Chelsea are on what is becoming familiar territory this evening when they face Barcelona, at the Camp Nou, in a last-16 knockout tie in the Champions League.
The game is delicately poised, at 1-1, after the first leg, but what do the record and form books tell us about Chelsea`s chances of getting past Barcelona to reach the quarter-finals?
? According to one statistic, the odds favour Barcelona when it comes to which team will progress into the next round, seemingly 68% of the sides that draw the away leg of a tie, 1-1, go through to the next round, time to buck that trend?
? Tonight will be the 14th time the two sides have gone head-to-head in the Champions league, only games between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and Barcelona v Milan can better that, with 18 and 15 meetings respectively.
? The games between the two sides are invariably tight, 6 of the previous 13 have ended all-square, for a draw to send Chelsea through tonight it`d have to be at least 2-2, or maybe penalties after a 1-1 draw?
? Barcelona`s home record, in Europe, is pretty impressive, the Catalan side have lost only 4 of their 39 Champions League knockout games at the Camp Nou, winning 25 and drawing 10, time for loss number 5 methinks.
? Chelsea enter this fixture unbeaten in their last 8 Champions league fixtures against Barcelona, winning 2 and drawing 6, can the Blues extend that run this evening?
? If Chelsea are to make the quarter-final stages then they will be looking towards Willian and Eden Hazard to provide the inspiration. Willian has 9 Champions League goals to his name, 6 of those have come from outside the penalty area, more than any other player has mustered since the Brazilian joined Chelsea. Hazard, on the other hand, has provided 23 occasions for his team-mates to shoot in the Champions league this season, a feat only matched by Neymar, of PSG.
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