Barcelona vs Chelsea
Barcelona vs Chelsea

Chelsea and Real Madrid proved a point last week - Barcelona are not unstoppable.

The Blues will visit Camp Nou on Tuesday to face a Catalan side, who are having one of their worst runs in recent history. Before their loss to Madrid in Satrurday's El Clasico encounter, Barcelona were on an streak of 54 unbeaten home games in all competitions.

Last Wednesday, Chelsea capitalised on a Lionel Messi giveaway to score a precious goal and pulled off a massive upset. Barcelona had 79 per cent of possession that night but it means nothing without a goal.

Blues keeper Petr Cech was in brilliant form that night and he kept out shots that looked destined to find the back of the net. The Czech was the Man of the Match and Chelsea will need a similar performance from him on Tuesday.

Roberto Di Matteo's side have a 1-0 lead and hence will be content with a draw. Meanwhile, Barcelona will have to score at least two, so expect them to do some high-tempo pressing from kick-off.

With all the focus on scoring, Barcelona will once again be vulnerable to counterattacks. Drogba's and Cristiano Ronaldo's goals that beat the Catalans in the last two matches came from counters. And if the Blues can net one early on Tuesday, they will be clear favourites to go through to the final as Barca will then need to score three.

That said, Pep Guardiola's team rarely fails in scoring three goals at home - with the exception of last match, of course. And if they manage to do that against Chelsea, they should get their ticket to Munich.

The match will be available live on vslive.tv in the UK and FOXSoccer.tv in the US.

Team News: Barcelona could welcome back centre-back Gerard Pique back into the starting line-up, after leaving him on the bench for defeats against Chelsea and Real Madrid. Guardiola has no fresh injury issues although striker David Villa, wing-back Eric Abidal and defender Andreu Fontas remain long term absentees.

Di Matteo would go back to the same side that beat Barca in the first leg, after resting eight of those players for the weekend's goalless draw at Arsenal. However, Didier Drogba, who scored against Barca, is a doubt after picking up a knee injury in that match. Meanwhile centre-back David Luiz will remain sidelined after being stretchered off during the Blues FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham last week.

Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole and Ramires are all one booking away from missing a potential Champions League final place in Munich next month.

Facts:

  • A defeat for Barcelona would see them lose their third consecutive game for the first time in almost a decade.
  • Chelsea have only suffered one defeat in their last 14 matches - at Manchester City more than a month ago.
  • Messi has faced Chelsea seven times but has still not managed to score a goal against them, while Torres has netted seven times against Barcelona during his time at Atletico Madrid.
  • The last time Di Matteo visited Camp Nou was in 2000, when he was a player at Chelsea. Barcelona beat Chelsea 5-1 in that match and went through to the semis 6-4 on aggregate. Pep Guardiola also featured in the Catalan team that night.

Probable starting line-up

Barcelona: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Adriano, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Sanchez, Messi

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Meireles, Lampard, Ramires, Mata, Drogba

Must read: Torres Warns Barcelona: Best Team Doesn't Always Win

Chelsea Will Not Play for Goalless Draw, Says Di Matteo

Barcelona Will Use Chelsea as Whipping Boy, Says Xavi

Real Madrid Lionel Messi