Champions League: Frank Lebœuf expects Chelsea to ‘destroy’ Barça

Former Chelsea defender Frank Lebœuf has expressed optimism about the Blues’ chances against FC Barcelona, who are set to visit Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening for a highly anticipated Champions League clash. The 1998 world champion believes three London-based players have what it takes to unsettle the Catalan club.

According to Lebœuf, Hansi Flick’s Barça are taking too many risks in their defensive setup:
“Barça’s very aggressive approach leaves huge gaps. Playing that high up the pitch, with so little control, is asking for trouble.” The pundit also pointed to Barcelona’s shakiness on display this weekend:
“The last goal they conceded says it all. You can’t defend that way when the players aren’t reading the game properly. They end up isolated, too far apart from each other. It’s madness.”

For Lebœuf, the pace of Chelsea’s forwards could prove damaging: “With players like Alejandro Garnacho, Pedro Neto or João Pedro, you have the kind of profiles that can punish that sort of imbalance immediately. It’s a bit like facing Paris Saint-Germain: if you don’t play compact, you get overrun.”

Chelsea, unbeaten in eight straight matches across all competitions, go into the fixture with confidence. Barça, second in La Liga but still inconsistent in the Champions League, will need to tighten up to avoid a nasty surprise in the race for a top-eight finish in the group phase. The Chelsea-Barça clash is set for this Tuesday evening at Stamford Bridge, kicking off at 9pm (GMT+1).