Cahill: Chelsea Can Repeat The 2012 Saga With Barcelona
Barcelona are strong favourites to advance to the quarter-finals after securing a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in the first leg at Stamford Bridge last month but Blues captain Gary Cahill believe they can prove skeptics wrong by progressing to the quarter finals.
A goalless draw will be enough to see Chelsea through to the quarter-finals.
Cahill, who was also in the Chelsea team that knocked Barcelona out in the semi-final in 2012 said: “Chelsea are being written off but it is the nature of the beast,” Cahill told Standard Sport.
“If you’re looking at facts, this club has been very, very successful over the last 10 years, and since I have been here over the past six years.
“You can have ups and downs. I can speak about myself and when I have been down I have bounced back. The same goes for the club.
“Let’s go there with confidence we can put in a good show and do the best we possibly can to get through to the next round.
“It’s poised nicely. We’ve got one game to try to go through against world-class opposition. We know it’s going to be tough but we’re ready for the challenge.”
In the 2012 second-leg semi-final, Cahill limped off injured after 12 minutes, while John Terry was sent off before the break and Barcelona went 2-0 up. However, Chelsea came back to draw 2-2 and go through 3-2 on aggregate.
And the former Bolton Wanderers defender feels the events of six years ago should give the Blues plenty of encouragement.
“No Chelsea fan needs reminding of that game (2012). It was a one in a million.
“But it just shows what can happen when things go against you if you keep trying and keep working. We need to remember that.”
And on Chelsea’s mixed fortunes so far this season which saw them fail to defend the Premier League title and getting knocked out of the League Cup, he added: “It was like we had fallen to bits but we went on to win the Champions League and FA Cup in the same season.
“So when I hear people talk about the players or the club now, it’s just noise to me. I have drawn on that story during the six years I have been here. There have been a lot of those moments where we have peaked and gone down, but we always come back again.”
Chelsea went past Barcelona to ultimately lift the Champions League after beating Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in 2012.
