Chelsea v Barcelona preview: Oliver Holt on what makes Barcelona so great

I would rather watch Lionel Messi than any other footballer. I love his feints, his changes of pace, his mesmeric close control and his fantastic dribbling.

I think Iniesta’s brilliant, too. He’s clever and neat and incisive. He can pick the passes others don’t seem to see.

Then there’s Xavi. His vision and his passing make him a joy to watch. He’s about as classy as a midfielder gets.

And Thierry Henry. He still has such grace and elegance, such speed and beautiful movement.

So I love to watch the current Barcelona team as much as anyone.

I understand why the Scottish chap I met at the Nou Camp last week has become a Barcelona member and makes the trip over from Glasgow as often as he can.

I understand why he got his laminated membership card out of his wallet and showed it to me as if it was a religious relic. I like everything about the club, too. I like its style, its commitment to attacking football, the fact it doesn’t sell its shirt to sponsors, its history of independence.

But what I don’t buy is the idea that because Barcelona play attractive football, that gives them some sort of moral right to win the Champions League this season.

And what I can’t accept is that Chelsea should be castigated for having the temerity to try to make things uncomfortable for their opponents in both legs of their semi-final. Because if this Barcelona team is truly a great side then it will find a way to get past Guus Hiddink’s men.

By the end of tonight’s second leg, they will have had 180 minutes, maybe more, to prove they are the better team. And if that is not enough, then they do not deserve all the accolades already being being hung around their necks in garlands.

It’s not enough to dazzle against flawed sides with an excuse of a defence as Barcelona did at the weekend when they destroyed Real Madrid 6-2 in the Bernabeu.

If Pep Guardiola’s side is to be considered among the elite, it has to turn on the style against the awkward squad, too.

The very best teams find a way. Think of Manchester United against Juventus in Turin in their Champions League semi-final second leg in 1999.

Think of what Roy Keane did that night and ask yourself if Barcelona have somebody who could seize the game like he did.

Because it is not necessarily enough to have a team packed with sublime attacking talents like Messi (left), Henry, Iniesta and Eto’o. A great team has a great defence, too, and often a great defensive midfielder. And a brilliant goalkeeper.

And I found as much beauty and as much to admire in Keane’s performance that night in the Stadio delle Alpi as I have found in any of Messi’s displays.

And while we’re at it, I found great dignity and great courage in the performances of John Terry and Michael Essien in the Nou Camp last Tuesday.

Frank Lampard is up there with Xavi and Iniesta among the world’s best midfielders and Didier Drogba, now he’s decided to try again, is as fearsome as any forward.

So to cast Barcelona and Chelsea as stereotypes at opposite ends of football’s spectrum is a crass error.

Barcelona may be a beautiful side to watch when playing against teams who are not well organised defensively.

But if they cannot beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tonight, they will remain a collection of brilliant individuals that make up a fundamentally flawed team.

Chelsea will not simply stand aside. They will not lightly give up their chance of atoning for their heartbreaking defeat in last year’s final.

If Barcelona beat them, we can applaud and hail a side that found a way to beat the most obdurate opposition.

But if Chelsea stand firm, they should get the plaudits they deserve and the recognition that the better team won.