‘Chelsea must attack at Nou Camp’

CHELSEA goalscorer Willian said they must go on the attack against Barcelona at the Nou Camp next month to have any chance of reaching the Champions League quarterfinals.

The Brazilian’s fine goal was not enough for victory in a compelling last 16, first leg at Stamford Bridge as Lionel Messi pounced after a defensive mistake by Chelsea to earn Barca a 1-1 draw which has left the fascinating tie evenly poised.

“It is still open and we have showed that we can compete and we will need another excellent performance at the Nou Camp to go through,” said livewire Willian, who was twice denied by the woodwork in the first half.

“You have to have a lot of personality to play against this team which has 70% of the ball. We have to go there to attack and score because 90 minutes defending at the Nou Camp is an eternity, it is a suicide mission. We have to play our game.”

Chelsea have knocked Barcelona out twice in the knockout stages – most recently in the semifinal in 2012 when they won 1-0 at home before drawing 2-2 in Spain.

A similar result in the return leg would put them through and Eden Hazard said they must be positive.

“At least we won’t be able to think defensively about the second leg because if we think defensively over there we would be in a lot of danger,” Hazard said.

“We will go there trying to win because we have to score and we will try to pull off the perfect game as we did today except for the small mistake that we made,” added the Belgian.

“It’s not over. We can still dream. Qualification is still possible.” – Reuters