15.09.2009 12:01
Barça and Mourinho meet again
Jesús Carrillo
Inter’s Portuguese coach José Mourinho has faced Barça six times before. All of them have been in charge of Chelsea and in the Champions League. Mourinho has won twice, lost twice and drawn the remaining two.
Frank Rijkaard was in charge of Barça for the six matches. The first time Mourinho faced his former
club was in the R16 of the Champions League in the 2004/05 season. The first leg was played in the
Camp Nou and ended 2-1 in Barça’s favour, with goals from Maxi López and Eto’o.
Belletti scored an own goal.
The return leg at Stamford Bridge was the first of Mourinho’s two wins. Chelsea won 4-2
thanks to goals from Gudjohnsen, Lampard, Duff and Terry (Ronaldinho scored twice for Barça) and
eliminated Barça from the competition.
Revenge
A year later the two teams met again in the R16. This time the return leg was held
in the Camp Nou. Barça won in England 1-2 with goals from Terry (o.g.) and Eto’o but the
match is also remembered for a crunching tackle by Del Horno on an unstoppable Messi, which earned
the Spanish defender a red card.
The return leg was spectacular. Ronaldinho scored a trademark goal in the second half and in
the dying seconds Lampard equalised from the penalty spot. This time Barça went through to the
quarterfinals.
Months later in the group stage
Less than a year later, Barça and Chelsea were drawn in the same group together with
Werder Bremen and Levski Sofia for the 2006/07 Champions League. Barça were reigning champions,
having won the title against Arsenal in Paris. In the third matchday, Barça lost 1-0 in London,
Chelsea’s goal coming from Didier Drogba. A fortnight later, the two sides drew 2-2 in the
Camp Nou, with goals from Deco, Gudjohnsen (Barça) and Lampard and Drogba (Chelsea).
A slight advantage for Mou
The two sides are evenly matches, with two wins, two defeats and two draws for both
Barça and Mourinho. However, the Portuguese coach has a slight lead given that Chelsea finished top
of the group in the 2006/07 season while Barça were second.