The Fiver | Rope-a-dope tactics working like a dream

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea very nearly did a number on Barcelona. The Catalan giants aren’t quite what they were, so the Londoners were more than happy to let them amble about in midfield for ages achieving the square root of chuff all, before letting Willian run at them at high speed and with great purpose quite a lot. After bothering the frame of the goal twice in the first half, the Brazilian eventually got the break he deserved in the second, Conte’s rope-a-dope tactics working like a dream. But Lionel Messi got his team out of jail by latching on to an uncharacteristic defensive error, finally adding his name to the elite list of players who have scored a goal for Barça against Chelsea in Big Cup, joining greats such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o and Plain Old John Terry. Hey, the wee man doesn’t at all look out of place in that exalted company, does he? But then he is one of the best 50 players of all time, probably, at least post-war, so in fairness that’s to be expected. We digress.

Related: Disjointed, vulnerable and slow: Barça exposed by Chelsea’s tactical rigour | Jonathan Wilson

Continue reading...