We all expect excellent football and a fantastic match tonight but the usual mind games have started before the big clash.
Players and officials from both clubs have spent much of the past week sniping at each other and we believe they will go on during and after the match. The last time these two teams met a player got sent off, a referee resigned after he was accused of being bribed by a coach and a fight broke out after the second leg. With excentric Chelsea coach Mourinho playing a leading role in this soap opera we can be sure to expect a lot more controversy.
About Barça Players being "stupid"...
Jose Mourinho, famous for his antics before any important match hit out already several times with his verbal extravagance. In a prematch interview he described Barça players such as Sylvinho and Barça captain Carles Puyol commenting about the bad pitch condition as “stupid”:
"I think the people are really stupid who think we have done it (damaged the pitch) deliberately” 
About the bad pitch condition...
The state of the pitch has dominated pre-match comments. Much controversy has surrounded the game before it already started, as the Barcelona staff and players are saying that the Stamford Bridge pitch is below acceptable conditions and not worth to stage an UEFA Champions League match of this importance. Some have even hinted that the Chelsea organisation has done this on purpose in an attempt to increase their chances of winning.
Chelsea also invited more discussions by soaking their pitch until water was standing on the surface, although the club insisted this was a routine pre-match procedure. Barcelona are already worried about the state of the Stamford Bridge surface and fear it could hinder their free-flowing style of football.
The Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho simply insisted that the surface is actually much better than it looks but is fine to play:
"The pitch looks absolutely awful but the ball rolls well and you can play football on it. It plays reasonably well."
About the playing style...
Jose Mourinho was very upset about public opinions expressed that the Spanish La Liga champions play beautiful football but Chelsea take a more direct approach by playing long balls. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has hit back at Frank Rijkaard's claims that the Blues relied on “long-ball” tactics and expressed his anger:
"It's not true. It is because they don't see us many times and don't see other English teams. I can tell you we play short."
Rijkaard, clearly not impressed by his counterpart Mourinho:
“I feel very sorry for Mourinho if I upset him. It is a real shame. I promise with all my heart I will try not to do so again.''
About the referee and spanish football culture...
Chelsea coach Mourinho demanded from Norwegian referee Terje Hauge to keep an eye out for Barcelona players trying to get his players booked. The Blues boss wants Hauge to be strong because it is the Spanish football culture to try to cheat the referee into giving yellow and read cards as well as diving for penalties. Terry, Frank Lampard and Arjen Robben are all one booking away from suspension which would rule them out of the second leg in the Camp Nou.
Mourinho said:
"It's a hard job for the referee. I can't complain because I also come from a culture where football sometimes isn't clean ... You go to Portugal, Spain, Italy or South America and see people diving and trying to gets fouls, penalties and bookings. It is part of the culture... I will tell my players to play with their eyes open and be very careful but it's something we can't control... The referee has to control it with his experience and has to decide where the opponents are trying to do something”
But FC Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard hit back at the accusations that Mourinho felt the need to claim Spanish players had a habit of diving and to try to con the referee into giving penalties and booking players. Barça coach Rijkaard commented:
"I am honestly not in favour of diving players and getting an advantage from something that didn't happen. That's not the way to win a game for me. It's all about quality.
More about the referee...
Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard stirred up the fire about the referee Hauge after making a sarcastic remark about his relationship with the match referee. Last years volatile encounter between Chelsea and FC Barcelona was influenced by accusations made by Jose Mourinho with regards to Rijkaard's relationship with the match referee Anders Frisk. The Chelsea coach accused his Barça counterpart of walking into Frisk´s changing room at half time in the first leg at Camp Nou and influenced him in his decisions. A claim that was subsequently deemed to be false. Mourinho got banned to coach his team for 2 matches and was heavily fined for his false accusations.
Rijkaard commented when asked about Hauge:
''Thank Heaven for that. Terje is an intimate friend of mine. I often speak with him on the phone and we eat together whenever we can.''
About home advantage...
The Chelsea manager rejects Frank Rijkaard's theory that his Barcelona team are favourites for a quarter-final place because they play the second leg at home. Mourinho:
"I don't agree that Barcelona are the favourites. I am never one for judging European ties on a simplistic home and away basis. We could say that, if it goes to extra-time, the away team has an extra 30 minutes to score an away goal which could be key.”
