Fabregas fires warning as Suarez explains Barcelona’s approach for Camp Nou tie

Cesc Fabregas against Barcelona in 1-1 draw [Photo: Courtesy]

English Champions Chelsea played 1-1 draw against Spanish giants Barcelona at Stamford Bridge ending anxiety for the much-awaited encounter which allowed Lionel Messi to break his duck against the Londoners.

Playing from deep, defending in numbers and tightly closely to each other, Chelsea players were engaged throughout the 90 minutes of the game. The Blaugrana deployed their usual tiki-taka making use of the diamond shape position of Sergio Busquets, Paulinho, Ivan Rakitic and Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Andre Iniesta upfront.

Chelsea missed two chances in first half when Brazilian forward Willian hit the crossbar twice announcing the hidden sting the Blues had in the game.

Willian would then pick Eden Hazard’s pass from the corner kick and whip home a shot from outside the box. Messi capitalized on Andreas Christensen blunder when his misplaced pass was picked by Andres Iniesta gifting the Argentine his first goal against Chelsea in 9 games.

Nonetheless, sources reveal that Chelsea players have expressed their disappointment on the result. They know very well that Barcelona have an edge over them going into the next match.

“It is such a shame really. I thought we were very good, we executed the game plan really well, we were compact, solid, played as a team and created lots of chances - Willian could have had a hat-trick - but we go home sad because a fantastic performance is not a fantastic result,” said Fabregas.

The former Barcelona star went ahead to issue a warning to his club saying that sitting deep will not help in the Camp Nou.

”You have to have a lot of personality to play against this team who has 70% of the ball. We have to go there to attack and score because 90 minutes defending at the Nou Camp is an eternity, it is a suicide mission. We have to play our game,” he added, as revealed by BT Sport.

Meanwhile Barcelona striker Luis Suarez believes that their second leg clash with Chelsea will benefit Spanish giants after getting an away goal. Suarez believes that Chelsea will come with offensive approach which will leverage the chances to get positive results.

“Our strength is being better at home, that's why it was important to score. Now they have to try to score at the Camp Nou and we'll have more space,” said Suarez.

Chelsea are playing Manchester United in their next premier league match as they aim at qualifying for Uefa Champions League next season.