Barça shock 10-man Chelsea

Asier del Horno had been sent-off on 37 minutes for Chelsea after a nothing tangle with Leo Messi, leaving Chelsea a man short for much of the game.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was fuming after the game.

"The kid (Messi) is not just a very good football player, he jumps, he provokes the contact with Del Horno and because of that the referee gives a red card. He rolls and rolls and rolls, it wasn't a red card, of course not."

"The game is then completely different. Before the red card it was a pure game, 11 against 11, two good teams tactically thinking a lot about the game, not many mistakes, not many chances but an open game.

"There is no point talking about the game after that. I will say I was very proud of my players and in the circumstances they played with a lot of heart."

"Now the point is what we are going to do to Barcelona?" concluded Mourinho. "Do we face up to a very difficult situation now or do we go for a nice trip to a beautiful place?"

Much of the pre-match talk was about the state of the Stamford Bridge pitch and - while both sides initially tried to play passing football - the fears were confirmed by a muddly, bobbly surface that made even routine claims by the goalkeepers tough whenever the ball touched the ground.

Chelsea found a lot of space between the full backs with Arjen Robben and Hernan Crespo working the channels well, while Barça dominated possession and looked the more dangerous on the edge of the box with Leo Messi and Deco particularly inventive.

The first good chance came to the visitors, a great run by Messi setting up Samuel Eto'o who laid the ball off to Ronaldinho, who hesitated to shoot, allowing Ricardo Carvalho to block.

It was a similar combination on the half-hour, this tile Joan Oleguer with a super run to hit the right byline and cut the ball back to Eto'o, whose dummy allowed Ronaldinho a snap shot that Peter Cech somehow parried one-handed.

Chelsea were sending in some testing crosses, although Thiago Motta went close with a header from a corner. Barcelona could have been awarded a penalty when John Terry inadvertently handled after falling in the box, but the controversy of the half came just before the break.

Jose Mourinho had predicted "dirty tricks" by his Iberian cousins in the pre-match build-up, but even he could not have envisaged the shenenigans that followed Asier del Horno's obstruction on Messi.

Messi had robbed Robben on the right wing, the Dutchman guilty of trying to follow a dying ball out of play when a clearance would have sufficed and allowing himself to be nutmegged by the pressing Argentinean. As Messi flew away Del Horno raced in, but as both players realised they were not going to get the ball they pulled out of the tackle and collided face-on in mid air.

Both players rolled around mimicking injury, with Messi actually looking up to the referee before starting to roll around in mock-agony, with the ensuing melée provoked by the entire Barça team piling in on the spreadeagled Del Horno swaying the referee to send Del Horno off.

At best it was an obstruction and at worst both should have been booked for pointless simulation, but the desicion to send Del Horno off seemed to kill the game, Joe Cole sacfrificed for Geremi as Chelsea sat deep until half-time.

The second half introduction of Didier Drogba seemed to be the tonic to rally the depleted Chelsea, his physical presence winning a free-kick and then setting up Robben's flash-shot across goal almost from the kick-off.

Chelsea looked a man up from their first half performance, not a man short, and they went in front just before the hour mark when a Lampard free-kick saw Thiago Motta turn it past his own 'keeper with his eye on Terry but not the ball. Chelsea were actually good value for the lead at this point, and went close again when Lampard hit the post with a free-kick.

Barça went close too, with a superb run and cut-back by Messi cleverly stepped over by Carvalho when any touch would have been an own goal. A cleverly worked Ronaldinho free-kick then found Henrik Larsson unmarked but his header was over when he should have scored, and Barça again had a shout for a penalty when a long-shot by Edmilson's shot struck Geremi on the arm.

But another own goal changed the face of the game. Ronaldinho sent in a deadly free-kick from the left which was diverted past Peter Cech by none other than John Terry for 1-1 with 19 minutes remaining.

The momentum was with Barcelona with Chelsea visibly tiring after being a man short for half the game. Didier Drogba fashioned two superb chances for Chelsea but Barça were passing and moving with verve and guile and Chelsea had to be thankful that John Terry was on hand to clear off the line twice in quick succession.

Leo Messi hit the crossbar with a superb long-range effort and when Barça took the lead they were worth it. Ronaldinho caught Chelsea on the break after Drogba missed a great chance, his long pass wide to Larsson knocked back to Rafa Marquez who sent an inch-perfect cross onto Eto'o's head, the Cameroon star making no mistake.

It was Chelsea's first ever loss at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho and leaves them with an uphill struggle in the return leg, needing to win by two clear goals.

Thrilling draw at Ibrox