Roberto Di Matteo says Chelsea must produce two perfect performances in order to overcome Barcelona – but insists they are capable of doing so.
The Catalan giants are strong favourites ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge, but the Blues go into the game in excellent form.
They have won nine and lost only one of 12 matches under interim boss Di Matteo, and they received the ultimate morale boost in the form of a 5-1 mauling of rivals Tottenham in Sunday’s FA Cup clash at Wembley.
Di Matteo declared: “The spirit in the group is very high and I don’t think we could have had a better game on Sunday to come into this one.
“Confidence is good, we have a good history in the Champions League, and the players are very motivated.
“Over the last six weeks we’ve improved and every win has given this team belief and confidence. We have a fantastic squad and some very good players.
“We need two perfect games from our point of view against this team. But in the last six weeks we’ve been performing well and that gives us the belief that we can produce.”
And while the likes of Lionel Messi present an obvious threat, Di Matteo claimed that Barca are wary of Chelsea and can expect a difficult test.
“They don’t like to play against us. Results in the past have shown that,” he said.
“The way we play is maybe a little bit more difficult to play against. We’ve shown that we can cause them problems.”
See also: Di Matteo confirms Luiz will miss both games against Barca
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This post was last modified on 18/04/2012