Willian: Chelsea can beat Barcelona, and Man City are the perfect preparation for Champions League second leg

Brazilian winger optimistic for Chelsea's second leg at the Nou Camp after Tuesday night's 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge

Willian feels Chelsea are capable of beating Barcelona at the Camp Nou to reach the Champions League quarter-finals (PA)

For Chelsea, the challenge is simple: all they have to do is produce their best performance in years in the Nou Camp on 14 March to beat Barcelona. If they do that, they move into the Champions League quarter-finals. If they do not, they only have the FA Cup to keep their season alive.

But at least Chelsea have a blueprint. Their best performance of the season came in Spain, five months ago, when they went to Atletico Madrid and won 2-1. That was a performance of control, discipline and focused attacking, and they deserved to win even before Michy Batshuayi’s added time winner. Now all Chelsea have to do is to do it again. This time against a much harder opponent, currently seven points clear of Atletico at the top of La Liga.

Willian, Chelsea’s best player in Tuesday night’s first leg, believes they can do it. “We can go there and do a great job again,” he said after the 1-1 draw. “If we go with the same mentality as we did against Atletico, we can go there with great spirit and win the game.”

Chelsea held Barcelona at arm’s length on Tuesday and would have kept a clean sheet were it not for Andreas Christensen’s misplaced pass to Andres Iniesta with 15 minutes left. But Willian acknowledged they will face a far more expansive Barcelona at Nou Camp, which will make it an even harder challenge.

“It will be a completely different game, to play there is different,” Willian said of the difference between the two legs. “To play these games is totally different, but we want to play big games like this one. It's really important. We tried to win here and now we must go to the Camp Nou. We must play with the same mentality, prepare well. If we do well, we can win the game there.”

That second leg will come 11 days after Chelsea travel to the Etihad Stadium to play Manchester City, which will be the best practice possible for Barcelona away. They will have to suffer in that game too, but if they can show they can survive long periods without the ball, while also causing problems on the counter-attack, then they can hone their plan to take to the Nou Camp. First they have Manchester United this Sunday afternoon as their first practice.

Willian celebrates scoring Chelsea's goal against Barcelona (Getty) (Getty Images,)

“Against Manchester United, I think we can do a great job,” Willian said. “Against Manchester City it will be like the game against Barcelona: they like to have the ball. We have to stay compact and use the same plan as we used against Barcelona. We can win these games. We will go there to try to win.”