Blues grit trumps Barca guile

The football purists may not want to hear it but sometimes, passion, mental grit and whole-hearted defending deserve as many plaudits as pretty triangles, mesmerising skills and outstanding goals; and last night Chelsea scored a quite beautiful victory over the mighty Barcelona.

Nobody gave them a chance, nobody thought the Stamford Bridge old guard still had it in them to mix it with the greatest team the world has ever seen — not after a season which has left them sixth in the Premier League and cost Andre Villas-Boas his job.

But a 5-1 victory over Tottenham in the FA Cup semi-final hinted at what was to come as Didier Drogba — who started the rout at the weekend — scored another crucial goal to earn his side a 1-0 win over the European champions and give them at least a hope of reaching their second ever Champions League final when they go to the Camp Nou next Tuesday.