Chelsea could at least seek to console themselves in the immediate aftermath of elimination. They had reason to curse profligacy, and the absence of a ruthless streak which saw the Premier League team strike the woodwork four times over the two legs but succeed in scoring only once. They could always point, too, to Lionel Messi’s brilliance. Antonio Conte described the tie’s decisive performer as “not a top player, but a super, super, super top player”, the kind who crops up once or twice a century. He was the difference.
Yet, over that short flight back to London, a grimmer reality will surely have set in. Chelsea, a team who have failed to build domestically on a title success for the second time in three seasons, had actually endured a painful reminder of just how far they have slipped down the pecking order in a European context. They have won only two games in the knockout stage of this competition – against Galatasaray and Paris Saint‑Germain – since hoisting the trophy in 2012 and Barça, in truth, had not needed all in their number to be at their best to jettison the English club from the last 16.
Luis Suárez had barely stirred in either game, his contribution as peripheral as it was forgettable. Andrés Iniesta, hamstrung of late, was only semi‑fit at the Camp Nou. The defensive vulnerability which might cost the Catalan club in the quarter‑finals and beyond went relatively unpunished. Messi’s flashes of quality alone were enough to set Ernesto Valverde’s team apart and that, in itself, will nag among those in the London club’s hierarchy. Where does this leave Chelsea? And what are their true ambitions at this level?
A club crammed with talented young players, and others who should be coming into their prime in the first team, have choices to make in the months ahead if they want to be challenging more persuasively among the continent’s elite in the years to come. There are issues eating away disconcertingly at the setup: Eden Hazard has yet to agree a new long‑term contract; Thibaut Courtois, beaten by Messi twice through his legs much to his own exasperation, will be entering the final year of his deal at the club in the summer. The same applies for three of the older guard – David Luiz, Cesc Fàbregas and Pedro – with the potential for yet another overhaul very clear.
Previous revamps, and there were eight significant additions in the past two windows, do not appear to have raised overall standards at senior level. Yet would Roman Abramovich, an owner with designs to redevelop Stamford Bridge at vast expense, be willing to spend even more lavishly in order to restore Chelsea to the pinnacle, not least in a division warped yet further by Manchester City’s bottomless pockets? Recent history, as Conte has pointed out in public too often for comfort over the course of this campaign, suggests this club’s policy has changed and is unlikely to shift dramatically again.
To that end, their elimination at the Camp Nou should really have surprised few. Conte had warned in the build-up that his charges lacked the kind of streetwise experience, the type built up over regular excursions into the latter stages of elite competition, to blunt and beat Barcelona. They were not really capable of emulating Juventus, for example, who had mercilessly exploited the three minutes of indecision and weakness offered up by Tottenham Hotspur in last week’s return leg at Wembley. The Italians, like Barça, had taken their opportunities ruthlessly to secure their passage into the last eight.
Chelsea created half-chances aplenty on Wednesday night, running riot at times down either flank, but mustered a solitary shot on target from inside the penalty area all night. Admittedly, Gerard Piqué might have conceded a penalty, and those attempts against the woodwork – from Alonso and Antonio Rüdiger – were only inches away from yielding reward. But Messi, when presented with similar opportunities, made them pay. All four of the Catalans’ goals over the two legs stemmed from unnecessary errors, whether offered up by Andreas Christiansen or César Azpilicueta, Courtois or Fàbregas. Against this calibre of opposition, such generosity was always likely to be accepted.
Chelsea, of course, have to requalify for the Champions League before they can prove they deserve to be considered contenders to win it once again. Conte is unlikely even to be on the payroll when this situation comes to a head in the summer. But, having offered glimpses of quality over the two legs, this elimination will have hurt those in charge. This club has difficult choices to make as to what should happen next.
