Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 6y

Samuel Umtiti: Barcelona played too defensively against Chelsea

Barcelona defended "too much" against Chelsea for Samuel Umtiti's liking but he was happy to help his side seal an 11th consecutive Champions League quarterfinal appearance.

A brace from Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele's first goal for the club earned Barca their place in the last eight after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, although there were moments in the game when Chelsea had the La Liga leaders under the cosh.

Both Marcos Alonso and Antonio Rudiger hit the woodwork and the former also had a penalty appeal turned down when he tangled with Gerard Pique in the second half.

Umtiti, who produced a commanding performance on the night, would have liked to see Barca play more on the front foot.

"We tried to defend well, but we defended too much for my liking," the centre-back told French television.

"Our game is more [about] going forward, playing in our opponent's half. But the most important thing is we qualified. We suffered, but that will serve us well in the matches to come."

Barca's win was tainted by an injury to Sergio Busquets, though. The midfielder has been ruled out for the next three weeks with a broken foot.

Umtiti also hurt his shoulder in the game but says he is already feeling better and will "have some treatment in the coming days."

It was a big night for Umtiti's France international teammate Dembele, who had been under pressure to perform following an injury-plagued first season in Spain.

"Dembele is very happy, he'd been waiting [for his goal] for a long time, and he did it in real style," Umtiti said of the 20-year-old.

"He played well, and defensively he got stuck in too. I try to put him in the best possible position, tell him what he should or shouldn't do, explain to him how the club works.

"He's young, we all make mistakes, but I get the feeling he's happier and happier and increasingly settled."

It was once again Messi who stole the show, though, with the forward scoring twice to bring up 100 Champions League goals and brilliantly assisting Dembele.

"It was a really tough game," Messi told Barca's official website. "But we played strong as a team.

"Scoring so early meant we could control the game, but we didn't feel we had sentenced the tie until we got our third goal.

"Until that point, we had to fight hard and suffer to achieve a very important qualification for the team."

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