Cech holds the line for Chelsea to blunt Barça's blades

Barcelona v Chelsea
Lionel Messi and Frank Lampard battle for the ball during the goalless draw at Camp Nou. Photograph: John Sibley/Action Images

The resilience of Chelsea was formidable and it has protected their hopes of a return to the Champions League final. A minor yet telling honour was collected here since they are the first visitors to keep a clean sheet at the Camp Nou this season. Chelsea survived one vigorous penalty appeal and saw the substitute Bojan Krkic head over in stoppage time. After that, Petr Cech still had to block at the feet of another ­substitute, Alexander Hleb.

The Chelsea goalkeeper was critical to the tie and the night would have had a wholly different character had he not thwarted Samuel Eto'o after 70 minutes. This was, all the same, a highly practical exercise by the visitors, with no compunction shown by the manager, Guus Hiddink, in taking off Frank Lampard when the need was for fresh energy.

The value of the result remains, ­however, a matter of guesswork. No one, for instance, will have too much difficulty envisaging a goal for Pep Guardiola's side at Stamford Bridge next Wednesday. ­Containing Chelsea could be a ­different matter. The Barcelona centre-half Rafael Márquez suffered a freak left knee injury and had to be replaced by Carles Puyol. Introducing him exposed the clubcaptain to the risk of suspension and he duly collected the yellow card that rules him out of the return leg.

Chelsea understand all the perils they will still face after being unable to notch an away goal, but the scope barely existed to mount the counter-attacks at the Camp Nou that Hiddink had envisaged. While Víctor Valdés did pull off an outstanding double save from Didier Drogba, it would be absurd to pretend that the Premier League club had ever taken the fight to Barcelona.

That, in itself, will be a cause of ­discomfort to Guardiola. In this campaign he must have come to believe that no opponents could secure a draw here ­simply by stifling Barcelona. Now the team has learned that its verve is not irresistible after all. Even in the absence of the suspended Ashley Cole, Chelsea stopped Lionel Messi from doing ­terminal harm. Jose Bosingwa, an emergency ­left-back, had enough helpers to erect a barrier, even if it was fragile at times.

For the most part, they mustered the numbers to stop Messi from making inroads. There is no cause for suggesting that Hiddink had come up with a gleaming masterplan. He did what he could, but it is not feasible to stop Barcelona from ­making games here an ordeal.

Chelsea were under stress almost from the kick-off and it was their well-known durability that narrowly kept them in the match during the first half. Hiddink had implied that his side must take the fight to these opponents. Chelsea's scheme was visible in the formation the manager had devised but not in the execution.

Michael Essien, Lampard and Florent Malouda were a bank of attacking ­midfielders who were supposed to assist the lone forward Drogba. In reality, they were compelled to back-pedal until they stood shoulder to shoulder with Michael Ballack and Mikel John Obi. That still had some benefit in creating a throng in ­midfield to prevent the opposition ­achieving fluidity.

Before the interval the best opening was, against all odds, Chelsea's. ­Márquez underhit a back-pass and released Drogba. The first attempt by the Ivorian was blocked by Valdés and the goalkeeper then threw up a hand to parry as the attacker attempted to convert the rebound. A goal for the visitors would have mocked the logic of this game.

Thierry Henry, as if invigorated by a whiff of old Premier League rivalries from his Arsenal days, was full of vigour. A foul on him in the second minute ­provided Barcelona with one of their best ­opportunities. Xavi took it from the left and Eto'o, stationed beyond the far post headed it back in the middle, where ­Márquez was close to converting.

Room remains for debate about how good Barcelona truly are. A year ago, before the appointment of Guardiola, it was possible to keep Barcelona in check and Manchester United, scoring at Old Trafford, went through to the final on a 1–0 aggregate. Chelsea have earned the right to envisage themselves repeating that exercise.

Even before Márquez had to be ­withdrawn, there was at least a ­suggestion that the tempo set by Barcelona was ­dipping a little. The visitors were far from serene, but their opponents did show signs of vexation. Even by Messi's ­standards, for instance, it was optimistic to attempt a ­volley from distance after a corner dropped to him. The ball flew high.

Yet Barcelona's menace was not wholly ­stifled. Eto'o beat John Terry to run free from halfway in the 70th minute and after he had evaded a recovery challenge by Alex, it was the boot of Cech that kept his finish out of the net. Barcelona then had strong claims for a penalty rejected as Bosingwa grabbed at Henry.

Chelsea, undistracted, made their ­tortuous way to the clean sheet that had been their principal ambition.