Andres Iniesta has described Barcelona’s defeat at the hands of Chelsea as “unjust” and has spoken of the teams regret at failing to finish a series of chances that could have put the Catalans into the Champions League Final.
Iniesta played a key role in the dominant first leg display for the Catalans and is understandably frustrated that the rest of his team were unable to finish off any of a number of good chances provided for them.
Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Busquets all missed good chances that could have at the very least earned Barca a draw in the first leg, and perhaps even a victory. The result though gave Chelsea a slight edge heading into the second leg and enabled them to see off Barca on the way to their first European crown.
Speaking before the second leg Iniesta praised Chelsea and criticised the performance of his Barca side. “The result is unjust but we knew that Chelsea are a team that take advantage of their opportunities. We were off target in front of goal”.
His describing of the result as “unjust” perhaps seems unfair but it sums up Chelsea’s road to European glory. They have been outplayed by several teams along the way but grit and determination have pulled them through as well as a consistently clinical display in front of goal. Against Napoli they came back from a 3-1 first leg defeat by finishing their chances in the second leg.
Against Barca they again took their chances and were able to win the first leg and get the required result in the second leg. The final again saw them take a chance when it was needed, Drogba’s late equaliser took the game to extra time and Bayern’s relative inability to take chances, including Robben’s penalty miss, enabled Chelsea to continue in the “unjust” route to European champions that Iniesta spoke of.