had more goal scoring opportunities in the second leg than what Barca had in both. With a bit more luck and composure, BArca should have been dead and buried. Barca may have been scroing goals for fun but Chelsea outclassed them.

Balance-wise, Chelsea were more balanced than Barca. The Pensioners were strong in EVERY department while Barca could not even keep a clean sheet against a Sunday league side if their lives had depended on it.

Tactically, Chelsea were more flexible than Barca. As Chelsea showed against Fulham, they could attack if they wanted to, and against Barca, they defended excellently, and we are talking about a side that averages over two goals per match in La Liga. In contrast, Barca knew only attack, attack, and attack. They were terribly unbalanced and once Chlesea stopped them playing their pussyfooty game they were basically sitting ducks.

Posted by Cayden on 05/08/2009

In terms of teamwork, Chelsea were seamless. Every man knew his duty and was never caught out of position. EAch supported his fellow admirably. On the otehr hand, Barca's players looked like they met one another for the first time. They couldn't be bothered to pitch in to help a teammate in need, except in, guess what, attack.

Barca should have accused Chelsea for 'parking the bus' in front of the goal. Same goes for the self-styled experts in this forum. What is wrong with playing defensive football? If a team cannot break down a ten-men defence it is their own fault. To blame the team that defends well is irrational. There is NOTHING in the rules to suggest that defending is illegal.

Do you expect Chelsea, or any team to go all out and attack a team with the firepower of Barcelona? It would have been suicidal. Football, is not all about skill. It is also about using your brains, which most of the people in this forum clearly lack.

Posted by Facts vs Hypothesis on 05/08/2009

Facts:
1) Barca deserved a penalty @ Nou Camp. Chelsea deserved a penalty @ S.Bridge (Pique's handball)
2) Referees didn't call both, and indeed were tough calls to make, given their position, viewing angle, and speed of the incidents. Why don't you give it a try in real life.
3) Chelsea scored 1 home goal. Barca scored 1 away goal. Both were in open play.
4) Chelsea played vs 10-men Barca at home for 0.5hr but couldn't score another in open play, and in fact didn't really dominate as a 11-men top team should be able to do against a 10-men (top or non-top) team.

Facts - short, sweet, simple, unarguable (largely).

Posted by Cayden on 05/08/2009

Chelsea had four strong penalty appeals and not one was given. The referee is an imbecile and was undoubtably bought. His performance was astonishing in its ineptitude and he should be red-carded, and banned for life. He is an enemy of football and a shame to his profession. Instead of punishing Chelsea for their righteous anger, UEFA should sack the referee and put him under investigation.

The police escorting him to safety should arrest him for his criminal offences. Chelsea were denied of a place in the final. Barca might have beaten them fair and square, but without the referee they would never had been able to do it.

Chelsea conceded a 'ghost' goal in the 2005 semi-finals and four years later they were robbed again. The fools at UEFA must raelly hate Chelsea.

(By the way, I am not a Chelsea fan. I support Everton.)

Posted by ran_dy on 05/08/2009

Conspiracy!hahah,offcourse it it, The Uefa told Essien to give the ball to Messi and let Iniesta score in 93 minute and said to ballack, please duck to let the ball in. To make the plot even better lets give Abidal a red card. Yeah right.... Cry babies who are #$#@$# cry babies now. U played against 10 men, and still couldn't keep the ball. All the decisions agains barca? hahah...let's not forget the first match guys....

Posted by Facts vs Hypothesis on 05/08/2009

Hypothesis
1) Chelsea COULD have another 2 penalties (Eto'o and slight, SLIGHT contact on a super strong Drogba). Clear cut penalties? Maybe, maybe not. Such scenarios happen aplenty every weekend. Some get called (unjustly so), some do not get called (maybe unjustly so).
2) What if ALL the penalties possible at Nou Camp and the Bridge were given? Could the strikers have missed? Could the keeper have saved?
3) Scorelines would change depending on the above 2 hypothesis. Then the teams would play differently, then the result is really UNPREDICTABLE.

Hypothesis - maybe this, maybe that. all in all, NOT FACTS, end result? UNPREDICTABLE. So Chelsea was not definitely robbed. Barca not definitely deserved to go through. So? just deal with the FACTS.

Otherwise, best way? - replay both ties. illogical, silly, and shldn't even be considered.

I don't see a point in arguing further. But agreed the referees could've been better, then so many MAYBE's wouldn't have come up.

Posted by Amar on 05/08/2009

Yo andy ur so retarded that i dont know what to say... just get a brainwash or something or better get a brain implant.

WOW ur such a moron.. its like u should b in the guiness book of record for the most stupid comments ever.

OMG i still cant belive how retarded u are...WOW!!!...WOW!!!...incredible..

u saw chelski play... and u still defend them? u say they deserved? in rugby maybe!

Dude only the pique hand ball was a pk. it cancels out as henry should have a pk too in first leg... then theres a red card for abidal...

Why do u whine about chelski's misfortunes. barca had the same misfortunes...barca had worst.. Chelsea escaped many yellows.

Chelsea doesnt even deserve to play football.

SO SHUT UP ANDY AS THE BEAUTIFUL GAME DEFEATED THE EVIL EMPIRE OF ANTI FOOTBALL!!!

Man ur a moron...still cant believe that a guy like u exist... take a look into the mirror and try to defend chelsea...u'll see how ridiculous it sounds..

Posted by johnf on 05/08/2009

The best side won - no doubt about it. I have noticed on 3 separate occasions recently that Drogba feigns being knocked out, only to hop up completely unharmed. All the Chelsea players will be gutted, most will also privately think Drogba should stay on his feet and hit the ball cleanly when he's 6 yards out. None of the pen appeals were clear-cut, the sending-off was harsh. If people stopped expecting a penalty when the ball is belted at someone's hand who is stood no distance from the ball, then most of this nonsense would be at an end. Ballack is highly overrated and just looked plain stupid chasing the referee after the supposed handball. I'm English, I wanted Chelsea to win at the start of the night, by the end I was delighted to see Barcelona go through. Suck it up Chelsea; get back the neutral's respect by kicking Drogba and Ballack out, a bigger pair of idiots you'll never see.

Posted by PRO REF on 05/08/2009

AFTER WITNESSING ALL THE RANTING BY CHELSEA PLAYERS AND FANS, I WAS ACTUALLY HAPPY THAT THE REF GOT THEM OUT OF THE FINALS. FROM NOW ON, ALL REFS SHOULD SCREW CHELSEA AND MAKE SURE THEY GET WHAT THEY DESERVE - RELEGATED TO CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT SEASON. HAHAHA! THEN ROMAN WOULD SAY "FUCK IT" AND SELL CHELSEA ON THE CHEAP & THEN IT'S RIP CHELSEA!

Posted by sabato madabe on 05/08/2009

Yap.., myself as a man utd fan i think the decision taken by refs is completely unfair and the chelsea skipper Didier Drogba and his fellow players are right to judge the refs the way they did.

Posted by Brandon on 05/08/2009

(I'm a neutral)
The tackle on Malouda that was called outside of the box was a penalty, and Pique handling the ball was a penalty. However, when the ball played Eto'o's upper arm was not a penalty though, he was trying to turn away from it and the ball played him . I think we can all agree that the referee was terrible. However, it was Iniesta, not the ref, that scored the goal in extra time to put Barca through. That said, Chelsea should have been through anyways.

Posted by joke on 05/08/2009

Poor Chelsea, I really feel for them. 2 clear stone cold penalties waved away by the ref. Guus got his tactics right, but he didn't expect to play against 12 man Barcelona!

Posted by cfc 4lyfe on 05/08/2009

I wonder whether some of these guys commenting have ever played soccer or any other sport. Its so natural for someone to use any means you can to render your enemy harmless to you after all whats counts at the end of a game is the result.so claiming that chelsea didnt deserve to win because they sat back to defend a goal is completely pointless. secondly rules of a game shouild remain at all time like my friend here saying a handball isnt a must to be awarded a penalty. do you remember what happened to chelsea/barcelona at stamford bridge in 2005? why didnt the same happen here ?. its true an all english final is somehow boring but bad reffereeing should be said.

Posted by KAJAIRO on 05/08/2009

I CAN VOTE FOR THIS ARTICLE NEVER TO APPEAR HERE AS SOME OF THESE COMMENTING ARE PRETTY ASSHOLES. MAN IF YOU DONT KNOW SHIT ABOUT THE PREVIOUS CHELSEA/BARCELONA GAME THEN FUCK IT.DONT DESTROY OUR MOODS EVEN MORE.

Posted by Mikey on 05/08/2009

I am liverpool fan. I watched the game and should see reason's why drogba et al could react the way they did. The referee saved the whistle on many occasions against both teams but it turned out that Chelsea are the ones crying out loud.

That the match be replayed ? i don't think it's the solution. its a game and its over. My opinion is that they should be careful how the handle the cases concering drogba and others. anyone could act that way in the face of such treatment. Let Chelsea protect him otherwise he may look at other options. IT CAN'T HAPPEN IN ANFIELD, 'COS YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE.

Posted by Netwhizzer on 05/08/2009

Let me first begin by saying that Barca are the better team over the 2 legs, they proved it, and deserved to go thru.

To be fair to Chelski, they did have 2 very legitimate penalties denied by that 'clown' ref - foul on Malouda which was clearly in the box, and of course that handball by Pique.

But hello, the Blues are playing against 10 men for 20 mins. They could put Barca to the sword. But they sat back... like what they did at the Nou Camp, and were duly punished by a moment of brilliance that is good enough to win any final.

Ballack and Drogba should be given stiff penalties for their pathetic and unprofessional behaviour towards the ref.

And stop all those conspiracy nonsense. Don't bring up another sorry excuse.

Barca are simply better, and they will prove it by beating Man Utd.

I am very sure that most neutrals would love to see a Barca V Man U final rather than a negative Chelsea spoiling the show.

Oh, and Everton are going to win the FA cup...

Posted by ALDORAY on 05/08/2009

U sir are a disgrace and a joke of a journalist. Your bias is so obvious. How u got this job is a miracle within itself. U say Drogba's behaviour was correct. Tell That to the 10 year olds who were watching that game and had to see that type of behaviour and hear that type of language.

Absolute Joke u are

Posted by R Wong on 05/08/2009

To behave like how the Chelsea players did after the match was unacceptable. Yes, the ref may have got a couple of decisions wrong and emotions may be high but that doesn't mean professional players can behave like hooligans. Drogba and Ballack should be slapped with a long bans for their disgraceful acts.

You guys said Barcelona complained too much last week, yet now the pot is calling the kettle black. If Chelsea was good enough to put the game to bed, they wouldn't have to go through all these. 4 screams for penalties wouldn't have mattered much. The fact is Chelsea is not good enough against a below-par 10 men Barcelona. Just not good enough, mate! Learn how to play the game the beautiful way, and know how to lose it the graceful way.....

The team that try to play football deserve to go through....

Posted by heldyhawk on 05/08/2009

While its not professional to react the way that most of the Chelsea players did, its also not professional to perform in the poor matter in which that ref did. Everyone of my friends who watched that game ( most as neutrals) felt that Chelsea repeatedly were right to ask question of the ref for the various incidents in the box. Drogba got pulled and tripped down( regardless of what you think of him, thats a penalty on a clear scoring chance), Pique used his hand in an unfair manner to stop the ball (that he didn't intend it means he doesn't get a red card, but its still a penalty), Malouda got taken down, he could have gone down outside the box (it was actually surprising he didn't) but he played strong and stayed up-penalty.. and the ballack shot at the end- et'to turned his back but still stuck this arm out away from his body in an attempt to enlarge himself- thats a penalty for using your arm to create an unfair advantage...

Posted by Man U on 05/08/2009

I'm a Man U fan but i do beleive chelsea were hard done by
It doesn't matter if Drogba missed all his chances
The ref still made some very bad calls which made Chelsea lose.
And Chelsea might not play beautiful football like Barca and all they do is defend...
It doesn't mean they don't deserve to win.
I mean defending is still part of the game, and if they want to defend and that tactic works i see nothing wrong with that.
So I do beleive Chelsea should have won in the end... but life sucks... end.
p.s. GO MAN U!!!!!!!

Posted by sdavis on 05/08/2009

the bottom line is chelsea didn't put the ball in back of the net......all of us one time or another has bad refs......if you can't finish at this level of play you get what u get.........
ManU will spank barca........and show the world that the Premiership is the BEST!

Posted by sdavis on 05/08/2009

Posted by perfect footbal on 05/08/2009

i see most ppl react to penaltys and i will tell few words if u dont scores on away matches u are looser and if u are only playing defnece u are also looser. Chelsea with hidding did that mistake coz if u will strip 50% this denfence u are dead with barca attack they were playing without Marquez , Puyol , Henry red card with no reason Abidal and they are such crappy team that was looking only for penalty.

Posted by Godfrey Perry on 05/08/2009

This match became a travesty early, the referee is certainly at fault here in my opinion, as He failed to take control early on and made late calls that became questionable as a result.
Drogba's behavior was a shameful display as a professional and he should have been cautioned early on, he went down twice in confrontations that at best could have have gone either way, (a penalty is given for a take down in the box if the defenses did not play the ball first and or if contact with the attacker denied a clear goal scoring opportunity. It was questionable if either of those incidents meet the standards, and for him to have been that demonstrative in dissent warranted a caution.
This referee’s indesive approach contributed to an atmosphere that could have resulted in angry protest from which ever team suffered the lost, consider the red card on Abdial which was both inept and inconsistent. Chelsea had a hard loss with some bad calls, but they got no worse that Bara. the difference?

Posted by Vidyasagar on 05/08/2009

To those claiming this to be a victory for beautiful football, THIS WAS NOT. It was a moment of shame and disgrace for football. Barca qualified not because of their football, but because the refereeing decisions denied the more-effective & efficient team the win. Claiming this to be a victory of the beautiful game, is endorsing the referee's decisions. In this game, Chelsea created the better chances, and should have won by a margin humiliating for Barca. But they did not, in part because of their own lack of finesse. What Barca displayed was long periods of needless possession, with no depth in attack, no penetration, and untill the last moment, no shot on target. Chelsea clearly deserved to win. That it did not, and because of what happened, is a sad tale for football. It would have been the beautiful game's victory, if AND ONLY IF Barca had repeated their Bernabeau performance.

PS: In case u think I am a Chelsea fan, I hate Chelsea. But I feel feel sorry & disgusted at that.

Posted by udickheads on 05/08/2009

You know wat...all u losers up dere...juz forget it ok, wat has passed has passed so move on but chelsea should have won...Pple talkin about henry's Pk in da 1st leg, it wasnt even a penalty...It was da same situation wif xabi alonso on the UCL quater final 2nd leg.....He was backin into our player & tactically we were better though not technically but we did our job well except to score goals....True, drogba missed all da chances n had he scored this would not happen but da referee was partly at fault too....If they reverse the fletcher decision than fuck u UEFA cause somehow i feel tat everything has been planned to gib United an easier task in da final....United got da easiest path to the final n to add more barcelona will be without abidal n alves tat means they dont hab any reliable fullbacks available....I guess though barca went to da final wif onli one shot on target at stamford bridge but still luck is not wif u on the day of the final, but i will still support barca...

Posted by Jason on 05/08/2009

You Andy, and all the ESPN analysts are a joke. Are you seriously going to defend a Chelsea team's "4 penalty appeals". Give me a break, you are all professionals and yet you only seem to want to make a bigger deal of this. It is heartbreaking yes and if it were to happen to Barcelona I would be furious as well. Furious with my team that is. Its a joke that ALL of you analysts just gloss over the red card to Abidal. Are you serious?? How big is playing away from home a goal down and yet another defender down and as you say so yourself, against a more physical team? Yet with TEN men Barcelona came back. Did Xavi, Eto'o and the other leaders of Barcelona jump on the ref? NO, they kept playing and got the goal they had fought for 180 plus minutes! I would be furious at an 11 man team being utterly dominated. I must also laughingly tell you Chelsea fans that PIQUE was playing as a midfielder in the dying minutes and still you could not score or get shots off! You lost the game not the ref!

Posted by TopBallocks on 05/08/2009

Chelsea were clearly robbed. They should have had at least 2-3 penalties. I'm a Leeds fan and this reminds me of some of the European games where Leeds were cheated years ago. I don't think this referee will be allowed to ref again. It's even more ironic when Barcelona go through after only managing one shot on goal the whole game. For all their accolades they are really not that good. Football can be cruel at times. I agree that many Chelsea players have attitude issues but it was gut wrenching to see such an unfair outcome to that game. Terry showed a lot of class by shaking hands with them in their dressing room.

Posted by richard on 05/08/2009

Sand in the pussy mate? Does it hurt? If your forward could finish the sitters it would have been an easy win. ONE hand ball was clear (Pique); it Eto's was a handball so was Ballack's starting the game; if Drogba's fall in the area was a penalty, so was Messi's.
Stop your crying. It appears that ref is one thing your owner's money can't buy.
HA HA.

Posted by crackloosemad on 05/08/2009

A disgraceful article.. Such a conduct of the players must never be supported..
You claim 4 "clear cut" penalties, but I think only 2 were..
1) Malouda's foul, i think should not have been a penalty.. He still had his left foot outside the box when he went down, and it was a very very soft foul.. i think that was an awesome decision by the ref..
2) Drogba - Abidal tussle.. That might have been a penalty, but I think Drogba's notoriety for diving denied him that..
3) Pique's handball.. Clear-cut Penalty.. But no card, as it was inadvertent..
4) Eto'o's handball.. NOT a penalty, and I need not give reasons, mate.. Being such an avid soccer follower, you should know that can't be called as penalty..
And if you think the Toure's tackle was a penalty, well watch the replay again... He got the ball first, and subsequently drogba went down..

Posted by george on 05/08/2009

Of course you man u supporters are happy Chelsea are out, Barca's going to be missing their back four for the final. Oh and I have never heard Man u cry foul,rooney has never thown a hissy fit (sure)If the shoe was on the other foot I wonder what you would be saying (CRYING). Yes the behavior of Drogba And Ballack was over the top but what do expect you just got cheated out of the final where a revenge match was at hand. And some of you are right Chelsea should have put the game away on some poor finishing but that does not excuse the refs bad perfomance. Maybe he should do the final and see if could redeem himself at man u's expense. remember the fa cup semi final against Everton what was the problem OH it was the pitch that caused you to fail to score. And who park what bus in front of goal in the second leg did you Arsenal fans even watch the game or were still continplating suicide. you guys are the bigest underachievers in English football.

Posted by Ricky on 05/08/2009

Chelsea should really stop blaming the referee alone and try and kill off games better... they themselves should be down to 10 men in every match due to Drogba's irritating diving habits...
anyways its great to see the 2 best teams currently meet in a UCL final...

Posted by The Observer on 05/08/2009

I have watched the preview for several times. For me, the referee was right not to give any penalty. The two handball incidents were rubbish because the ball bounce from the ground to Pique's right hand and he was not even facing toward the Chelsea player; Eto'o was turning toward goal when Ballack strike the ball and they were about a metre apart. Drogba lose control of the ball and stumbled when he went past Abidal; that was not a penalty. The Malouda - Alves incident was soft as well, they were sprinting and their momentum causes Malouda to lose control of the ball. Alves was tracking Malouda and looking at the ball. You can bump to anyone when you are running at that speed. Anyway they were awarded a free kick, and did Drogba takes advantage? No, he should have let someone else take it and he should have been waiting for the ball in the six yard box.Barcelona were the better team after Abidal was sent off.Chelsea have themselves to blame for poor finishing.

Posted by brian on 05/08/2009

just because there's "FOUR penalty appeals" doesn't mean any were actual penalties. I'd say one out of the four was a pen, 1 would be in the "seen them given" bracket, the rest are just clutching at straws being honest. if i'd a pound for the amount of times i've seen john terry throwing himself in front of a shot with his arms out blockin the ball i'd be a rich man.

Posted by Chris on 05/08/2009

Andy Thornton ur a clown urself if u say that it should have been a penalty at the death. I've had a close look at those replays and it struck him in the upper arm which would even hardly warrant for a penalty and secondly it was unintentional anyway he did not deliberately raise his hand to the ball. Andy if you think that the referee was a disgrace then maybe you should have a dose of your own medicine and try referee a top class match without making errors and then you will really see how difficult it is. So in the mean time SHUT UP and stop writing ridiculous articles like these!!! If you got anything to say to what I"ve just written then email me back it's right there. Your bullshit ammuses me and honestly I would love to see you referee a match and get your head smashed in, then you will know what it is like to be a referee hounded by fans!!! idiot!!

Posted by Angela on 05/08/2009

Cheslea had every opportunity to score a second, and didn't. You're saying that the final score should ride on the ref's decision! No! The final score rides on how well the game is played, and how well opportunities are taken! If the ref doesn't give a team a penalty, play harder!

A 1-0 lead with a chance of away goal is not a guaranteed win, obviously. Chelsea had every chance to make a second goal, and blew it. Quit whining, please.

Posted by SB on 05/08/2009

As much as the ref provided a really bad game, that still does not take away from the fact that Chelsea DID allow a 93rd minute goal through. Everyone seems to forget that minor detail....It sucks, but deal with the consequence of letting in a late away goal.

Posted by The Observer on 05/08/2009

The Chelsea players and Chelsea have themselves to blame if anything happen to the Norwegian referee. The players were overreacted and were showing their frustration in front of their fans in the stadium and World wide. If this referee got kill, no one would want to officiate these Barcelona - Chelsea match in the future. UEFA should ban Chelsea from playing in the Champion League next season. John Terry (started the protest after the match), Drogba, Ballack and Bosingwa should get atleast five matches ban next season for their parts which ignited violence and the death threat. I would like to applaud Ashley Cole, Malouda and those who did not participate in the after match angry scene. If I m the next Chelsea manager, I will sell Drogba; one of their backroom staff tried to hold him and his reaction was a disgraced as if he is untouchable. Chelsea should fine these players and Roman Abromvich should sent his bodyguards to look after the referee 247.

Posted by Simon Mac on 05/08/2009

Not a great fan of Chelsea, but have to say I think you were hard done by, and I'm sorry to say i think a repeat final was out of the question to some parties...if you know what I mean.

Posted by Simon Mac on 05/08/2009

Not a great fan of Chelsea, but have to say I think you were hard done by, and I'm sorry to say i think a repeat final was out of the question to some parties...if you know what I mean.

Posted by Thea on 05/08/2009

Your write what if it was Man-U were playing Barcelona and Chelsea were in the final, Man united lost with 4 or 5 penaltys not given at all.Dont you think Man-U would be furious!
This is a disgrace.UEFA people trying not to let two english teams in the final again!!
Thats tough if Man-U and Chelsea ar better than the whole of Europe. It is outrageous.

Posted by Shaantanu Shankar on 05/08/2009

Andy....i read your blog last week....it was crap....this week its utter bullshit as well....but now its so bad that i need to comment on it..I honestly dont think you saw the game properly because if you did you would know that Chelsea lost the tie because Drogba did not have the composure to score a single goal over the two ties...Thats why Chelsea are not going to Rome.
One more point, when a Chelsea player has a pathetic game do you think he deserves the treatment you would like to dish out to Ovrebo. Well guess what Ovrebo had a bad day at the office and it happens even to the best of us(Lampard was impotent in both legs, so why dont you get into his face instead of the referee)......F***** tool

Posted by Tobun on 05/08/2009

Its amazing what most naive people can say cos its not their team that lost to a clown of a ref. What Chelsea stuck to was a game plan, and it just show with good defence tactics, Gladiola's Barca are nothing. If Chelsea played horrible football, so how beautiful were the scoring chances of Barca with just one shot at goal. Give it to the guys, they worked hard on the their defence and attack leaving the midfield for messi n his toddlers, who couldnt move. We aint R.Madrid, neither are we Bayern Munchen. Master tactician, Guus impressed Gladiola so much he had to go ask for some fatherly advise only to come to a press conference to say he 'never gave hope'. We lost to the referee and UEFA PERIOD!

Posted by Dan on 05/08/2009

I'm a die hard Chelsea fan and this really hurt. At the same time I figured Barca would score at some point. I just wish it happened earlier. But the truth is if Barca did not have their man sent off the wouldn't have had the determination to score their goal and Chelsea would not have gotten complacent. Simple as that. All the other calls that robbed Chelsea of THREE goals were mostly make ups for that one stupid call. Make-up calls never work. The ref should be fired. I'll take the loss if that man admits that he failed.

Posted by James Emmanuel on 05/08/2009

I really want UEFA to understand that chelsea played a good football but the bad ref man want us down but I believe the God of soccer will make him die.
We are not happy in africa and we shall send bad thing to the bad man called ref and he will see it next week this is our promise from Ghana and it shall come to pass. No Rome for Chelsea No Peace for the Ref. and where He is.

Posted by James Emmanuel on 05/08/2009

Posted by kkb on 05/08/2009

The referee was too much of a disgrace. They should not review anything else apart from the referee's conduct from the beginning to the end. Drogba should not be penalized if the coach is not penalized as well. They should have a margin or criteria to measure a referee's performance and have a disciplinary action to that

Posted by cry_about_it on 05/08/2009

Maybe if Drogba would try to score in open play instead of pretending he's on the swim team then chelski would be through to Rome.
unfortunately they insist on playing negative football no matter the circumstances.
Seriously, who pulls everybody back when the other team has 10 men, and STILL lets them score!? Stop crying about the officiating and get on with life.

Posted by William on 05/08/2009

Hey Andi, your uneducated and barbarian comments should deserve a sacking. You are so not qualified to be a correspondent. Why don't you ask Drogba just to punch the ref. Chelsea had just done it again. May be everytime a ref gave a decision against your team, you put a bullet through his head. Shut up and get on with life.

Posted by Luke Berlin on 05/08/2009

Drogba and Terry's actions were inexcusable. While I agree the officiating was awful the way those "professionals" behaved was a disgr4ace to not only Themistocles, but the game of football.
The real argument here is not who's style of football is better, but who's idea was the away goal system?!? These games should go to extra time and perhaps penaltys if needed. The teams that went down on away goals have my sympathy.
Good luck Barcelona and Manchester Utd, give us fans an exciting final!

Posted by hameed on 05/08/2009

yes, admit barca is good but how many chances do they create in the march that saw chelsea creating most of the chances if not for the woeful performance of the ref that could not even give only one out of the six penalties.And for uefa, it is obvious that they dont want to see all english team at the final again and that is why they communicate with the slugish ref to wave all the penalties chances away because they know a lone goal is not reliable and they that is the foolish ref give five minute as extra time, but good luck to barca that they did not disapoint uefa on thier late goal that took them to the final because uefa as already predict barca and liverpool at the final and they see the team that eliminate liverpool to have eliminate barca too so they count it as impossible that why they appoint that norwegian referee to officiat the march.though we do pay for how mistake of missing chances but haden being the ref as given one of those penalty it would have being 2-1.

Posted by ken ken on 05/08/2009

TO HIS HIGHNESS THE KING OF FOOTBALL HIS EXELLENCY SEPP BLATTER AND THE SUBS UEFA. IF THIS IS NOT THE WITNESS OF HOW REFS SPOIL THE GAME THEN ITS A CONFIRMATION OF HOW REFS HATE THE TEAM THEY ARE APPOINTED TO OFFICIATE. YOU HAVE THOUSANDS OF DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS AGAINST THE PLAYERS AND THEIR CONDUCT IN THE FIELD. MY QUESTION IS WHAT DISCIPLINARY ACTION DO YOU HAVE FOR THIS REF BEFORE YOU GIVE VERDICT TO DROGBA AND THE REST? LETS BE FAIR AND WHEN IT COMES TO FIELD JUSTICE IM NO NONSENSE AND FRIEND OF NOBODY I STAND WHERE JUSTICE IS. FISRT MALOUDA FOUL INSIDE BOX PENALTY DENIED, HANDLING IN THE BOX ARMS UP NOTHIN WAS CALLED , MANY FOUL PLAY PLAY ON SAY THE REF. IS THIS THE KIND OF FOOTBALL PLAYED IN NORWAY? IF YOU ARE FAIR ENOUGH UEFA ACT AS HUMAN AND SIT DOWN WITH THE REF , THE COACHES OF BOTH TEAMS AND CAPTAINS WATCH THE APPEAL PIECES AND HAVE A CLEAR TALK B4 GIVING OUT PUNISHMENT AND TELL ME WHETHER CHELSEA PLAYERS DID WHAT WAS RIGHT. TO ME IS CHELSEA IN THE FINAL BY HEART.

Posted by Hmmm..... on 05/08/2009

This is hilarious! Chelsea aren't in the final because of one man. Right... Chelsea aren't in the final because 11 men couldn't hit the back of the net (probably because their egos and sense of entitlement kept getting in the way) and properly finish their chances.

Maybe instead of acting like primadonnas every time a decision doesn't go their way, they could actually focus on doing what they need to do. Then they might actually be in the final. Oh well. As the saying goes, "you can't fix stupid."

Posted by christopher neve on 05/08/2009

i am amazed by all the idiotic comments on how barca deserved to go through. i am a diehard man u fan and don't care either way, but it was one of the worst officiated games i have seen in my life and the worst at that level of play. one can always second guess tactics and execution on the pitch, but in the end, barca scored an unlikely lucky goal and dodged at least 3 obvious penalties due to cruelly inept officiating. i do believe uefa are happy w/ the outcome but don't believe a consipiracy. the red for abidal was as bad as the rest. i liked my red devils' chances before but w/ the barca players missing and the way they played the other night, man u could end up mauling them. GO UNITED! GLORY, GLORY, GLORY!!

Posted by Greg on 05/08/2009

You are giving all Chelsea supporters a bad name. I suggest you just STOP writing! You're keyboard should be taken away. I'm a Chelsea supporter and I really think you're an idiot.

Posted by igor on 05/08/2009

stop complaining!!! Chelsea didn't lose because of the referee|! They lost because they didn't kill ofo the game when they had the clear advantage. And Hiddink still substitued drogba when barcelona was playing with ten men!!!!

p.s - Liverpool lost to sao paulo because sao paulo's goalkeeper played wonderfully.

Posted by brian on 05/08/2009

BARCELONA VS MANUTD IN THE FINAL.GET OVER IT CHELSEA.YOU GUYS HAD THE CHANCE BUT SCREW IT UP...

Posted by jddwd on 05/08/2009

swdACscSCDASC

Posted by sherr on 05/08/2009

HEY ANDY...YOU MORON GET A LIFE...You are the one who complained against Barca that they r "Cry babies" in ur last article...WOW! who is the Cry Baby now??!!...stop whining when you cant beat a 10 men team at ur own ground...Its not referee its ur own Technique...go complain your daddy about Guss Hiddink for his tactics...listen, Referee's decisions went also against Barca in 1st leg & also in this match...You had many chances you couldnt score...u were very very defensive in all game...why u complain so much??!...try to solve ur own team & pathetic players like Drogba & Ballack...millions of people watched this game, there r supporter from Barca and other teams watched this game...ur players were disgrace, no one else, who do u think u are? everybody knows who played better football...You are a sole looser no doubt...stop this crying.

Posted by anthony on 05/08/2009

Please...I liked Chelsea, but after Wednesday night, no way! Chelsea didn't DESERVE to go to the final any more than Barca. It was a stark contrast in style, but one always had the feeling Chelsea were desparately holding on. Even with 10 men Barca dominated the ball and kept going forward. Chelsea's tactic was kick Barca out of the park, and clearly looked the bully. I only witnessed one penalty, sure. But Drogba's dives were ridiculous. The two handballs were intentional. In the end, this was poetic justice...one of the times when beautiful technical football out does the negative brutish football. No hollywood script could have been written better.

Posted by Emeka on 05/08/2009

Now Chelsea knows what it means to be robbed by the REF.. I remember sometime last season when A certain team called Arsenal played Liverpool in the Quaterfinals of the UCL. Arsenal has two crucial penaty decisions go against them: One on Alexandria Kleeb who was brought down in the penalty box; No penalty was not given in first-leg, the second on Ryan Babel who was fouled but staggered until he got into the penalty box & fell resulting in the Penalty Kick against Arsenal (the worst peice of acting I have seen outside those of C. Ronaldo & Drogba) in the return-leg.
Chelsea should stop crying & accept defeat. if they had not played negative football even against ten men me thinks the outcome would have been different. These things happen in football & that is what makes it the best sport in the world- The WHAT-IF FACTOR????????

Posted by Stoic on 05/08/2009

CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME THOSE THAT WERE PLAYING FOR CHELSEA. WHERE THEY PROFESSIONALS OR VILLAGE COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOYS, WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF "FOOTBALLING"... Shame to Thornton or is it Stunt-ton. Man, just resign from your job. You are no better...

Posted by Yong Vibol on 05/08/2009

It was not fair for Chelsea!

Posted by SleepyAlligator on 05/08/2009

To quote your article from the first leg, telling Barcelona to stop whining, I say to you and Chelsea "STOP CRYING, PLAY ACTING, MOANING TO THE REF, WAVING IMAGINARY CARDS, ETC AND START PLAYING FOOTBALL!"

Man that stings!!

Posted by Michael S on 05/08/2009

I will start by saying Chelsea proved over the two legs that they could do what no other team could do. Keep Barca at bay for 180 minutes of football.
Wait a minute now lets just say, yes, Chelsea used a very defensive tactic in the first leg, but excuse me United Fans, but you go on all out attacking spree against Barcalona (at Home and tell me the final result?
It can't be done. the Fact that Chelsea to proved in the second leg that they were the far more better team with the best chances, penalty appeals, limiting Barcalona to long range shots and not a shot on goal tell the 93rd minute just shows, that Chelsea was the better team not only in home game but the away game as well.
Ugh(sigh) I still wonder myself as an to why no penalties were called? Maybe the referee's thesae days are afraid to make big calls in a big game because they don't want to stel the show like some referee, but if thats the case then your stealing the show by not giving making any clear and good decsions!

Posted by gentry on 05/08/2009

youre a clown. drogba fluffed several chances to score.

Posted by mancak on 05/08/2009

A replay?

How old are you Andy? It's a surprise soccernet has such an immature correspondent as you.

You're a disgrace to Chelsea.. But wait, i guess everyone in Chelsea is just like that!

Posted by ravi on 05/08/2009

I think the chelsea fans should rewatch the game the only person you have to blame is Drogba, he didnt put away his chances rolled around everytime a barca player came within 2 feet of him and all his play acting was the reason all the time was added on at the end allowing inesta to put the goal in.

I must say i am happy i wont have to watch drogba and the rest of chelseas stupid acting in the final. Man U v. Barca should be great

Posted by wan on 05/08/2009

No problem Chelsea..''Yesterday is mystery but tomorrow is history..CL not like a world cup..so prepare well and do it again next year..

Posted by stewart on 05/08/2009

let's face it, no one wants to see chelsea and their playacting antics in the finals

Posted by Gringol on 05/08/2009

You chelsea guys are a bunch of CRY BABIES. The BETTER team won. Why don't you whine about the two clear cut penalties in the first leg OR the fact that Ballack wasn't red carded in that match. Why don't you whine about Ballack's hand ball in the fifth minute of the second leg? Or that Drogba wasn't sanctioned for diving. That Anelka wasn't sanction either for diving and had Abidal unjustly sent off. Poor sportsmanship from a bunch of poor losers from a POOR TEAM. You like criticizing catenaccio in England but now I see it is because your teams can't pull it off. CRY BABIES.

Posted by joe on 05/08/2009

if i had d chance, frist d ref will be lock up for good 5 years for selling a big clud like chelsea and uefa god will pay dey back for what they didto us.

Posted by joe on 05/08/2009

pls i what to konwn where d ref live

Posted by arjy on 05/08/2009

let me say first and foremost im a man utd fan but i have to say that being a utd fan or not chelsea were robbed. I mean there is alot of talk about uefa not wanting to english teams in the final and we know that michel platini has publicly spoken out against english clubs.
To be honest to me it seems like the ref was drunk.. i mean abidals red card was a joke but he shudda got sent off when he took out drogba in the box so go figure.
Admittedly if drogba scored then we wouldnt be having this debate but i do feel that if its proven that no conspiracy has taken place then that ref should immediately retire and count himself lucky that he got of stamford bridge at all.
As a utd fan im glad barca got through because i think defensively chelsea are a better team than barca but really that game was a complete joke and uefa need to give us some proof that they didnt have an agenda against an all english final

Posted by Kevin on 05/08/2009

As a devout chelsea fan, i was shocked at the finish and definitely felt that we should have gone through, but you have to be respectable and decent. Blaming the referee over the match is ridiculous and ridiculing him to this extreme is disheartning. I agree we should have had a PK several times and that most calls including abidal's red card were ridiculous. Barcelona played great till the end and we failed to score (drogba's 2 attempts on goal) and defensive failure (bosingwa's failed clearance). Barcelona should savor their miracle and we Chelsea fans will wait yet another year to see ourselves as european champions. It's rather harsh to put blame on a very dramatic and competitive game.

Posted by doug on 05/08/2009

As I live in Canada I saw both games on television with all it's possible distortions. I agree that Chelsea was robbed in Game 2 but Barca seem to have got the same treatment in Game 1. The real travesty here is that two awful referees were appointed to run two such important games. The suspensions should include a lifetime red card for the person who made these two decisions.

Posted by doug on 05/08/2009

Posted by donald flores on 05/08/2009

that ref should get shot in the mouth so he can learn how to blow a wistle and BARCA SHOULD NOT BE IN THE FINAL

GO CHELSEA!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE REAL WINNERS

Posted by ryan on 05/08/2009

all these points are really well placed, being a chelsea supporter the actions that ballack and drogba did were unprofessional as a soccer player myself i think i would have done the same thing. i mean in the heat of a big game not calling those penalties shifts momentum greatly. it gets in players heads that nothing can go good for them so as noticed drogba choked on the easy shot i think i could have produced on and in a way i have to say it was chelsea who brought about their downfall there is not much we can do about it there will be no rematch so just worry about next year

Posted by deen on 05/08/2009

Please let us move forward... Chelsea it is over, accept that you do not deserve to be in Rome. Anyways guys, you are Lucky, because a final with a team like MU,there is no match and i am sure the game will be over before it starts,just like the Arsenal game. Plus now at least we can watch some good football in the final, although, frankly Man U will win big, as they are the greatest football team.
So all i can say better luck next time, i think you lost your chances and i am sure you will not smell a final for a long time. Just watch MU get's better and better. Liverpool fan's and others think that next year things will change and get and there will be a new leader. I say: wait and see, we will best again and never stop breaking records..........
Champions all the way........

Posted by andy r on 05/09/2009

HL82

yeah man we did sit back and try to hold on to the 1-0 lead. but those penalties were there to be paid and the ref didnt have the guts to pay us one of them... abidal getting sent off was just a bigger disgrace.. anelka tripped over himself.. proving the ref couldnt get anythig right

Posted by andy r on 05/09/2009

to the guy who wrote hellwithchelsea-
RELAX YA FRICKEN PHSYCO

Posted by rg on 05/09/2009

30 F-in mins and one guy up. How much help do Chelsea need to win a match? .. But ref.. we should have won.. dont let them score in the 93rd!
Bitches!

Posted by ovie chelsea4 life on 05/09/2009

i want to support the writer's point of argument,i believe the match was fixed by the so called uefa because they never wanted to see an all English final.my question is that why would they publish the score of the match before they ever played? though, Chelsea squandered a lot of chances but that does warrant the sycophant ref to deny them of their rights during play.i don't think the players should be punished for their actions the incapable ref caused it all.'for every action there is always a reaction' i hope this dies not happen in the finals? platini and his so called executives are envious of that fact that the English teams are always in the last four. 'THE IS A SHAME TO THE ROUND LEATHER GAME'

Posted by eurofifa on 05/09/2009

Its sad to see all these chelsea fans cry about how there team was cheated out of a victory. So upset that you can't see straight. Sorry Andy Thornton but I have to disagree totally a far as 4 penalties. if any only 1 was and that was the hand ball that went straight to the hand of pique. Malouda's little dive on the edge of the box was not even a foul, he aswell was pulling on the player and drastically let himself go. Agreed tho that the ref was terrible but on both sides of the pitch. many horrible stupid calls. Bet in the end well deserve ending because the victory went to the team that actually played and not the one that sat back and waited. If it wasnt for that early goal the story would have been very different because chelsea was afraid to push there lines forward and create those spaces for Barca and all you chelsea fans know it. Chelsea did not take advantage of there only clear chances and barcelona took care of there only way of drawing the game.

Posted by k on 05/09/2009

This blog is a joke and I hate to keep seeing it come up on soccernet every time I come on. I understand that you're trying to stir up controversy or "just speaking like a fan would," but it's annoying. Chelsea were playing at home, but still packed it in after scoring in the first 15 minutes. Watch other soccer games: when teams pack it in so early, especially against a team like Barca, they're asking for it. And they didn't even attack when they were up a man. I'm glad I don't have to sit through another Chelsea borefest in the final...

oh, and:
"He should have been arrested by his police protectors who had to get him to the airport - because his decisions were criminal!"

...your jokes are almost as boring as your team man

Posted by dontplaywit Chubby on 05/09/2009

any of you at the bridge should be ashamed of yourselves. even as an arsenal fan, i would have climbed through quietly, met that scum of a ref and slapped him like 10 times...seriously. you guys shold have injured that guy if you were there. you all should have fought for drogba, terry and the rest. shame on UEFA if they even entertained that man's report.they should undo all the cards he doled out on grounds that he performed so poorly. its time to start asking questions of the refs and reviewing their decisions correctly. chelsea had 6 penalties turned down. no justice was done.

Posted by Blair on 05/09/2009

Chelsea are a joke they played like animals in the first leg, you want to call this round a conspiracy to stop the all english final... why then was theiry henrys clear penalty denied??? and second chelsea had a call for 1 penalty not 4 , the malouda alves thing was a childish altercation with malouda clearly going to ground right when he got in the area , the so called hand ball on eto.. well wow it hit him on the back coming close only to his shoulder not his hand. as for the Drogba well he has earned his reputation as the biggest coward in the game for his side refs no longer take his appeals seriously so at most you had 2 calls for penaltys grown up chelsea played terrible football and earned their lose flat out

Posted by Jek on 05/09/2009

Hypocrite

Pronunciation: \ˈhi-pə-ˌkrit\

Function: noun

: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs

Posted by ameer on 05/09/2009

I have a friend who was the Fifa national referee for australia, his thoughts when asked about the bad refereeing were simply this.

1. The only call he would question was maloudas runs into danny alves into the box. Then again the ref took the penalty from the initial contact made outside the box, not when malouda feel inside the box.

2. Pique's handball : Not a penalty if the ref believed it wasn't intentional. Just because the ball touched his hand doesn't mean its a foul.

3. Eto'o handball. Not a chance. Player had his back towards play, and the arms as a means of protecting himself.

Posted by DeAnO on 05/09/2009

There's no conspiracy at all. If there is, why Barcelona's goal is not cheoreographed from a penalty then? At least it's not like how Australia lost to Italy in World Cup 2006 where the former conceded a dubious penalty decision which virtually was the last kick of the game.

Look at Iniesta's goal. Not many players who can hit the ball on his outside foot, engineer a decent height, and beat a world-class goalkeeper such as Cech in the dying minutes of a game.

Anyway, the Chelsea players simply 'lost' it. If so many decisions really did go against them, why had Barcelona not surrounded the referee regarding the ridiculous Abidal sending off? The ball clearly changed direction after Abidal's challenge.

I mean, you just have to admit it is an up-hill task when it's 10 vs 11. So give the spanish side due credit for not giving up Mr Thornton. And stop supporting losers who do not lose with grace. Period.

Posted by Ben on 05/09/2009

i agree d ref wasn't up to d standard. but cry babies could u stop crying already? blaming anyone after a game wouldn't change anything. why didn't anyone protest bout d ref before d game. i'm sure someone from both club would know the ref in charge of d game at least a day before kick off right? and if it has been 7 years since d last uefa game d ref has handled, then surely someone can challenge d credibility of d ref. why must after d game then everyone complaining? ref r human as well. they make mistake. if drogba is considered as an international world class professional footballer then d ref is a world class ref as well. and can someone please tell ballack that d back of one shoulder is not part of a person hand. but it is sure fun to watch players who was paid over 100k per week acting like bunch of monkeys just because they couldn't do what they were paid to do. winning games and be a professional athletes.

Posted by Aaron on 05/09/2009

Hi guys, Liverpol fan here. If it was a conspiracy, why did the ref send the Barca player off? Not arguing about penalty decisions. At least one was definitely valid. But it wasnt a conspiracy. It's what happens at this level when you don't kill a game off. I hope Barca win now.

Posted by BarcaSoci on 05/09/2009

I am a member of FC Barcelona, and I am willing to admit that we were very lucky to get away with a 1-1 draw. For all our possession, Peter Cech was not troubled until Iniesta's late chance. The claim that four penalties should have been awarded is excessive, but the Pique handball was definitely a penalty.

However, the Abidal send off was also an appalling decision. He didn't even touch Anelka. How can Chelsea fans claim the existence of a UEFA conspiracy when this dreadful decision forced Barcelona to play the final half hour with ten men?

And, as a few of my fellow posters have pointed out, you should not forget the manner in which Chelsea eliminated Barcelona from the Champions League in 2005. Ricardo Carvalho held back Victor Valdes, and thus prevented him from stopping John Terry's goalbound header. Poor refereeing cost Barcelona then, just as poor refereeing cost Chelsea now. It's called the rub of the green.

Posted by Steven on 05/09/2009

Well, I can totally agree that the ref did not even perform, he fail to give a penalty and the red card given to abidal is a total mistake. However, I could not agree on the conspiracy thought as, if Barcelona could not score against chelsea they will not get through or if Chelsea could score another goal and kill the game it's over for Barca. Well, we could only have the Chelsea to blame for their lost, as they were playing against 10 men for the last 30 mins and they could not even score a single goal and kept defending their lead from then on. Last but not least, let's hope that Man U will get the revenge for Chelsea in the final.

Posted by ubaldo on 05/09/2009

well lets start like this...the ref did suk ass bt chelsea cant blame the ref. drogba suks as well, he miss one clear goal in the first leg n also in the second leg...so whose to blame??obviously chelsea forwards cuz they cant score, how do u chelsea fans wnt ur team to play in the final if they cant put a ball in the net..barca is the better team, they once again dominated the possession like the first game. chelsea needs new forwards. n last barca is winning te final to b the best in europe...

Posted by ubaldo on 05/09/2009

Posted by Jon on 05/09/2009

Chelsea lost... what a bloody shame. After the appalling non-football tactics in Barcalona last week it was hard for any neutral to want another Chelsea United final. Chelsea got exactly what they deserved.

Posted by G on 05/09/2009

I shared the frustration felt by the Chelsea players with millions of fans around the world. Barcelona's claims for a penalty in the first leg, the apparently poor decision to send Abidal off and Chelsea's penalty shouts are all irrelevant arguments. What's important here is for punishment for the players' post-match actions to be swiftly and fairly adjudicated. Tolerating such behavior sets a dangerous precedent and sends the message to other players that this is ok. Regardless of whether or not players agree with the ref's decisions, they should act like the professionals they are and also be held accountable for their misconduct.

Posted by Joey^^ on 05/09/2009

Never before has such a magnificent, footballing side been so brutally cheated.

ah..condolence to chelsea..but worry not, barca will lift the trophy :)

Posted by Concerned ManU fan on 05/09/2009

I am an ardent ManU fan and I simply loathe Chelsea fans.But to tell the truth I can't help but simply feel sympathy for them this time around.And I urge fellow ManU fans to feel the same.Just put your beloved team in their place and have four blatant penalty decisions turned down when you are fighting for a place in the Champions League final and you'll know how they feel.It is of course another matter than we would not have left it to those penalties to score the second vital goal.
And talking about the brilliant Barcelona football,sorry I am yet to see any bit of it.When you have 70% of possession and manage to have only one shot on target I cannot call it awesome.They urge the opposition teams to attack so that they leave gaping holes at the back through which they can show their skills.But when they come across a hard defensive rock,a team which refuses to play to their tunes they fail.You need to have skills to force the oppositon defence to make mistakes just like we do.

Posted by Kris on 05/09/2009

Some people say here that 'the world wants to see a beautiful game'.As far as I'm concerned only Chelsea played football at Stamford Bridge.Barcelona only managed one shot on target and that was a goal. That's when you say "It's football" And let me tell you. After the way Manchester Utd played against Barcelona last season, don't expect a beautiful game in the final. Chelsea did the same as Man Utd last year. It will be a tactical game in Rome. End of story.

Posted by HDE on 05/09/2009

Chelsea were trying to find a scapegoat for their own failure to progress..and they found it in the ref
Drogba should make a career in acting instead. He makes a good stunt man cos he is able to fall for nothing and makes it as tho he got shot in the legs, arms and head..all at once. *and Ronaldo should join him too
If Barca didnt score that goal, all you chelsea fans wont even remember who the ref was and would hv probably said..well ref makes mistakes sometimes, all the penalty claims was 50-50 anyways
Its better to lose and play attractive football but chelsea managed to lose AND play ugly football. Bravo guys!
Message to chelsea:STOP CRYING, PLAY ACTING, MOANING TO THE REF, WAVING IMAGINARY CARDS, ETC AND START PLAYING FOOTBALL!

Posted by Dakalo on 05/09/2009

That Ref deserve to be fired, he does not know his duties in da ground.

Posted by trust on 05/09/2009

time and again chelsea always seem to get refree decisions go in their favour.on any other day one could have arguing points for any of the penalty decisions so you who only a week back called barca cry babies should no better.
I don't think a team who know they are inferior to their opponents playing so many men behind the ball for 180 minutes even against ten men should be playing the final.
with chelsea victories no matter how ugly or decisions by the ref you ask one question who was the winner?
so please sulk it up recieve your punishment for disgracing football and move forward

Posted by teoh on 05/09/2009

MESSAGE TO CHELSEA
STOP CRYING LIKE BABIES AND START PLAYING FOOTBALLS

Posted by Nish on 05/09/2009

THe way Drogba and Ballaack reatced, they should have got reds. Even thought the decisions were questionable, they are professional players, paid well, and are an example for a lot of people. Take the defeat as a man. Everyone knows the ref has bade some pretty bad calls. Leave the comments for after the game, where you can talk how much you want. But on the field. I find Drogbas's and Ballack's reaction rather more a disgrace than the ref. 2 very good and respectful players known all over the world. And to say UEFA should concentrate on a rematch, that will never happen, otherwise a lot of matches should be played all over again.

Posted by grubnbub on 05/09/2009

Great article and don't let the illiterate critics get you down. (And they're so classy, what with their "ass licking pussies" and other witty insights.) I especially love the dopes who insist that while the reffing was unfair and unprofessional, Barca still "deserved" to advance so it's okay. Oh, and United supporters who criticised Chelsea's 1st leg play, apparently forgetting (or were never aware, would be more typical of them) that their side did the same thing at Barca and the same thing as Chelsea on their return leg. The facts are all on our side, mate.

Posted by liam on 05/09/2009

The ref's get away with murder no doubt.

He was a total idiot and seemed to be refereeing the match with only 1 eye open.

He should also be smacked on the wrist for his absolute incompetence.

So must Drogba Terry and Ballack for their behaviour.

The same must apply to Flecther the decision has been made and it must stand .

Whats good for Chelsea must be good for Utd

Liverpool Fan

Posted by dogbreath drogba on 05/09/2009

maa chudaye chelsea

Posted by Not a Chelsea Fan But on 05/09/2009

Yes the ref's performance was the worst i have ever seen, honestly Sunday league's ref do better than him. Cannot take out the possibility that he is not a chelsea fan, anyway Talyor wish granted..
After all, football is a business..

Posted by Lokule on 05/09/2009

Can someone sum it up please? Chelsea lost, under whatever circumstances, and Barcelona went through. The referee was bad and so were the players, period. All of us I believe have learnt a thing or two from the performance and the comments herein.

Posted by Haste on 05/09/2009

everyone says that chelsea should have won the game anyway, that we had tons of opportunities to score and just did not capitalize on them... this i will admit is true but you also have to figure, 4 perfectly good scoring opportunities were ended because of infractions that went unpunished... Where drogba was pulled down and tripped, that was one of the best scoring opportunities in the entire game! Same with the Pique handball, another excellent scoring opportunity ruined because of handling in the box! I guarantee every single barca fan saw that on tv or even at the game and immediately though "PIQUE! YOU INSOLENT MORON!" because EVERY PERSON WATCHING knew that should be a penalty kick...

so yes there were plenty of other chances to seal the game away but we have to be honest with ourselves, the 4 penalty appeals were all very good scoring opportunities that were ruined by foul play that went unpunished

Posted by johngunner on 05/09/2009

Uefa President, Michell Platini has been complaining of English teams dominating UCL, so we should not be surprised of such an ill-manner officiating from Ovrebo. It's a plan.

IT IS SO, SO CLEAR!!!

Posted by Abubacarr on 05/09/2009

the ref was a jerk.. chelsea played dere tactic n it worked 4 em, barca played dere non sense football n got favoured by dat fool.. he sud be tried the in the hague for sriminal charges

Posted by Antony Paulo on 05/09/2009

to be honest i hate chealsea
but that was the worst refreeing ever!!!!!
four clear penalities!!!!
i seriously think the ref is blind
then he sends a barca player for sumthing that wasn't even a foul
this game was very unlucky on chelsea when they did quite well to stop barca

Posted by Aaron on 05/09/2009

Many of u guys even the Chelsea players and officilas don't know the FIFA rules.I don't see why Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty from a ball to hand.Its not a case of when the ball hits a players hand in the box it should be a penalty.According to the refree and he is right after all those hand balls were not deliberate,even if they were but if u are in doubt don't give a penalty.That for Malauda the only mistake the refree did was to award a free kick outside the box.It was supposed to be an indirectkick in the box coz Malouda was not in a scoring position.That of Toure on Drogba,TV replays showed that he got the ball first so not a penalty.So the only genuine penaltyb appeal was that of Abidal on Drogba but we can't blame the refree coz he is human.Chelsea is behaving as if the refree made mistakes only to them.Abidal's red was definitly not a red card.And the way they behaved disguises.Did bacelona behaved the same in Nou Camp whn the refree made mistakes.U are a bach of s

Posted by YJ on 05/09/2009

Chelsea was the better team at SB. But as a neutral looking carefully at the videos, the "penalties" don't look so bad. The Pique handball could go either way- it looks inadvertent, but you can't tell and it was sure at a convenient time. The rest of them look like two guys fighting for a ball and position and that stuff often isn't cited for a foul or a penalty. None of that justifies Ballack and Drogba. Ballack was a jerk (I guess you could say he IS a jerk) and should have had a red.

Posted by Cedrick Tan Kok Seng on 05/09/2009

I am a die hard Chelsea fan! I hope Barcelona will carry our dream to go on to Rome to thrash the hell out of Manchester and avenge for our lost on the Champions League Glory last season! Go on Barca! Showcase your beautiful football against Manure!

Posted by leo on 05/09/2009

i honestly feel like killing the ref.hope sombody,will do it though!How could he have done such a thing?I think he was bribed.

oohaahcantona on 05/09/2009