Messi out to break Chelsea duck in crucial quarterfinal first leg

As unlikely as it sounds, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is still waiting to score his first goal against Chelsea after drawing a blank in eight previous Champions League matches.

Cesc Fabregas has said that Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Barcelona at Stamford Bridge tonight is about much more than any personal reunion.

In their six group stage matches, ahead of the showdown with Chelsea, they were only breached once – Dimitrios Nikolaou grabbing an 89th minute consolation in Olympiacos’ 3-1 defeat at the Camp Nou last October – to put that into some perspective at this stage last season they had already shipped in four goals.

“We play in different leagues”. We have an idea. “I think that, in this specific moment, it’s very important to pick the players who are in top form and then try and do our best to win”.

Barcelona’s visit to Chelsea early tomorrow morning (3.45am local time) gives Antonio Conte the ideal opportunity to reaffirm his stature as one of Europe’s greatest coaches. “For me it’s a great challenge to come up against one of his sides”. I’ve played a few good games this season: Atletico Madrid away, Roma here, and against Madrid.

“Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde admits he is facing “one of the best managers in the world” when his side take on Conte’s Chelsea”. We are playing at home and it could be an advantage for us” says Rudiger.The German defender further said, “When I was younger, I was dreaming about playing in a game like this.

Antonio Conte believes Chelsea need to play “the ideal game” to have a chance of overcoming Barcelona, and Fabregas insisted that his performance will not be affected by his connection to Tuesday’s opponents if called upon. “We have a great opportunity to show the whole world what we can do”. “We will see how the game develops but we have to try and score at least one goal, play our game and control the ball – that’s what we’ll be aiming to achieve”.

Manchester United have also been inconsistent of late, as they have won two and lost two of their last four games in all competitions. They are having a fantastic season, top of the league and final in the Copa del Rey, and they have the potential to win this cup. Willian also played the full game on Friday, which would indicate a non-starting role for him on Tuesday.

Like his opposite number, Valverde has been carefully studying Chelsea’s tactical system and hopes to outwit Conte.

He played as Barca picked up a 2-0 win over Eibar on Saturday, but his name wasn’t on the scoresheet and he hasn’t found the back of the net in Barca’s past five fixtures.