Wenger Believes That Chelsea Can Beat Barcelona

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who saw his team knocked out of the Champions League despite making a good comeback against AC Milan, feels that Chelsea have what it takes to beat Barcelona and make it to the finals of the Champions League, according to a Sun report.

The 62-year-old Frenchman, after watching Chelsea beat the Catalans in the first leg at Stamford Bridge, feels that Barcelona are not the same powerful team they used to be.

Last season, Barcelona, in spite of losing 2-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates in the two teams' second round Champions League clash, had managed to make a stunning 3-1 comeback at the Nou Camp in the second leg.

Wenger feels that the Catalans are not in the same form now.

"It is far from impossible for Chelsea to go through this game. The Barcelona we saw the other night was not the Barcelona of last year and Chelsea go to the Nou Camp in a better position than we did," The Sun quoted Wenger as saying.

"One-nil is a fantastic result and if Chelsea can score another goal on Tuesday that would be a massive blow to Barcelona. When we scored a lucky goal there last year I could see they suddenly became very nervous," he added.

Also, Wenger feels that Chelsea will go into this clash with a fresher team than Barcelona.

"Chelsea were able to rest eight players against us but Barca had to play their full team on Saturday against Real Madrid," he added.

"Lionel Messi looks a bit tired. He is still dangerous but Chelsea managed to block a few of his shots the other night when usually he has such a short backlift that makes it difficult to do that. That means he is not as sharp as he was before so if Chelsea defend like they did in the first leg they have a chance," he added.

Wenger also feels that Chelsea interim boss Roberto Di Matteo used the clash against the Gunners as a practice game ahead of their tie against Pep Guardiola's men.

"We play the same system as Barcelona. Chelsea defended very deep with a lot of men behind the ball but had three quick players to hit us on the counter-attack. If you played like that for the whole season it would be more difficult to understand. But against Barcelona you just want to win and qualify for the next round. And if you decide to play any other way, you would not have much chance," he added.

Apart from contemplating Chelsea's future at the Champions League, Wenger has asked Arsenal to remain calm after their recent goalless draw with Chelsea, which have now put them only three points above Newcastle, who still have four more games remaining.

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