Guus looking ahead
Guus Hiddink admits Chelsea cannot afford a repeat of their epic Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Liverpool when they face Barcelona in the semifinals.
Hiddink's side reached the last four after surviving one of the most dramatic matches in the history of Europe's elite club competition at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
After winning 3-1 at Anfield in the first leg, Chelsea were expected to cruise through but twice they were within one goal of surrendering that lead as Liverpool made a heroic bid for victory. It wasn't until Frank Lampard scored his second goal in the last minute that the Blues could finally relax.
The amazing 4-4 draw sealed a 7-5 aggregate success for Chelsea, but Hiddink knows Barcelona are capable of making Chelsea pay a heavier price if they produce another performance laced with so many errors.
"Barcelona have skilful players and they know how to handle the pace of the game. They always like to play an advanced, attacking game," Hiddink said.
"If you give teams who are very skilful too much space, they know how to handle it and go into that space. Then you are in for a very difficult match.
"It is difficult to play them because they are a top team, but it is one of those beautiful games at the end of the season."
Chelsea's cause won't be helped by the absence of Ashley Cole after he picked up a booking that triggers a one-match ban. With Paulo Ferreira injured, Hiddink has no experienced cover for the England left-back.
Hiddink will also have to spend time working out a way to restore Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech's shattered confidence.
After conceding three goals against Bolton on Saturday, Cech looked a nervous wreck and was caught completely out of position by Fabio Aurelio's clever first half freekick.
Hiddink admitted Cech's morale is low but refused to consider dropping him for Saturday's FA Cup semifinal against Arsenal.
"Petr is very intelligent and self-critical. He wasn't happy with his performance against Bolton. He knows he had a difficult time and also against Liverpool you could see there were times when he didn't have full confidence," Hiddink said.
"But I think a goalie once in a while has a right not to have a big performance. We will think about the situation but if a player is playing badly it is not always the reason to make a change."
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