Raphinha scores hat-trick in 100th appearance for Barca
Brazilian winger Raphinha celebrated his 100th appearance for FC Barcelona with a hat-trick goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.
Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas was left to rue the number of chances the Blues failed to put away in their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 first leg tie with Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, with the game ending 1-1 at full-time.
“It’s a shame, you know. We played so well and deserved more from the game,” Fabregas told BT Sport in his post-match interview in London.
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Blues winger Willian would hit the post twice in the first-half before finally finding the breakthrough on the third attempt after the interval, but the hosts’ joy was short-lived as Lionel Messi would end his goalscoring drought against the West Londoners with a late equaliser.
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And Fabregas lamented the fact that Willian could have had a treble on another day as he admitted the away goal had given his former side the advantage heading into the second leg.
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While Barcelona were on top in the possession battle, Chelsea undeniably had the better chances in front of goal and the fact that the visitors’s goal stemmed from an Andreas Christensen error was not lost on Antonio Conte’s men as they trudged off as referee Cuneyt Cakir sounded the full-time whistle.
The second leg at the Nou Camp takes place on March 14 and the defending Premier League champions have it all to do ahead of their trip to Fabregas’ hometown.
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Considering their title hope in the Premier League are effectively over, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League remain their best hopes of winning any silverware this season and Fabregas will be fired up on his return to Catalonia but it remains to be seen if the Blues can beat La Blaugrana on their home turf.
A 0-0 draw will see Ernesto Valverde’s men go through on the away goals rule, which means Chelsea will have to score a minimum of one goal if they are to progress.
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