MARCOS Alonso and Ross Barkley were part of the enthusiastic Chelsea group which trained at Cobham yesterday ahead of tonight’s Uefa Champions League game against Barcelona.
This epic clash at the Stamford Bridge (9.45pm) has all the ingredients of a thriller.
Alonso and Barkley have missed the Blues’ last three matches but joined their teammates for the training session yesterday. The first 15 minutes of training was open to the world’s media in light of the importance of this clash.
Having missed their last couple of games, David Luiz didn’t train yesterday and neither did Tiemoue Bakayoko, who was unavailable for Friday’s FA Cup win over Hull City too.
Antonio Conte must be hoping they will repeat the weekend’s drubbing of Hull in this important fixture against Barca.
Meanwhile, referee Tom Henning Ovrebo has admitted making mistakes in Chelsea’s Champions League semifinal against Barcelona in 2009.
The match finished 1-1, with an Andres Iniesta equaliser sending Barcelona to the final on away goals after a scoreless first tie at the Nou Camp.
The Norwegian official turned down four Chelsea penalty appeals on the night, the most contentious a Dani Alves foul on Florent Malouda in the penalty area which resulted in a free kick outside the box, rather than a penalty kick.
Ovrebo admitted: “It was not my best day really. Some days you are not at the level you should be. I can’t be proud of that performance.”
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