Back in 2012, Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea past Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona en route to a first ever Champions League title.
The stakes aren’t quite as high for Enzo Maresca, taking on the Spanish champions in the fifth game of Chelsea’s league phase campaign.
But this game will be seen as a measuring stick, and it’s one the Blues will be desperate to win.
Di Matteo hasn’t been one to give Maresca advice since he took up the post, fully confident in the Chelsea boss’ ability as a coach, but his recounting of a famous semi-final win could be taken by Maresca as a blueprint to repeat the feat.
Chelsea head coach Roberto Di Matteo at the Champions League match against Juventus.
Photo by AMA/Corbis via Getty Images
Roberto Di Matteo explains how Chelsea beat Barcelona in 2012
He was in the job in an interim capacity at the time, but Di Matteo’s Champions League run put him firmly in pole position for the permanent role.
One of the highlights of the campaign was a dramatic climax to the semi-final, where Fernando Torres scored against Barcelona at the death to send Chelsea through to the final.
On this day 🔙 in 2012 📅
Fernando Torres bagged the goal to see Chelsea knock out Barcelona on their way to their first Champions League trophy!! 🤩#UCL pic.twitter.com/NHPbhKB4Px
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 24, 2023
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Di Matteo recently sat down for an interview with Matt Law for The Telegraph, where he recalled the tactical approach he went for to sink one of the best sides of all time.
He explains: “We were playing every three days, so we didn’t have too much time to prepare on the pitch, it was more video analysis and team meetings.
“I watched a lot of Barcelona games and our game plan was to go with a 4-2-3-1, stay compact and double up on Messi. I told the players that we weren’t going to see much of the ball, but they were prepared for that after the first leg.”
The current iteration of Barcelona isn’t of the same quality as the 2012 version, but the same could be said for Chelsea.
Maresca should look to set up in the same way, this time doubling up on the dangerous Lamine Yamal, and keeping a compact shape against one of the best passing teams in Europe.
What the big names have said in the past about Chelsea vs Barcelona
“There are players here who hate Chelsea more than Real Madrid. I never thought I would hear myself say that. I also never thought I would see something worse than the Boca and River Plate rivalry or Brazil v Argentina – but this is. We would rather play Arsenal, Manchester United or anyone else than be on the pitch with Chelsea.”
Lionel Messi
“I thought this could be the worst night of my footballing life, I was thinking towards double figures, I spent the first 20 minutes getting nowhere near Xavi and Iniesta”
Frank Lampard
“I always say this Barcelona team was the best of my generation, one team was capable of matching them in this era and that was us.”
John Terry
Although Chelsea are at home this time, they might not see much more of the ball. Barcelona have been handed an injury blow with Pedri, which certainly tips the scales in Chelsea’s favour, but it’s not a team to be underestimated.
Di Matteo recalls magical Fernando Torres moment
Torres didn’t live up to expectations at Stamford Bridge, but that one moment of brilliance means he is remembered fondly by Chelsea fans.
Di Matteo made the bold decision to take off Didier Drogba, bringing on the out-of-form Spaniard in his place.
As he explains: “Didier was running out of energy a little bit and I knew that Fernando could give us something fresh. I didn’t see it as a gamble at all, and I knew there was the possibility for them to give us something on the counter-attack.
“He deserved the goal because he worked so hard for the team and to change people’s appreciation of him. So I was very, very happy for him.”
The moment would have been famed enough, but the fact that Chelsea went on to hoist the Champions League trophy just weeks later makes it one of the most important goals in the club’s history.