Nou Camp holds no fears for bullish Cech
The Blues were yesterday still basking in their statistics-busting 1-0 win in Wednesday night’s first leg at Stamford Bridge, which saw goalkeeper Cech produce one of his best performances of the season to keep Barca at bay.
Chelsea once again proved the world and European champions’ nemesis, as Barca have now failed to beat the Londoners in their last six meetings.
That includes three score draws at the Nou Camp, where Barcelona boast a terrifying record of 27 wins and no defeats in 30 games this season, with 104 goals scored and 16 conceded.
That would be enough to intimidate any side, but not Chelsea, who proved on Wednesday night they were capable of defying almost every attacking statistic going.
Cech said: “We’ve done well in the past there and need to reproduce the same kind of performance that we did and like we have before.
“It will be really important to score an away goal as well but we seem always to score there and, hopefully, we can replicate that.”
Chelsea will need even more defensive discipline on Tuesday on a pitch much bigger than their own, as well as the same luck they have enjoyed in spades of late, and the kind of wasteful finishing Barca conspired to produce on Wednesday night.
Cech added: “This performance was all about the focus and concentration, to stay disciplined all the time and not give them space, even though you could run for three minutes and not see the ball.
“We had to fight from the first to the last minute. We’ve done the maximum we could do against such a great side.
“We’ve had some good results against them in the past and used that experience again. We made it really tight, but will have to play the same way in the second leg.”
Caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo, whose tactical masterplans are fast making a strong case for him to be handed the job full-time, will almost certainly want to start with the same XI in Spain as he did on Wednesday night.
The so-called old guard once again demonstrated they had more to give, with matchwinner Didier Drogba proving he may just be impossible to replace if Chelsea do not cave in to his contract demands before his deal expires this summer.
The 34-year-old was both at his bullying best and theatrical worst on Wednesday night, showing he could still play twice in four days after Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final thrashing of Tottenham.
Drogba said: “I just love the game. I love playing. Every time I have a chance to perform, I know that I am lucky to be on this kind of pitch like Wembley, Stamford Bridge because so many players wanted to become professional.
“So many didn’t have a professional career, so I try to enjoy them mostly. I’m really happy when I’m on the pitch.”
Drogba added: “We didn’t have anything to prove against Barcelona, we just played to qualify.
“We won the first leg, there is another one coming and we will be up for it.”
Meanwhile Andres Iniesta has told his Barcelona team-mates they cannot afford to wallow in their “unjust” Champions League defeat at Chelsea if they are to stay on course for a clean sweep of silverware this season.
“That is the only thing that leaves a bad taste in the mouth — the failure to score,” Iniesta said.
“We generated enough chances to have won the game.
“But we can’t feel sorry for ourselves — what we have to do now is think about the games that lie ahead.”
Becoming the first ever club to retain the Champions League crown is Barcelona’s number one goal and Iniesta was under no illusions about what they would have to overcome to reach their second successive final.
“We expect them to sit deep and wait for us, playing on the break,” he said.
“We will have to be very aggressive when it comes to trying to create chances and to attacking them.
“We have to be careful, though, because the result is a difficult one. We have to have the same mentality.”
Chelsea’s uber-defensive tactics split opinion between the purists and pragmatists but Iniesta had no problem with that type of approach, something Barca are long used to having to overcome.
“They have to try to take advantage of their strong points and that is fine,” he said.
“They have to do what their think is in their interest, playing to their strengths. We do the same thing.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
