Guus Hiddink demands courage from Chelsea

Interim Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink will send out his side tonight at the Camp Nou to take on Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final urging them to believe that they can nullify one of the most potent attacking forces in European football.

"We know we are facing maybe the best team in the world at the moment, and a team with a very attractive style, but we've got to put the brakes on them and take the initiative," said Hiddink. He stressed the need for his players not to be overwhelmed by the hype of the occasion, letting the exalted reputations of their opponents make them believe they had lost the tie before a ball was kicked.

The Chelsea player with perhaps the least enviable task of the night is Jose Boswinga, the Portuguese right back who has been shuffled over to the left side to counter the attacking threat of Lionel Messi. Messi is widely trumpeted as the world's finest player at the moment, and Boswinga - covering for the side's normal left back Ashley Cole, who is suspended - will need to counter the young Argentine's terrifying pace and vision.

But Chelsea have shown they too have players to strike fear into opposition defences, with an on-form Didier Drogba and the ever-dependable Frank Lampard ready to pounce should Barcelona's defence, the 'weak' link of their chain, fail to match the heights of their forward line of Messi, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o.

"My team have to show they have the guts to try to play and not just wait until they are beaten," concluded Hiddink, of the tie that begin at 7.45pm GMT tonight. "We have to have the courage to play."

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Dominic Fifield, the Guardian: "The loss of Ashley Cole to a one-match suspension is untimely given that Lionel Messi, arguably the world's most eye-catching attacking talent at present, will start on the right of Barcelona's mouth-watering forward line. The Argentinian, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry have scored more goals this season, 66, than Chelsea have managed (56) in the Premier League. Yet, while the visitors must be wary of the threat posed by the attacking trio - and Messi in particular - Hiddink believes the Londoners boast the power to unsettle their hosts."

Oliver Kay, the Times: "The modern embodiment of the Barcelona philosophy is Lionel Messi, the slight, tousle-haired figure who is so supremely gifted that, at 21, he is threatening to come close to his terrifying billing as Diego Maradona’s “successor”, as proposed by none other than the great Argentinian himself. Backed by a supporting cast that is dripping with talent - Daniel Alves, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry and the rest - Messi seems undaunted by the illustrious footsteps in which he is walking, but then fear never seems to come into the equation at Barcelona, where the greatest devotion is always to the philosophy, to football rather than to results." ·