Chelsea eye Barca revenge

Roberto di Matteo, Chelsea’s interim manager, and club owner Roman Abramovich deserve praise for weathering the storm at Stamford Bridge.

Abramovich concluded that Andre Villas-Boas was not the ideal man to lead the Blues and with Chelsea still in contention for two honours (Champions League and FA Cup), not to mention a top-four place in the Premiership, he axed the Portuguese manager and let Italian Di Matteo continue with the job until the end of the season.

Under Di Matteo, Chelsea turned the tide in their favour in the match against Napoli, being two goals in arrears from the first leg, to win 4-1 and book a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Then came Benfica’s challenge and the Blues, although somewhat nervous, went on to reach the last four of the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Chelsea also progressed to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and lost only one match in 10 league and cup outings, away at Manchester City.

Three years after bitterly disputing their Champions League exit to Barcelona, Chelsea’s players will have the chance the turn the tables on their Spanish rivals.

The spectre of “unfinished business’’ against the four-time European champions was raised by midfielder Frank Lampard immediately after the London club knocked out Benfica.

“They are the greatest team in the world,’’ Lampard said.

“They are going to be favourites but we have a lot of belief in ourselves. We have to perform at our best to beat them.”

The last time Chelsea reached the semi-finals of the Champions League was against Barcelona in 2009. The Londoners bowed out on the away goals rule following a 0-0 draw at the Nou Camp and the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

In 2007-08, Chelsea made it to the final in Europe. In the semi-finals, they were paired with Liverpool for the third time at such stage in the competition. After a 1-1 draw at Anfield, they won the return 3-2 for a 4-3 aggregate win.

The all-English clash in the Moscow final saw Chelsea lose 6-5 to Manchester United in a penalty shoot-out.

The Blues had also lost another penalty shoot-out in the 2006-07 semi-final against Liverpool. They went down 1-4 after the two sides had won the home leg 1-0 for a 1-1 aggregate draw.

The first meeting between the two English clubs came in 2004-05. The Blues were held to a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, losing the return leg in Liverpool 0-1.

The season before, Chelsea were shocked by French club Monaco. Sequel to the 1-3 defeat away, the Londoners could only manage a 2-2 draw at their own backyard.

In 14 European matches in London against Spanish sides, Chelsea have lost only once as record here denotes:

2011-12 (Champions League group) Valencia 3-0.
2009-10 (Champions League group) Atletico Madrid 4-0.
2008-09 (Champions League SF) Barcelona 1-1.
2007-08 (Champions League group) Valencia 0-0.
2006-07 (Champions League group) Barcelona 1-0.
2006-07 (Champions League QF) Valencia 1-1.
2005-06 (Champions League group) Real Betis 4-0.
2005-06 (Champions League 2nd round) Barcelona 1-2.
2004-05 (Champions League 2nd round) Barcelona 4-2.
1999-00 (Champions League QF) Barcelona 3-1.
1998-99 (Cup Winners’ Cup SF) Real Mallorca 0-1.
1997-98 (Cup Winners’ Cup QF) Real Betis 3-1.
1994-95 (CupWinners’ Cup SF) Real Zaragoza 3-1.
1965-66 (UEFA Fairs Cup SF) Barcelona 2-0.

In all competitions, with the aggregate score determining the outcome, Chelsea and Barca met six times with the Blues losing on three occasions.

In the 2006 Champions League second round, they went down 2-3 on aggregate and in 2000 Chelsea were eliminated at the quarter-final stage 6-4 over two legs.

The other loss came in the 1966 Fairs Cup semis. After a 2-2 aggregate, Chelsea went down 5-0 in a decider in Barcelona.

But, will the jinx of the Champions League winners strike again this year?

Since the start of the competition in 1993, no club has managed to win the Champions League two years in a row... last year Barcelona held aloft the cup at Wembley Stadium.