Press hail Chelsea's tough defence

Chelsea kept their Champions League hopes alive with a brilliant defence against Barcelona in the first leg of their semi-final at the Camp Nou, newspapers here said Wednesday.

"Job done... Blues will return to Stamford Bridge with everything to play for," said the Daily Telegraph after the 0-0 draw on Tuesday that left Barcelona goalless for the first time at home this season in the competition.

"Courageous Chelsea withstood an ordeal by Catalan fire to put themselves in the Champions League driving seat last night," said the Daily Mirror.

A commentator from the paper added: "It wasn't beautiful or anything close to it. But it sure was effective, sure did the job, sure made Chelsea feel like they had done the hard work." The Daily Mail praised Chelsea's "brilliantly organised defence."

It added: "Nobody is going to beat Barcelona at football right now, so a cunning strategy had to be devised and, while forced to soak up a great deal of pressure, Chelsea were hard-working and tenacious in stifling their hosts."

There was widespread praise for Petr Cech, who made a couple of important blocks from Samuel Eto'o and substitute Alexandr Hleb, and relief that Barca's Lionel Messi failed to wreak the havoc that had been expected of him.

"Barc but no bite!" headlined the Sun, adding: "Chelsea now go into the second leg next Wednesday at Stamford Bridge on a level footing."

LONDON, Wednesday (AFP)