Is this the Right Time for Chelsea to Face FC Barcelona

Everyone more or less agrees that Chelsea is having a shocker of a season now. And it’s not surprising! They always disintegrate following a Premier League Triumph. It has shocked many how Chelsea manages to do this every season after they win the league title. Even by that standard, this season’s fall from grace is much more than normal.

Following the 3–0 defeat at Bournemouth, most of the football pundits have written off Chelsea chances in Europe also. With this kind of form playing next season in Europe itself has become a big question! Tottenham is within breathing space! Even though there is only four points difference between second placed Manchester United and fourth place Chelsea; no one is talking about Chelsea finishing second or anything like that. And the major reason for that is no one knows what kind of Chelsea is going to turn up on the field. And seeing Girourd doesn’t help either!

With such a roller coaster season, many wrote off Chelsea’s chances when they were drawn to face FC Barcelona. And it made sense, sin’t it? Barcelona have only been beaten once the entire season and that too in the Copa. Against all the initial expectation Barcelona are having a wonderful season whereas Chelsea’s have headed south from the word ‘go’.

But if you are a Chelsea fan, then you should be thankful that you are facing Barcelona now than any other time. Following the Barca’s draw against Getafe there are serious questions which are raised about Barca’s focus. They managed to drop four points in two matches and had seen their lead cut to seven points from earlier eleven.

So obviously there won’t be a much better time to play Barca for Chelsea. The only problem is their schedule. Barca may come into this tie with a tough match against Eibar away from home. And there was a sense of fear in Pique’s words where he mentioned any failure at Chelsea could derail the season. But Chelsea’s schedule doesn’t offer them any comfort by the time of the return leg.

Chelsea will be playing Manchester United, Manchester City and Crystal Palace before playing Barca at the Camp Nou. Now when you are fighting for the Champions League spot in the league that’s not a comfortable list of fixture to have with. In the worst case, they could be out of Champions League and top four when it all end!

But then why look on the negative side, look on the positive side. A great result against Barcelona could revitalize the Chelsea team which would help them in defeating Manchester United and then Manchester City! Seems Impossible? Not for Chelsea…. Look at the season they won the Champions League!