Frank Lampard has no qualms about being the underdogs against Barcelona and insists Chelsea are not afraid of facing the holders.
Chelsea midfielder happy to take on the tag of being underdogs
Frank Lampard has no qualms about being the underdogs against Barcelona and insists Chelsea are not afraid of facing the UEFA Champions League holders.
Chelsea host Barcelona in the first leg of the semi-final on Wednesday evening and were knocked out at this stage in controversial circumstances by the Spanish giants three years ago.
Barcelona have won the Champions League for two of the previous three seasons and are generally regarded as one of the best club teams in history.
Pep Guardiola's side are overwhelming favourites to reach another final, but experienced midfielder Lampard has belief that Chelsea can cause an upset.
Lampard is confident that the Blues are capable of shackling Lionel Messi et al, and believes Roberto Di Matteo has a plan in place to topple Barcelona.
Refreshing
"I quite like the tag of being underdogs," said Lampard. "It is refreshing if you believe in yourselves, and we do believe in ourselves.
"The last thing we want to do is take too much fear into this game. You can talk yourself into fear by talking up Barcelona all the time and we have to believe in ourselves. We have to respect the opposition but we have to play our game.
"Our style of play has been very effective lately. We are mixing an organised, disciplined game with some very good, attacking football.
"On our day and the way we are playing at the moment we can be a match for anyone.
"At the same time we completely respect that not only are Barcelona the in-form team at the moment but the dominant team in Europe over the last few years, but I believe we have a very good chance of winning the game. However we have to be at our best because we are taking on the best.
"We have a plan to beat Barcelona and we pride ourselves on the fact Messi has never scored against us."
