Chelsea 1 -2 Barcelona

It was, as expected, an exciting encounter between the two Champions of England and Spain. Having seen Real Madrid slump to a shameful defeat to Arsenal at Santiago Bernabeu, I was glad to see Barcelona come up with a superb performance to keep out Chelsea's chances of proceeding to the next round, although all is not yet decided with the second leg yet to be played.

The first half was rather dull as both sides do not have many clear cut chances, probably due to the "potato slump" at Stamford Bridge. Tensions rose when Asier Del Horno was sent off for a horrible tackle on Lionel Messi. When i first saw the tackle, i thought that it must be a straight red card for the spaniard defender. But after watching the replays, it wasn't as bad as it first looked, and perhaps as the commendator has said, a yellow would have sufficed.

I haven't been seeing Barcelona play so this was probably the first time i saw the young Messie play. And i must say that he's indeed a young prospect to be watched, and i'm quite sure he will grow into a mature and outstanding striker in time to come. His acceleration, tipped with his determination is unbelievable, as he always races down the flanks to win balls, not giving up until he gets a crunching tackle. And his controlling skills are exquisite too, as clearly displayed when he got past Arjen Robben before being tackled by Del Horno. And then the most respectable thing about Messi is his calmness and composure. He never argues with referees or linesmen for offsides, throw-ins or fouls. He accepts them as referees' decisions, knowing that he will get both himself and his teammates into trouble if he goes up to the referee to try and change his decision. And these three traits are enough to bring him to fame in years to come.

Then there was Gaucho Ronaldinho, who was, as usual, magic. Despite having slips at times due to the slippery pitch, his dribbling was totally breath-taking, especially those near the touchlines down the flanks. OH my goodness, he evades defenders or challenges lightning-quick. He has the composure too. I'm always very impressed by how he stops and stands still, looks around for a while, before accelerating or passing. There was one incident which totally impressed me. He was controlling the ball as if it was stuck to his foot and even when Frank Lampard slided in to tackle him, Ronaldinho could dodge it and continue his run, leaving him in heaps. Also, the counter-attack that led to the second goal owed largely to Ronaldinho's vision and composure. He ran one-quarter of the field, evaded a sliding tackle effectively, and sent a through-pass to Larsson (was it him?), and Larsson, knowing that Marquez came up behind him, passed to him. After that, it all seemed destined for a goal, as Marquez swerved in a inch-perfect cross which eluded both Cech and a defender, as Samuel Eto'o hopped and knocked it into the net, and sent the Barcelona fans to cloud nine. Such is the influence of one mazy run from Ronaldinho, as well as, the through pass, the lazer-guided cross, and the deadly finish.

So now, the match two weeks later at Nou Camp looks promising as Chelsea looks to take revenge, while Barcelona will kick themselves if they were to lose this precious lead.