Barcelona vs Chelsea

It was the evening of Tuesday, July 28th, 2015. The sun had just set, its afterglow sprayed the western sky with a thin layer of gold and orange, and the moon rose in the east.  The hot air of a typical summer day of Washington was gradually dispersed by the cool evening breeze. At the FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, just outside of the nation’s capital, the stadium lights brought daylight back when crowds of football fans streamed in and scattered to their seats, bringing with them an air of festival excitements. At 8:00pm, thunderous cheers erupted to usher in the stars of two of the world's most famous football clubs, Barcelona and Chelsea.

The game would be of no great significance to either club, but we could feel the intensity, energy and focus of the players from the opening moment. Even with many international players on both teams and in this day of globalization, the distinction between the styles of the two clubs was clear. Barcelona took no time to show the crowd why they are the European Champion, even without their biggest stars, the current and the future world's best, Messi and Neymar. The deceptiveness, accuracy, and elegance of the Barca attackers' short pass coordination, characteristic of the Latin "Artistic Football", were breathtaking. They were able to break through the formidable Chelsea defensive line a few times in the opening minutes, getting dangerously close to the goal. But the English Premiere League champion Chelsea was no easy prey. Their simple and efficient long pass attacks would soon prove to be too much for the Barca defenders to handle. They took three shots on goal in the first six minutes of the game, forcing the Barca goalie to save. Then, the 24 year old Belgium Eden Hazard took a powerful shot from the left corner of the goal area, sending the ball into the top right corner of the Barca goal.  1:0, Chelsea. After losing the first goal, the Barca players fell into disarray for a couple of minutes before they regained their focus. They quickly rearranged their defense to concentrate in the goal area, and took opportunities to counter-attack. However their brilliant attacks did not result in anything to show on the scoreboard before the end of the first half.

The second half saw a little less energy from the players. Barca was on attack early. The 28 year old Uruguayan Luis Suarez took advantage of a chaotic situation in the goal area and kicked the ball into the goal to tie the game at 1:1. After that, both teams started substitution in large numbers. The Chelsea substitutions brought in more energy but fewer skills. Barca players took advantage of the situation and upped their attacks. The 20 year old Spanish Sandro Ramírez curled the ball passing the Chelsea goalie Courtois into the net. 2:1 Barca. The Barca players' effort to enlarge their lead did not produce any result, and Chelsea's 29 year old English player Gary Cahill’s header after a free kick tied the game again at 2:2. The game was finally decided by penalty shoot-out. The result was Chelsea 4, Barca 2.

Barca fans did not lose their spirit. They chanted "Barca" all the way to the streets and parking lots. We had a beautiful evening.