Chelsea's 5 worst European exits
As Branislav Ivanovic & Guus Hiddink squared up sombrely to the cameras, one might've thought they'd prepared their speeches in advance.Chelsea, the fallen English champions, had just been tossed out of the Champions League at home by Paris Saint-Germain for the second time running. It was the latest in a string of thoroughly naive and uninspiring Chelsea performances, but this time with the bitter topping of a European exit. Something Chelsea fans have grown accustomed to in recent years is watching their team flail and flounder domestically but somehow put in top-notch European performances - even in defeat. This time however, in a season where they badly needed the morale boost, they were comfortably outplayed, outpassed and dumped out of the competition for the foreseeable future.The worst thing is that it was no surprise - they'd lost the reverse leg in a similar fashion and were scrambling to remain even in the top 10 of the Premier League. Meanwhile, PSG suffered serious vertigo from their vantage position high up in the Ligue 1 constellations - over 20 points and 40 goals better than their nearest rival!Fans will remain fans, and they'll always have their dream of a resurgence. Chelsea's European record isn't stellar but they're the only English team to have won every European trophy, and have almost single-handedly carried England's European coefficient in recent years. Moreover, they've been in 3 finals and 7 semi-finals in the past 12 years - having won 2 trophies. On Wednesday night, though, none of that mattered. The lack of fight that the zombie-like players displayed after Zlatan's winner left them needing 3 goals to win was damning. Stamford Bridge has just been painfully humbled - but not for the first time.Now it's time for a trip down some of Chelsea's most painful European exits ever.
#5 Barcelona (6) 5-1 (4) Chelsea, 2000
Chelsea at the Nou Camp in Barcelona, Spain
44 years after 1955 English champions Chelsea turned down the chance to play in the inaugural European Cup, the batch of 1999 gate-crashed the Euro party.
Boasting top-drawer players like Gianfranco Zola, Marcel Desailly, Dennis Wise, George Weah and future Champions League-winning manager Roberto Di Matteo, the English weren’t to be taken lightly. They’ smashed 5 unanswered goals in the fervent cauldron of Galatasaray’s Ali Sami Yen. Difficult ties against AC Milan, Lazio and Marseille had also been expertly dealt with, and the quarterfinal stage beckoned. Approach Louis Van Gaal’s mighty Barcelona.
After a barnstorming 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge, the Catalan giants were well and truly shocked - and badly needed a victory. Chelsea had stunned Barcelona by taking them right on - but could they do this in such a finely-poised tie? Figo’s 45th minute goal to drag the Catalans equal and 2-0 ahead on the night suggested not. Chelsea had as of yet battled hard but not created enough.
When the second half started, the revitalized Blues found their feet as Tore Andre Flo beat a young Carlos Puyol and rolled the ball into the net to put the Catalans under immense pressure. Seven minutes from time, however, Barca substitute Dani scored his team's third to send the tie to extra time. The top-level experience of lengthy games was crucial at that stage, and Rivaldo scored with his second penalty of the match to make it 4-1. Celestine Babayaro was sent off for his foul and Barcelona killed the tie within the first half of extra-time, to mark one of the best European comebacks.
Chelsea had fought hard but ended up humbled at the Camp Nou.