Former Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard was left teeming with frustration after Lionel Messi’s late equaliser and, importantly, away goal denied his former club a win over Barcelona.
Messi broke his goal duck against Chelsea to deny Antonio Conte’s side a crucial lead over the Catalan giants in their Champions League showdown.
The Argentine had not scored in his previous eight meetings against the Blues, but he put that anomaly right with 15 minutes left to secure a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea icon Frank Lampard was left teeming with frustration after Lionel Messi’s equaliser
Messi struck with 15 minutes to go and Lampard now believes the balance of the tie has swung
And Lampard believes that late goal means the balance of the tie has now swung.
‘It’s poised, but Barcelona are favourites in this tie,’ Lampard on BT Sport. ‘They are so strong at the Nou Camp. It feels like a what-could-have-been kind of night.’
That, however, was after Rio Ferdinand, also speaking on BT, heavily criticised Blues defender Andreas Christensen for affording Messi the opportunity to score in the first place.
Former defender Rio Ferdinand then criticised Andreas Christensen for his reckless pass
Christensen’s stray ball across the box was picked up by Andres Iniesta, who found Messi
His stray pass across the face of his own box was seized upon by Andres Iniesta, who squared expertly to Messi before the Argentina international slotted home to gain parity.
‘You don’t do that in games of this magnitude,’ said the former England defender. ‘When you give a chance to players like that man (Messi) it invariably ends up in the back of the net.’
Conte’s men will travel to the Nou Camp for the second leg on March 14.
‘You don’t do that in games of this magnitude,’ said Ferdinand of Christensen’s mistake
