FCBARCELONA.CAT

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.