Chelsea and Drogba make wasteful Barca pay

Didier Drogba scored late in the first half and Chelsea mixed luck with resolute defence to keep free-scoring Lionel Messi in check and defeat holders Barcelona 1-0 in their Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday. Barcelona dominated possession, hit the bar and the post and had what looked like a certain goal cleared off the line at a rain-lashed Stamford Bridge.
The Spaniards had 24 attempts on target compared to one by the hosts but Ivorian Drogba made the most of his sight of goal when he fired low and hard past Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the first half.
--- Messi shackled as holders Barca waste 24 chances
"We created so many chances, I had no idea we were going to do that, but we failed to score against a very good side who were very strong," Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola told a news conference. Frank Lampard, who like Drogba, John Terry and Ashley Cole, have all been rejuvenated since Roberto Di Matteo took control of the side from the sacked Andre Villas-Boas in early March, began the move after winning the ball from a hesitant Messi close to halfway.
Lampard's raking pass found Brazilian Ramires whose low cross from the left eluded the Barca defenders with Drogba pouncing at the far post to score. Di Matteo was full of praise for Chelsea's "old guard", who followed up last weekend's 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-finals. "In the past a lot public opinion said that these boys, the old guard, are over the line and too old to play two games; they have played two games in a short period of time, and I think they gave the answer on the pitch tonight."
Barcelona, bidding to become the first club since AC Milan 22 years ago to lift the European Cup in successive seasons, took a grip of the game almost from the kick-off and went close to taking the lead after 10 minutes when Andres Iniesta's ball over the top found Alexis Sanchez onside and in space 15 metres from goal. With the tie still evenly balanced ahead of next week's second leg in Barcelona, Guardiola added: "Obviously we are going to try and score and maybe we will have another 24 chances. But it is difficult against a side that defends as deep as Chelsea do."