Kalou hopeful of Barca upset

Salomon Kalou is optimistic his Chelsea side can pull off an unlikely victory against Barcelona in their Champions League semi-final.

Chelsea set up a tie with the reigning champions by beating Portuguese giants Benfica 3-1 on aggregate, and despite conceding that Pep Guardiola’s men are favourites to reach the final, Kalou believes his side are capable of causing an upset.

“We’re in the semi-finals and we must concentrate on Barcelona,” he told RMC. “They’re a great team, but over two legs, it’s possible.

“We’ve seen how Mourinho’s Inter caused them problems two years ago.”

Kalou told of how a late Andres Iniesta goal that eliminated Chelsea from the semi-finals of the 2009 tournament brought agony to the Stamford Bridge squad.

“We’ve played some great matches against Barcelona, but that Iniesta goal three years ago was a painful moment,” he said.

Kalou acknowledged his team were fortunate to reach the semi-finals after an unspectacular performance against Benfica at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

With Chelsea leading 1-0 after a Frank Lampard penalty, a Javi Garcia goal on 85 minutes meant Jorge Jesus’ side needed only one more strike to send them through on away goals.

However, Roberto Di Matteo’s men were able to hold firm, and scored a break-away goal through Raul Meireles in injury time to kill off any threat of a Benfica revival.

“The start of the game wasn’t easy because we didn’t take the match in our hands. We were lucky to score with a penalty. Then we had some moments of doubt after their goal,” he said.

Chelsea host Wigan on Saturday in the Premier League as they look to keep up their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League.