Countering Messi
Chelsea's fear will be the damage that Lionel Messi can create from Barcelona's right side by dragging covering players towards him then slipping passes to colleagues. He is fond of the reverse pass when he comes inside the left-back and cuts the ball back with his left foot to the space in front. Against Bayern Munich, Franck Ribéry worked hard to get back and support his left-back, Oliver Lahm. But Chelsea will need to stop the supply-line and prevent him receiving the ball to his feet.His instant control with his left foot is stunning. Chelsea's left-sided wide man, Florent Malouda, must track back narrow while Didier Drogba should try to get between Carles Puyol and right-back, Daniel Alves, when Barcelona have possession deep. If Alves cannot receive in deep areas, he cannot supply Messi in the middle third. Likewise, if Frank Lampard and fellow midfielders can make Xavi and Yaya Touré play to the left rather than the right, it will starve the Argentinian of possession and should nullify his threat. They will need to be diligent as Messi's one-twos and dribbling ability coming inside to shoot are considerable dangers.
Unnerving Barça defence
Chelsea can exploit the diagonal early ball. Lampard has great telepathy with Drogba and always looks for the early flighted pass while the Ivorian can search out the space in the high left area, between Puyol and Alves, to prove a danger.
Going forward Alves is exceptional but he is not the most impressive in the air and nor is his covering the strongest part of his game. Against Bayern, Ribéry exposed tackling frailties. Puyol likes to get close and battles very well given his height but he has a tendency to get too tight at times to try to win the ball early.
Drogba is good enough to pull away for the flighted ball against a back four that looked a little uneasy when an unambitious Bayern pushed the odd searching pass beyond their rearguard, forcing them to turn and retreat. If Drogba can peel away off Puyol's back and look to run behind, he can exploit this area and unnerve the hosts.
Alternatively, if he can assert himself aerially then watch out for Michael Ballack and either Salomon Kalou or Nicolas Anelka coming in off the right touchline in search of knockdowns.
