UCL: Chelsea 1 Barcelona 0 in semi-final first leg

Barcelona dominated possession, hit the bar and the post and had what looked like a certain goal cleared off the line at a rain-lashed Stamford Bridge.

Eventually, it was Ivorian Didier Drogba who made the most of his sight of goal when he fired low and hard past Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Roberto Di Matteo was full of praise for Chelsea's "old guard", who followed up last weekend's 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-finals.

"In the past, a lot of public opinion said that these boys, the old guard, are over the line and too old to play two games; they have played two games in a short period of time, and I think they gave the answer on the pitch tonight," said Chelsea's interim coach.

With the tie still balanced ahead of next week's second leg, but without an away goal to boost Barcelona's hopes, Guardiola said it would be "difficult" for the Catalans to progress against an ultra-defensive Chelsea. "Obviously we are going to try and score and maybe we will have another 24 chances. But it is difficult against a side that defends as deep as Chelsea do," said Guardiola.

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