Fernando Torres is poor-scorer at Chelsea but there was a day when a poor-scorer Torres managed to knock Barcelona out of the Champions League.
Barcelona status as the defending champion and face Chelsea at Camp Nou, 24 April 2012. Chelsea came with a 1-0 lead from Stamford Bridge. But the advantage did not make Chelsea calm with the ferocity of Barcelona at home.
Barcelona really pounded the Chelsea defense since the game began. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech managed to stem Lionel Messi’s shot from close range and thwart a number of other opportunities.
But the toughness of Cech disintegrated after Busquets broke into Chelsea’s goal in the 35th minute. Busquets easily carry on a mature cross on the face of goal.
Disaster for Chelsea came in the 37th minute after John Terry got a red card for violating Alexis Sanchez. The Blues must play with 10 players at the end of the first round.
Barcelona doubled the advantage to 2-0 in the 43rd minute through Andres Iniesta. Iniesta calmly continued the ball from Messi.
Left behind 0-2 from Barcelona at Camp Nou with the condition of having to play with 10 players, Chelsea seemed to undergo mission impossible. But the Blues were finally able to silence the happy expressions of Barcelona supporters who were already seen so clearly towards the end of the first half.
Barcelona who had the upper hand were suddenly shocked by Ramires’s goal in the first half injury time. Frank Lampard’s breakthrough bait made Ramires loose and brought the ball in the Barcelona penalty box.
Victor Valdes’s decision to try to bear fruit was fatal because it facilitated Ramires who lobbed a shot at goal.
Despite winning 2-1, Barcelona threatened not to qualify because they lost the away goal aggressiveness against Chelsea. That makes Barcelona storm Chelsea all out in the second half.
Chelsea had thought about how to survive desperately in the second half but Didier Drogba’s foul on Cesc Fabregas resulted in a penalty. Messi who acts as the executor only makes the ball hit the crossbar until the score 2-1 still survive.
Chelsea continue to pile up players in the penalty box. But in the 80th minute, Roberto Di Matteo decided to reduce Fernando Torres to replace Didier Drogba.
Torres who was on the field that day was Torres who was still in trouble with his sharpness at Chelsea. The Spanish striker seemed to lose his magic since wearing the costume ‘The Blues’ a year earlier.
When Cech desperately brushed aside Messi and Javier Mascherano’s kicks, Torres had come down to help the defense. But then Torres was in the middle of the field without being escorted by Barcelona players who were not focused on surviving.
Torres received the ball without escort in the middle of the field and ran to the Barcelona penalty box. Valdes who tried to block Torres was successfully robbed and Torres kicked the ball into an empty goal.
Messi looked down at Camp Nou that day. Barcelona which is called the best team in Europe at that time had to be eliminated in the hands of Chelsea. Chelsea finally went on to become champions by beating Bayern Munich on penalties in the final round.
Torres was indeed rated as a failed Chelsea purchase because his goal productivity dropped dramatically. But when Chelsea remember the Champions League trophy they won in 2012, Torres’s goal at Camp Nou will automatically always be remembered.
