The epic history of Chelsea-Barcelona is impossible to ignore ahead of their Champions League showdown

This is a fixture that has offered the kind of epic theatrical nights that players want to play in, a genuine modern Champions League classic that has always lived up to the hype

Andres Iniesta's famous goal at Stamford Bridge in 2009 knocked out Chelsea (Getty)

For all that Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde tried to insist that the rich – and often remarkable – history between his club and Chelsea was something merely for the media before the side’s meeting on Tuesday, the reality is that it has been discussed in rather animated fashion in the dressing rooms of both clubs. Then again, how could it not be?

This is a fixture that has offered the kind of epic theatrical nights that players want to play in. It is a genuine modern Champions League classic that has always lived up to the hype, and may well have provided the competition’s finest rivalry.

Ever since their first meeting in it in 2000, we’ve seen: three sensational comebacks, multiple great goals, a manager hiding in a laundry basket, a referee retiring, another escorted out of England by police due to anger over his decisions, a last-minute winner en route to a first Barca treble and so much more. But we’ll get to that. It was that last-minute winner that Ivan Rakitic wanted to get to with his teammate Andres Iniesta in the buildup to this match.

“I spoke a bit with Andres, about his goal [in 2009], and his special moments,” the midfielder said. “Then there was that first 30 minutes [in 2005] when they went 3-0 down, and the pressure in the stadium. But this is a different game. We have to forget what happened before.”

Barca will most want to forget what happened in the next meeting after that 2009 match, and the last one they played: the improbable Chelsea comeback of 2012. It is naturally the match that has been most discussed in the Cobham dressing room up to now, not least because there are still so many players from that tie at the club, including two Barca players in Pedro and Cesc Fabregas.

There’s also the fact it is tie that bears most relation to this one, that has the most similar circumstances. Chelsea are again hoping to defy one of their periodically problematic domestic seasons to also defy a Barcelona again being talked about as the best side in Europe.

Much more relevant, though, was how that match so perfectly displayed how distorting the nuances of knockout football can be; how sudden death at such a level can cause sudden junctures from expectation.

Take the stat mentioned more than any other before this game, and does genuinely remain quite incredible given the incredible level of the player at the centre of it: in eight matches, Lionel Messi has never scored against Chelsea, having also missed a penalty in that match.

Fernando Torres’s goal settled their semi-final in 2012 (AFP/Getty Images)

Even if something like that starts as mere coincidence, one potential consequence is that it does develop into something that weighs on players’ minds, that causes them to second-guess themselves or slightly hesitate in key moments – even someone as assured as Messi.

“I don’t know if he’s thinking about that or not,” Valverde said before Tuesday’s game. “It’s a huge tie, for everyone, for us, for Leo, for the team. We play for Barcelona. It’ll be difficult against a strong opponent, and we know Leo hasn’t had much luck against Chelsea in the past. But tomorrow is a different game.”

The other side of it is that, whether he scores or not, Messi is at a different level. One of the biggest questions in football is still how you stop him, or at least find the kind of balance that minimises his impact without letting the rest of the Barca side run riot.

“This is a good question,” Antonio Conte smiled. “We are talking about the best player in the world. Messi has the capacity to solve the situation and create a chance when you are not seeing the chance to score. This means that this player, we are talking about a fantastic player. We have to pay great attention, but not only to Messi. Suarez is a fantastic striker. The other team are very dangerous, so we have to work as a team to try and stop Barcelona: Messi, Suarez, Iniesta... the whole team of Barcelona. We have to work very hard. We have to know that, during the game, we must be prepared to suffer. But, at the same time, we must have the idea to go and score at any moment.”

Ernesto Valverde’s team are top of La Liga (UEFA via Getty Images)

There’s also the narrative-busting possibility that – a player like Messi apart – there isn’t as much difference between the sides as has been thought, and there especially won’t be on the night.

Chelsea are nowhere near as fragile as those successive three-goal defeats to Bournemouth and Watford from two weeks ago suggested, Barca nowhere near as brilliant as the numbers from their unbeaten league season would indicate. That has largely been achieved by a rhythm developed from a much more constrained approach from these Catalans than in these ties from the past, but may find particular difficulty against a Chelsea side that will themselves be able to more contained – and thereby maybe more dangerous – than in most league games. There won’t be the same pressure to get forward, and that could release a counter-attack that remains one of the most cutting in the game.

“We need to defend as a team,” Eden Hazard said, “because if we don’t defend against Barca we are in trouble.”

There’s also the fact that Conte remains one of the best coaches for this type of occasion, for figuring out a one-off tactical plan that wins a match against such opposition. The Italian admitted that he didn’t sleep well over the weekend, but that’s nothing new since it’s really just because of how deeply he dwells on all possible options, how much the choices consume him.

“He’s one of the best managers in the world with a great record, not only demonstrated at Chelsea but with Juventus and the Italian national team,” Valverde said of Conte. “You can see the quality of his coaching in the teams he coaches. He’s got the classic Italian methods. Very strong defensively, and can counter at any moment. It’s very clearly a team run by him.”

And yet it isn’t clear at all what team Conte will put out. While it’s relatively easy to predict 10 of Barca’s starting XI – other than the decision regarding Paulinho or Andre Gomes in midfield – that’s just not the case with Chelsea. Conte has a number of possible configurations in defence and midfield, but perhaps the biggest decision comes down to whether he plays Olivier Giroud or Alvaro Morata up front, or neither of them.

Hazard, who’s perhaps under a little pressure to start really matching the productivity of Messi and players of that level, was meanwhile conspicuously single-minded about it all.

“We are the champions of England. We are ready. We can face them, we can beat them as well. Let’s go for it and give everything.”

This is a fixture that has already had everything and yet, the way this is charging up, it may yet have more.