Deco has warned his Chelsea team-mates they face mission
impossible trying to stop old Barcelona pal Leo Messi.
Deco spent four seasons at Barca before moving to London
- and he has watched Messi's rise from the Catalan giants' reserves
to the summit of world football. Guus Hiddink's Blues must now
overcome Barca to reach the Champions League Final.
And Portuguese playmaker Deco said: "Leo Messi is incredible. He
is one of my best friends and at the moment, almost impossible to
stop on his day. He is an incredible player and, if he is on form,
we can only wait and see who has the ability to stop him."
Chelsea are without Ashley Cole for the first leg of the tie,
but Deco remains confident that last season's finalists can stop
the free-scoring Spaniards.
He added: "Barca are one of the rivals we managed to avoid in
the first knock-out rounds, but at this stage you cannot choose
your opponents. "If we want to go all the way to the final in Rome
we must beat them, which will not be easy. But we can do this.
"I still have a great deal of affection for Barca. I was very
happy there and I cannot help but think fondly about that stage of
my life."
Hiddink last night revealed Chelsea hired him as a panic measure
because they feared they were "slipping" out of the Champions
League.
The Dutchman took charge at Chelsea two months ago after Luiz
Felipe Scolari was sacked after a poor run which saw them in danger
of losing their top-four status.
