To judge by the attitude of Cesc Fabregas and Pep Guardiola yesterday, recent conversation among the greatest football team in the world has not been about how their opposition in tonight's Champions League semi-final have evolved. Rather it has been about how Chelsea have stayed the same: obstinate, unyielding, reluctant to let go of the formula that has delivered the club its glory years.
Fabregas said it the most bluntly, talking about a Chelsea team
that had "gone back" to the way it knew best after the Andre
Villas-Boas interregnum. Guardiola spoke in more general terms,
praising the longevity of the club, its "soul", which sounded like
a polite way of saying that this group of Chelsea players had been
around for a bloody long time.
It felt that way at times yesterday, especially with Frank
Lampard at the press conference table talking about his 11th season
at the club and discussing the old question of when Chelsea were at
last going to win a competition in which they have reached the
semi-finals six times in nine years. You could have been at any
Chelsea Champions League press conference of the last five
years.
Lampard is likely, but not guaranteed, to start the game
tonight. The difference this time is a player who will be asked to
shoulder more of the creative burden than any new signing of the
last few years. Juan Mata is certain to play against Barcelona, the
club for whom he almost signed last summer before he joined Chelsea
for £23.5m
No outfield player has made more appearances for Mata for
Chelsea this season – 42 starts and five more as a substitute – and
in a team that lacks sparkle, he is increasingly relied upon as the
creator. Successive Chelsea teams have never really cherished the
ideal of a traditional No 10 playmaker – just ask Mata's
predecessor in the shirt, Joe Cole.
Lampard, with 16 goals, has scored four more than Mata this
season, but the younger man has got some crucial goals, and not
just the one that did not cross the line against Spurs in the FA
Cup semi-final. In a 4-2-3-1 formation it is Mata who slots in just
behind the central striker. On Sunday that striker was Didier
Drogba, but there is every chance it could be Fernando Torres
tonight.
Mata, 23, said in yesterday's Spanish newspapers that he thought
it would be Torres who would start ahead of him in attack against
Barcelona. "Fernando nearly always scored against Barça when he was
at Atletico Madrid," he said. "He really wants to play this
one."
Chelsea have lost just two of their eight encounters with
Barcelona in the Roman Abramovich era, the last of those was more
than six years ago, and they need to win tonight to have any hope
of getting through. "Winning 1-0 or 2-0 in the first leg would be
the ideal," Mata said. "I think we can score there. The most
important thing is to score and if we keep a clean sheet then even
better.
"If there is one ground where Barça have not had it easy it is
Stamford Bridge [they have won once there in those eight games,
back in February 2006]," he added. "For the dimensions [of the
pitch], for the fans being close to the pitch, the atmosphere."
Asked whether his team could cope with being denied the ball, he
warned that might not be the case. "Maybe we will have more
possession than people think."
Mata is the one who never quite made it at the big two in Spain.
He was an academy player at Real Madrid but they let him go to
Valencia. There was interest in him from Barcelona, who eventually
opted to sign Alexis Sanchez last summer. He has 16 caps for the
Spain senior team, and five goals, but he will not be in the first
XI at the European Championship this summer unless injuries change
the picture.
Nevertheless, his progress has been watched with interest in
Spain, where the feeling is that Torres was improved – at least
when he was at Liverpool – by his time in the Premier League. Mata
was signed by Chelsea in the summer when they realised that their
pursuit of Tottenham's Luka Modric was not going to be a success
and, although he was originally regarded as a winger, it is as a
central playmaker that Mata feels most comfortable.
It was for that reason Villas-Boas gave him the No 10 shirt.
Chelsea teams of recent years have never truly accommodated a No
10-style player in the past like Mata. Michael Ballack did it to
some extent, but became more of a defensive midfielder in his time
at the club. In the era of Lampard and Michael Essien it has been
about power and getting the ball forward quickly.
"I believe a lot in Stamford Bridge," Mata said. "The noise of
the supporters is important. Barcelona will not be comfortable." He
is also not affected by the nine years of coming up short against
the likes of Barcelona, Liverpool and Manchester United. In a
season in which Oriol Romeu has mysteriously disappeared from the
first-team picture, and Romelu Lukaku is not even in the Champions
League squad, Mata is the year's breakthrough attacking player.
Asked yesterday whether he ever felt it was inevitable that
Chelsea would win the Champions League one day, Lampard said that
he "wished it was". "You're a bit older every year. As a team, you
appreciate what you want more. Semi-finals don't come round every
year. They won't be there for ever." That is certainly the case for
the old Chelsea that Fabregas recognises, but Mata has time on his
side.
Key confrontations: Where tonight's match will be won and
lost
John Terry v Lionel Messi
How do you stop the best player in the world? Messi's speed,
movement and dribbling abilities are a terrifying prospect for any
centre-back. Terry will have to keep his composure – and refrain
from diving in when isolated against the Argentine.
John Obi Mikel v Xavi
The Spaniard is the chief orchestrator in Barcelona's midfield –
especially if he is given space. Mikel will be deployed to put
pressure on him, and needs to concentrate on his task. If and when
Xavi does wriggle free, his incisive passing could prove
devastating.
Fernando Torres v Gerard Pique
When Chelsea do get the ball, they will look to spring their
attack to take a goal or two to the Nou Camp next week. Torres will
have to be patient, and will likely have to hold off Pique, while
waiting for the support of Juan Mata and Ramires to hurt the
visitors.
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