Try as they might, Barcelona could not contain their anger at
the way Jose Mourinho had dictated the terms of Tuesday night's
ill-tempered encounter at the Nou Camp.
From the moment the Chelsea coach made suggestions about old boy
Eidur Gudjohnsen's diving, it was clear he had set the agenda for
the latest, and perhaps most potent, episode in this beguiling
struggle for European supremacy.
Barca's role in this drama is to play the good guy to Mourinho's
gang of villains. They usually rise above it. After all, last
season's European Cup triumph is the ultimate riposte to Mourinho's
mind games. But Tuesday night was different. Even Frank Rijkaard,
their manager, lost his cool, charging on to the pitch at the end
to confront the referee.
It was left to Edmilson, the Brazil midfielder, to administer the
most damning verdict on the Special One's theatrics, branding him a
"stupid little man" and warning him to shut his mouth.
Edmilson said: "The worst thing about playing against Chelsea is to
have to listen to the stupidity of Mourinho. He is a little man who
has suddenly been created into the owner of the world in his own
head. In life it is necessary to be humble and he shows no humility
at all.
"When you lose against him, it is even worse, because you have to
hear it all over again. He should spend more time concentrating on
his work and just shut his mouth up. He is someone I do not like to
talk about."
Except, of course, he just had, and while it was not very edifying,
you could understand his frustration at getting caught up in it
all.
Mourinho, of course, will wear the comments as a badge of honour,
an incontrovertible sign that he really did win the day, even if
his side only drew the match.
It is a little scary now to imagine what it would be like if
Barcelona meet Chelsea in this season's Champions League final. So
explosive is the rivalry between these two teams that Athens may
already be beefing up security to pre-Olympics level just in
case.
Chelsea captain John Terry, who was one of 10 players booked, was
in no doubt what team were at fault, and criticised the Italian
referee, Stefano Farina, for his failure to control the game.
He said: "I was surprised by the way they played and it's
disappointing to see some world-class players who you fully respect
and they're waving cards in the referee's face.
"It's disappointing when the referee's falling for it and showing
cards so early on. They were making similar tackles to us and
nothing was given, not even the foul, let alone a yellow
card.
"There were quite a few things off the ball and obviously the
referee will sometimes miss it. That's what his assistants are for,
but he wasn't even speaking to them or having a conversation to ask
if they'd seen anything.
"We showed maturity. We matched them and we argued when we really
had to. It feels a little bit like a derby. It was a great
atmosphere, there were tackles, arguments and things like that.
Both sides wanted to win and thankfully we've come out with a
point."
In the end the bigger point was made by Mourinho. He will view the
2-2 draw, which ensures Chelsea's place in the last 16, as a
victory after the way his side twice battled back from
behind.
The match has left Barcelona needing to win their last two games in
Group A to ensure they progress with Chelsea. The tough test comes
last at home to Werder Bremen.
But even if they do scrape through, Mourinho will feel that he has
struck an almighty psychological blow. The way they let Mourinho
get to them again will be in the back of their minds should they
meet again.
