Lionel Messi slams 'physical' Chelsea

Leo Messi has reignited the simmering tensions between Barcelona and Chelsea by claiming he was shocked the Blues have done so well in the Champions League with their "physical" football.

The 22-year-old playmaker scored against Manchester United when Barca won the Champions League Final in May.

And he maintains Chelsea set out to simply stop them in the semi-final clash which ended with a last-minute Andres Iniesta equaliser to send the Catalans through on away goals.

Carlo Ancelotti, confirmed as Chelsea boss yesterday, will be charged with succeeding where Guus Hiddink failed last season and not only taking the Blues to next year's final but winning it.

But Messi maintains Barca will always come out on top against Chelsea's "defensive" style.

"If a team comes and tries to play football against us, then fine," he told Four Four Two magazine. "But at no time did Chelsea want to play football. They just refused.

"They wanted to make it a messy, broken-up match, very stop-start. A physical contest more than football.

"That's not our way. Our way is to want the ball all the time.

"When a team plays like that, you think. 'How can it be a team with players as good as that doesn't even try to play the ball? How can they just sit there?' " Chelsea took the lead in the second leg at Stamford Bridge when Michael Essien spectacularly volleyed home.

But a series of debatable decisions from Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo allowed Barca to stay in the tie and grab the goal that sent them through.

Messi, however, remembers the match only for what he claims was Chelsea's basic style of play.

He added: "They got the ball, gave it to the goalie and he thumped it. And that was it. It's hard to believe a team that reached last year's final and have been Premier League champions could play like that."

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