Real Madrid’s win against Barcelona shows that there is hope for Chelsea at the Nou Camp
Twice in four days Barcelona were hauled down from their celestial plane. They were dragged into an unfamiliar place of weariness and frustration.
If it carries on like this, Chelsea will complete the job they started last week and advance to a Champions League final at the expense of the most radiant club side in all creation.
Have Barcelona been rumbled? To think so would be shallow.
But at home and abroad inside a week they have bounced off walls of defensive rigour while betraying signs of fatigue and a lack of tactical variation.
After their La Liga hopes were ended by Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory on Saturday night, Pep Guardiola, their coach, said: “We’ve been on this path for a long time.
“We had a lot of pressure on us starting in August and we haven’t stopped.”