No hiding for Chelsea in Barca clash, says Hiddink

Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink is expecting an open game against Barcelona but warned on Monday that his team has to be alert to avoid a repeat of Bayern Munich’s collapse against the Spanish side in the previous round.

The Dutchman says he has watched videos of Barcelona’s victory over Bayern at the Nou Camp where the Germans conceded four first-half goals and he hopes that Portuguese international fullback Jose Bosingwa – who has replaced the suspended Ashley Cole – can deal with the threat posed by Lionel Messi.

“We’ve studied that game and looked at what Bayern did wrong and it wasn’t just the defence which was to blame but the whole team,” confessed Hiddink.

“Messi is one of the best players in the world and he is at Barcelona for a reason but I am confident that Bosingwa will do a good job, he played the last game in that position and he did well.

“You can try and analyse games but you never know what is going to happen, you can just do your best. Barcelona are a team which attacks and we are not a side which likes to sit back and wait to see the game unfold.

“It is going to be a game which is there to be won with teams which look to get forward. I have been in many finals (he coached PSV Eindhoven to what was then the European Cup trophy in 1988) and it is always a dream to get there but each time it is different and I have had a new experiences on each occasion.”

With Chelsea’s recent run of good form, Hiddink – who insists he will leave Chelsea at the end of the season to focus on his job as Russia national coach – admits that he has set new standards.

“When I started off the aim (he replaced the sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari on February 11) was win a place in the Champions League but if you climb up the league then you cannot satisfy yourself with just that,” said the man nicknamed in his home country as ‘Lucky Guus’.

“We have achieved new targets like reaching the FA Cup final and we will now do our best to beat Barcelona,” he said.

Chelsea winger Florent Malouda believes that the key to the tie will be which side can assert their own style of football.

“I think that everyone enjoys the way that Barca play as they score a lot of goals, where all the players on the pitch work hard and hopefully we can match that,” said the Frenchman, who has flourished since Hiddink took over having looked out of his depth when Scolari was in charge.

“We have reached the semi-finals, won the right to face Barca and we are both big sides with plenty of ambition,” added the former Lyon star.

Malouda said that the winner would be the side that managed to impose its different style on their opponent.

“Barcelona have a passing game and we also play football but are more physical and so the winner will be the team whose approach triumphs,” said Malouda.

“I think Messi is the best player in the world, not many players are capable of what he can do and hopefully we will not see all his qualities. We have all been working hard in training to deal with the threat.”

Malouda – part of the France side that surprisingly reached the 2006 World Cup final – has become an important figure for Chelsea in the second half of the season and he can play a crucial role against Barcelona. He puts his improvement down to hard work.

“The English league is very strong and it takes some time to adapt but as well as that I started the season with some injury problems,” said Malouda.

“I have been trying hard in training and hopefully my good form has come at the right time,” he added.