Chelsea Will Not Play for Goalless Draw, Says Di Matteo

Chelsea interim manager Roberto Di Matteo insists that the Blues will try to score against Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.

The London club lead the tie 1-0, meaning that they only need a draw in the second leg to progress through to the final. However, Di Matteo believes that it would be too dangerous if Chelsea decide to sit back and protect their one-goal advantage.

"The tie is 50-50. Both teams still have the same chance to go through. I do think we will have to try to score. It will be difficult to just play for a goalless draw," BBC quoted the manager as saying.

"Barcelona will create chances against every team they play against, so we will have to try to score a goal but we have to also try to limit the chances they create against us," Di Matteo said.

The star players from both sides - Lionel Messi and Didier Drogba - took part in the training sessions on Monday after missing out on the previous day. Drogba had suffered a knock in the first leg and Di Matteo is yet to make a decision on the striker's involvement, while Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola confirmed that Lionel Messi, who had a gastric issue, would be fit to play Chelsea.

Guardiola played down suggestions that Chelsea would have a fitness advantage as they rested eight players who featured in the first leg for Saturday's match at Arsenal, while most of Barca's players, who travelled to London last week, were again involved in the game against rivals Real Madrid at the weekend.

"It is not tired in the legs, maybe in the mind, but we are going to try not to be tired in our heads. Anyway in this situation, the semi-final of the Champions League, it doesn't matter if we played three days ago or yesterday, we will be ready to compete to try to reach the final," the 41-year-old stressed.

Guardiola is yet to register a victory against Chelsea in six attempts. "They are a very, very strong team, it's a challenge for us, very, very tough, but we are ready to fight against them," he admitted.