People can talk about rebuilding. Even if the point of last summer’s transfer strategy was to avoid long settling-in periods that would lead to 2011-12 becoming a rebuilding season. Even if it now appears that next season will end up something of a rebuilding season, too, with few entertaining realistic hopes of a return to Champions League action twelve months hence.

They can talk about bad luck and posts. Even if, in the context of an entire season rather than over a stretch of a few games, the idea that nearly every moment of luck across an entire season would go against Liverpool begins to sound faintly ridiculous.

And they can talk about the team missing Lucas. Or about the distraction of Luis Suarez’ autumn incident. Or about the focus on cup runs leading to letdowns in the league.

In the end, though, after all the reasons and explanations and excuses for Liverpool’s unqualified failure in league play, it will always come back to one inescapable truth: 52 points. With that return, Liverpool ends the 2011-12 season with the worst record the club has managed in the top flight of English football since being demoted in 1954.

Normalising the data to allow a level comparison of every season back to 1962-63, the year Bill Shankly returned the club to the old First Division, puts this season’s Liverpool side and the league result they managed in historical perspective. And it’s a perspective that rather throws cold water on any effort to wave away the poor results as nothing but a bit of bad luck and rebuilding.

Until yesterday’s loss confirmed a new and ignominious record for Liverpool, the worst results came as the club struggled through the 90s. First Graeme Souness led the club to back to back 54 point efforts (normalised). Then, in 1998-99, Gerard Houllier’s first year in charge again saw Liverpool earn only 54 points.

Those seeking solace might look to past occasions when Liverpool have finished with 55 or fewer points, as on four of the previous five occasions this has been followed by at least a ten point improvement in the league. Two of those times, however, came shortly after the club returned to the top flight, and the two relatively successful recent seasons following efforts of 55 or fewer points both led to results that would still have seen the club finish worse than fourth in each of the past six years.

Whether Kenny Dalglish, Steve Clarke, and the rest of the current coaching staff are the right men to rebuild from this all time low is an entirely separate question, though one imagines that a prerequisite for any meaningful improvement will be realising that mistakes—some of them quite major—actually have been made. That many of the same problems that were apparent at the beginning of the season remained at the end, and that at times the message emanating from the club matched the belief of some fans that the only problem was settling in and bad bounces, is almost as discouraging as that depressingly inarguable final number: 52.

Fifty-two points. The worst Liverpool season in the Premier League, closer to the bottom than the top in points and as far from the top four as they’ve ever been in the Champions League era. The worst season Liverpool has had since returning to the top flight. Or the worst season in the top flight since they were demoted to the Second Division in 1954.

You don’t get to that point by accident, and there’s simply no way to spin the result to make it look acceptable. To even try to do so only sets the club up for further failure going forward.

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Kenny Dalglish has called for Liverpool owners John W Henry and Tom Werner to behave with “dignity and integrity” as he faced more questions over his future at Anfield. After Liverpool’s 14th defeat of the season the manager defended the performance of his team amid claims that a replacement is already being discussed. Danny Graham’s 86th minute goal at the Liberty Stadium will not have helped his case.

It left Dalglish to reflect on an unacceptable eighth-place finish in the Premier League, one position below bitter rivals Everton and Liverpool’s lowest for 18 years. It is understood that both Henry and Werner will be in the city this week to reflect on the club’s season before meeting with Dalglish for a full debrief. Any decision on the future of the coaching team will be made after that.

Dalglish feels his side’s Carling Cup success and the fact they reached the FA Cup final should be enough to earn him a stay of execution. “I would expect the owners to have more dignity and integrity than to believe a story in a newspaper,” said Dalglish after suggestions that Wigan’s former Swansea manager Roberto Martínez was being lined up for Anfield.

If anything, Dalglish’s counterpart yesterday, Swansea’s Brendan Rodgers, could be further up the list of possible candidates than the Spaniard should the owners decide on a change of direction. Rodgers has done an impressive job in keeping Swansea in the top flight for another season at least and his team deserved something against Liverpool, too, despite surviving an exacting second half during which Dalglish’s side might have had half-a-dozen goals.

Unfortunately for the Scot, increasingly agitated by his side’s inability to score, a combination of wayward finishing and the performance of Michel Vorm left the game in the balance. Vorm beat away Andy Carroll’s bicycle kick in the 63rd minute and saved twice more from the striker as Liverpool put Swansea’s back four under increasing pressure. It was that kind of day for the visitors, who eventually dropped their guard four minutes from time.

Angel Rangel crossed from the right and Graham beat Alexander Doni at his near post. Cue wild celebrations from the home fans but it was no laughing matter for Dalglish, who claimed his side deserved better even though they took 40 minutes to register their first attempt on goal. “I think the second half performance deserved a point,” he said. “The passing and movement at times has been excellent and the goalkeeper’s save to stop Andy was fantastic.

“Maybe next year the luck will change for us. We won’t run away from the points tally or hide, or say the points tally is satisfactory. We will face up to reality. The performances have been excellent in a lot of cases, but not the points tally. We will try our best to correct that.”For Swansea, it was a 14th clean sheet and 12th win of a remarkable season. “I thought we thoroughly deserved to win the game and yes, it was a wonderful way to finish a fairytale year,” Rodgers said. “We had to be patient and move them about, but it was a joy to watch a group of guys who were told they wouldn’t be able to pass it and succeed at this level.”

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From Agence France-Presse today, bad news for defending European and World Cup champions Spain. AFP reported today that the Spanish team could be without FC Barcelona defender Carles Puyol and forward David Villa. Puyol is already out of action for six weeks as he goes in for an arthroscopy on May 12, 2012. Puyol felt some pain in his right knee at the end of a 4-0 victory over crosstown rivals RCD Espanyol and will need the following six weeks to recover.

Villa, meanwhile, has been out of action with a broken leg after a FIFA Club World Cup match and Spain manager Vicente del Bosque admitted in an AFP story that he’s “worried” about Villa being able to return for the tournament.

Del Bosque went on to say that he would keep a spot open for Villa on the roster until the last minute, calling him the club’s most “reputable goal scorer.”Villa was chosen for the 2010 World Cup‘s all-star team alongside teammates Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Sergio Ramos, Puyol and Iker Casillas. He scored a key goal for Spain in the quarter-finals against Paraguay to launch them into the semis. He was Euro 2008′s top scorer with four goals.

Puyol’s injury, which would take him into approximately the first or second week of the tournament if he recovers in time, would likewise put a huge hole in Spain’s defences. Certainly the country boasts other talented defenders in Ramos and Javi Martinez, but Puyol is just a monster when playing internationally. He will stop at nothing to prevent the ball getting past him, from leaping through the air to sacrificing his body to defend. The sacrifice he has put up over the years, it seems, is beginning to wear on him.

Spain better hope they can get these players back, or at least find others to replace them. Because without key players who provided them with leadership and scoring in their last international successes, they can have little hope of winning over contenders like Germany and the Netherlands.

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The club’s American owner, Fenway Sports Group, has already begun its review into a disappointing return in the Premier League and Dalglish is in an extremely precarious position. Principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner held meetings in the immediate aftermath of the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea to decide their strategy, and the question of whether the Scot remains in the dugout is at the top of their agenda.

Dalglish headed to Wembley on Saturday fully aware only a victory would make him safe due to the underperformance in the league. Yesterday, the club dropped to ninth in the table behind Fulham. Despite a spirited fightback in the last 30 minutes of the cup final, the game summed up a disjointed season, with Liverpool going from abject to encouraging in a match which, as a whole, highlighted their flaws.

Most worrying for the manager is his own hierarchy’s assessments of the signings he brought to the club, with Jordan Henderson and José Enrique failing to impress against Chelsea and Stewart Downing only coming to the fore later on. The lack of faith in £35 million Andy Carroll — a substitute for a showpiece final — served only to underline the poor use of transfer funds. Ironically, the striker enjoyed an excellent cameo, which suggested his manager had erred in not utilising him sooner.

Henry and Werner face broad considerations deciding Dalglish’s future, particularly his popularity with supporters who have a natural inclination to rally around a man who is probably the club’s greatest servant.

Dalglish has vehemently argued that Liverpool’s league form is a consequence of a series of freak results; his side, unjustly, unrewarded for their dominant play, and that they have shown enough to demonstrate they’ll radically improve next season. The Carling Cup victory and reaching the FA Cup final offer cause for hope. If sentiment has anything to do with the board’s decision, he will stay.

However, detached from the emotion of Dalglish’s bond to Anfield, FSG set the target of a place in the top four last summer and although they were willing to tolerate respectable failure if there was tangible evidence of progress, the gap between Liverpool and the leaders has become too wide to be acceptable – they go into their final two games struggling to finish above Fulham rather than Arsenal, Spurs and Newcastle.

Dalglish understands he will be the subject of a stringent review, and having recently survived when director of football Damien Comolli was dismissed, he knows there will be difficult days ahead.
“The owners will do the same as us. They will sit and analyse the season at the end of it, when it is finished. We have got two games left,” he admitted after Saturday’s defeat.

FSG are pondering their next move already. Livid with the quality of several recent performances, the new incumbents believe enough money was invested in the squad to prevent such embarrassments. For them, it is now a matter of determining what the minimum acceptable requirement is for a Liverpool manager.

Just eight years ago former Chairman David Moores insisted the minimum for anyone in the Anfield dugout was to secure Champions League football. The manager at the time, Gérard Houllier, met this target but was still dismissed.

“Although we have reached the Champions League, that is a minimum standard and not a goal,” former chief executive Rick Parry said in 2004. “The board decided change was necessary if we were to realistically challenge for the title.”

Should Dalglish survive, it will be an unprecedented show of faith given how the services of his predecessors were dispensed with, in some cases for much stronger performances.
Graeme Souness departed after successive sixth-placed finishes and an FA Cup win. His successor, Roy Evans, never finished outside the top four and was replaced after an ill-fated partnership with Houllier a year after finishing third.

Rafa Benítez lost his job after finishing seventh having previously never failed to participate in the Champions League, while the inevitability of a worse placing midway through last season ensured Roy Hodgson left after six months.

It will require the threshold of acceptability for Liverpool managers to be significantly lowered if Dalglish is to stay. There is also the issue of who would replace him and how much more unstable it would leave the club given the Americans have been struggling to fill the director of football role since Comolli’s exit.
Ironically, Liverpool face a buoyant Chelsea again in the Premier League on Tuesday – a fixture which surely ranks as one of the most unattractive home games in the club’s history.

Kenny in numbers
47.2
Kenny Dalglish’s win percentage in all competitions since he returned to manage Liverpool in January 2011. In his first spell as manager, from 1985 to 1991, the figure was 60.9 per cent.
5
Liverpool have won just five times in the Premier League at Anfield this season, drawing nine and losing four.
1903
If Liverpool do not score five against Chelsea tomorrow, they will have scored fewer at home than in any season since 1903.
£110,000,000
Amount Liverpool have spent on players since Dalglish took over.
1
Despite poor form in the Premier League, Liverpool have won their first trophy, the Carling Cup, since 2006.

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Real Madrid clinched its 32nd Spanish league title and first in four years on Wednesday, overshadowing Lionel Messi breaking a 39-year European club scoring record by hitting a hat trick to take his season total to 68 goals.

Madrid won 3-0 at Athletic Bilbao for its first league championship since 2008, forcing Barcelona to relinquish the title after three straight years despite winning 4-1 against Malaga in which Messi scored three goals for the ninth time this season.

Madrid's players celebrated wildly after the final whistle at San Mames stadium, with coach Jose Mourinho displaying seven fingers to symbolize the number of league titles he has won in his career, including at FC Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan.

"This was the most difficult one," said Mourinho, who team has a seven-point lead over Barcelona with two rounds left. Madrid's squad will officially celebrate in the Spanish capital on Thursday after finally getting the better of a Barcelona team that has dominated Spanish and European football since coach Pep Guardiola's arrival in 2008.

"The players are all very happy after 10 months of fighting, of training, of games, the objective was to be champion so we are happy to have achieved it," Cristiano Ronaldo said. "To have beaten a team like Barca makes this league win more difficult. It's much better to win against one of the best teams — it makes it better."

Gonzalo Higuain scored for Madrid in the 16th minute and Mesut Oezil doubled the lead four minutes later. Ronaldo added his 58th goal of the season in the 50th — and the club's record 115th this campaign — to make up for a penalty in the 12th that was saved by goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz.

Messi broke the record of 67 goals Gerd Mueller set for Bayern Munich in 1972-73. He converted penalties in the 35th and 59th minutes and chipped goalkeeper Carlos Kameni in the 64th for his seventh league hat trick, tying the mark set by Ronaldo this season.

The 24-year-old Messi has played 57 games for Barcelona this season, and broke records by scoring 46 goals in the league and 14 in the Champions League.

But while Barcelona celebrated Messi's scoring feats, Madrid's famous Plaza de Cibeles began filling with fans in anticipation of Madrid celebrating the end of its great rival's league dominance and yet another title for Mourinho.

Ronaldo also missed a penalty in the Champions League semifinal shootout loss to Bayern Munich last week, and his weak spot kick on Wednesday was easily stopped by Iraizoz to give supporters some early concern. But Higuain's impressive goal — his 22nd this season — put Madrid on course for victory and Oezil made it 2-0 soon after.

Ronaldo made amends for his miss with a header with Athletic reduced to 10 men in the 72nd after Javi Martinez was sent off for a second booking.

Golden Boots
"I have two Golden Boots at home. So if I win the third, great. If not, not a problem," said Ronaldo of the race to finish as Europe's leading scorer. At the Camp Nou, Carles Puyol's 13th-minute opener for Barcelona was cancelled out by Jose Rondon for Malaga.

Iniesta was fouled inside the area to set up Messi's 34th-minute spot kick that matched the 66-goal tallies by Pele for Brazilian club Santos in 1958 and Ferenc Deak for Hungarian team Ferencvaros in 1948-49.

Malaga midfielder Duda barged into Messi to set up his second successful penalty and match Mueller. Messi surpassed the former West Germany striker when Iniesta slipped a perfect long ball between defenders.

"Barcelona tried," said Guardiola, who is stepping down to be replaced by assistant Tito Vilanova at the end of the season. "There wasn't much difference. The league is very long and he who deserves to win, wins. And Madrid was a deserved winner."

Earlier, Zaragoza beat Levante 1-0 to keep its hopes alive of avoiding relegation following Rayo Vallecano's 1-0 loss at Mallorca, which scored through Chori Castro in the 62nd minute.

Edu Oriol's 11th-minute goal proved the difference for Zaragoza, which moved within three points of Rayo with two games left. Rayo has 40 points, Zaragoza 37 and Sporting Gijon 34. Racing Santander is already relegated and will finish last.

Also, substitute Carlos Vela's stoppage-time goal gave Real Sociedad a 1-1 draw at 10-man Atletico Madrid to all but end Atletico's hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

Valencia thrashed 10-man Osasuna 4-0 to move three points ahead of Malaga and keep a firm grip on third place and an automatic Champions League qualifying place.

Levante is three points behind Malaga, which is fourth and in the final Champions League qualifying spot. Atletico trails Malaga by five points. Real Betis came from behind to beat city rival Sevilla 2-1.

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Liverpool's hopes of taking a morale-boosting victory into the FA Cup final were dashed thanks to a 1-0 home loss to Fulham on Tuesday, improving Everton's chances of finishing above their Merseyside rival in the Premier League for the first time since 2005. Everton drew 1-1 with Stoke in the night's other match, putting David Moyes' team three points above Liverpool with two rounds remaining. Martin Skrtel's own goal in the fifth minute means Liverpool has won only five of 18 league matches at Anfield, a ground once seen as a fortress in the 18-time champions' heyday.

With Saturday's final against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in mind, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish made nine changes to the team that beat Norwich 3-0 on Saturday and it showed as Fulham came away with a first topflight win at Anfield.

"The attitude and desire wasn't there," Dalglish said. "It wasn't a good night for us, me included."A powerfully driven cross by John Arne Riise, a former Liverpool player, hit the standing leg of Skrtel and squirmed past goalkeeper Alexander Doni at the Kop end. Liverpool dominated possession and chances, as usual at home, but lacked any real incisiveness without the rested Luis Suarez - who scored a sensational hat-trick at Norwich - and captain Steven Gerrard.

Jonjo Shelvey had a shot cleared off the line for Liverpool, Andy Carroll headed a good opportunity wide and Dirk Kuyt volleyed just off target. The margin of defeat could have been worse for Liverpool, however, with substitute Karim Frei shooting against the post at the other end in the second half. "I don't think that can be described as a performance," Dalglish said.

"I thought it would be fair to give them an opportunity to get some minutes on the pitch with an important game on Saturday, but the performance and the attitude was very poor and that's not like us."Liverpool have now picked up just one point from their past four home games, against Wigan, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Fulham - teams they would typically expect to beat. Everton were denied victory at Britannia Stadium when striker Cameron Jerome scored in the 69th minute for Stoke, cancelling out Peter Crouch's own goal a minute before halftime - the 1,000th goal in the Premier League this season.

Everton had scored four goals in each of their past three league games but was kept at bay by Stoke after Crouch had scored in his own net after an attempted clearance from Marc Wilson struck the lanky striker's back.

Jerome levelled when he made a forward burst and held off two defenders before firing past goalkeeper Tim Howard. Everton have games remaining at already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers and against Newcastle at home, while Liverpool hosts Chelsea before travelling to Swansea on the final day of the season.

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LONDON (SE) - Liverpool warm up for their FA Cup final meeting with Chelsea when they welcome Fulham to Anfield on Tuesday evening. The Reds thumped Norwich 3-0 on Saturday evening, with Luis Suarez bagging a sensational hat-trick and club captain Steven Gerrard has praised the Uruguay international's impact at the club.

"He's a special player, his movement's first class and it makes my job as a midfielder easier alongside him," said Gerrard. "He's a top player, one of the best in the world on his day, and today was his day. It was great finishing and we as a team could have had more.

"We've got to beat Fulham (on Tuesday) first, we'll take each game as it comes and we want to go into the cup final in good form. We're excited, we've done really well in the cups this year and we deserve to be in the final but it would be silly and naive to focus on the final with league games to come."Fulham are comfortably mid-table and would pull level on points with Liverpool with a win, but were left disappointed by a 4-0 hammering on the other side of Stanley Park against Everton on Saturday afternoon.

"Generally our performance was below the levels we've been used to recently and below the levels that's required to get a result here," said assistant coach Billy McKinlay, who stood in for the unwell Martin Jol at the weekend. "It's a difficult place to come; they're a fantastic club with a terrific team who are on a really good run of form. We were on a good run too though so we were confident we could get something here today, but our performance didn't merit anything.

"All credit to Everton, I think they thoroughly deserved the win but from our point of view we're disappointed with the performance from start to finish. We conceded a couple of poor goals early on and never really recovered from that. "It was an uphill task but we stuck at it in the second half but then conceded the fourth goal which was a poor one from our point of view.

"We'll be back in tomorrow morning and we'll have a little look at the game and make sure everybody is raring to go. We're all disappointed and that's a sign that they know they weren't at the levels they're capable of today. They're an experienced bunch of players, they're a good bunch and I'm sure we'll get a reaction on Tuesday."

Liverpool are without Charlie Adam and Lucas Leiva for the rest of the season. Fulham are missing Stephen Kelly (wrist), Bryan Ruiz (metatarsal) and Steve Sidwell (hernia). The Reds have won just five games at home all season, the least in the top half of the Premier League and have scored just 20 home goals - the fifth worst tally in the top flight. Only the bottom two have won fewer away than Fulham this season and the Cottagers' tally of 11 goals on the road is the fewest in the division.

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The Reds are currently 8th in the league on 46 points, and are closer to the relegation zone than they are to the fourth and final Champions League qualifying berth. But despite needing nine points from their last four games if they are to better their worst-ever points haul in the Premier League of 54, set 13 years ago, Reina believes their success in cup competitions is proof they are a better side from last season.

"There's no doubt we've improved from last season already," the Spanish goalkeeper told The Sun. "We've won the Carling Cup with the possibility of a second [the FA Cup] while also qualifying for Europe. "The target of the club is still to get back in the Champions League. "But before the start of the season, if someone had said we'd win the Carling Cup, reach the final of the FA Cup, as well as getting 7th, probably most people would have taken that.

"It's always good to go back to winning days."And despite their Carling Cup victory coming against Championship opposition in Cardiff, Reina insists the triumph was still significant due to the quality opposition they knocked out on the way to the final. "Some people might say the Carling Cup is not that important but, at the end of the day, it's a trophy," Reina added. "We knocked out Stoke, Chelsea and Manchester City." Liverpool have league games against Norwich and Fulham before taking on Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 5.

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For the third time in a row, FC Barcelona play the most important match of their season. Chelsea are in town, and Barcelona must overturn a 1-0 loss in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal tie. If successful, Barça will have a chance to become the first side to successfully defend a Champions League title. After a disappointing 1-2 loss to Real Madrid on Saturday, the world will see just what this team is made of, and whether or not they can regroup quickly and regain their winning form. Chelsea, for their part, rested many of their starters from Wednesday, and played to a 0-0 draw against Arsenal over the weekend.

This match is a must-win by all accounts. With La Liga no longer an option, FC Barcelona's final chance at glory in 2012 lies in the Champions League. Granted, they'll have an opportunity to win the Copa del Rey, but there are few culés who would consider that trophy a measure of a successful season. This team is simply too good to be satisfied with anything less than a major addition to the Camp Nou trophy case.

Chelsea are similarly all-in, having fallen from contention in the premiership, and looking ahead only to the May 5th FA Cup final against Liverpool. Their traditionally strong Champions League form has continued, however, and considering owner Roman Abromovich's obsession with this competition, we know that the Blues will bring everything they've got on Tuesday night. It should make for one heck of a match.

Guardiola fielded a rather unorthodox 3-4-3 formation against Real Madrid, and came up short. All things considered, chances are we'll see a return to the 4-3-3. Barcelona can force overtime with a single goal, and advance with a 2-0 win. If Chelsea snatch another goal, however, Barcelona will be forced to win by two and there can be no chance at overtime. Guardiola will do everything he can to control this game, and that should mean a dedicated defender on each flank, and two sturdy center-backs in the middle.

Chelsea will most likely start much the same squad they did last week, including the deadly Didier Drogba, who rested against Arsenal. Clogging the midfield and playing for the counter worked pretty well in London, so expect more of the same in Spain. With the sturdy midfield trio of Lampard, Meireles, and Mikel, Chelsea will pack the center of the pitch in an organized fashion and force Barcelona out wide, trusting Ashley Cole and Ivanovic to stay home on the wings, and Terry and Cahill to clear off any crosses the Blaugrana can muster. It's going to be a tough nut for Barcelona to crack.

Fortunately for the home team, most everybody is fit to play. Besides the expected absences of Fontas, Villa, and Abidal, Pep will have a full squad to choose from. Keita, Piqué, and Alexis are all available, as is Ibrahim Affelay. While we won't likely see the Dutchman, Alexis is almost sure to start, and Piqué may get his first match action in quite some time if Pep indeed settles down with a sturdier four-man defense. Alves at right-back and Mascherano in the center are sure bets, with the only uncertainty being at left-back—with both Adriano and Puyol as viable options.

In midfield, Busquets and Xavi will feature, along with Iniesta if he isn't played up top. Fabregas was left out of the eleven against Madrid, and figures to find his way into the lineup tomorrow. Up top, Messi and Alexis will be joined by either Iniesta, Cesc, Pedro, Cuenca, or Tello. Considering the stockade of blue shirts in the middle, my hope is to see a true winger (Pedro, Cuenca, or Tello) on the left, Don Andrés in the middle, and Cesc on the bench. Considering Guardiola's love and warranted respect for Cesc, my guess is we'll see Iniesta on the front line, with Fabregas joining Xavi and Busquets in the middle.

Whoever gets the nod from Guardiola, they must play with confidence. Barcelona must come out believing in their superiority, and each player must receive and distribute the ball with the decisive and stylish touch we've come to expect from a colossal match at the Nou Camp. I've written before about the Camp Nou swagger—how an electric energy can build between these fabulous little footballers on their extra-wide pitch and in front of their 90,000 fans. Each successive successful pass contributes to this energy, and in time it can build to a methodical, mesmerizing demolition of the opponent. In Spanish and English the word is the same: "recital".

In Barcelona, winning is more than just winning; it's a performance, because football is more than just football; it's an art. FC Barcelona and its supporters get plenty of flak—some of it warranted—for a superiority complex. But I believe that this team, on a perfect night, truly does transcend football. I believe this particular group of players is capable of delivering a masterful performance the likes of which soccer fans have never seen. After three years and 13 titles, it seems Barcelona may be losing its edge, but tomorrow night they have an opportunity to prove they're still capable of their best football, and that they still define the pinnacle of the sport itself.

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BARCELONA: Chelsea are bracing for a Barcelona onslaught on Tuesday as the wounded Catalans bid to recover from domestic disappointment by reaching their third Champions League final in four seasons.

The holders -- stunned 1-0 by Chelsea in last week's semi-final first leg -- completed a week to forget on Saturday when a 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid at Camp Nou effectively handed the domestic title to their bitter rivals. Chelsea will hope to exploit any lingering hangover from Saturday's traumatic reverse to Real as they attempt to avenge their agonising elimination to Barca at the same stage three years ago.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola refused to hit the panic button after his side's loss to Real, expressing confidence that his players would be able to raise themselves again for the visit of Chelsea. "We'll see on Tuesday if these two defeats have affected us, we have to rest now and then pick oursleves up and see if we can find a way to beat such a physical side as Chelsea," Guardiola said.

Guardiola acknowledged however that Chelsea, who rested eight members of the side which started the first leg in Saturday's 0-0 draw with Arsenal, were likely to be the fresher of the two teams.

"They have managed to rest some players and we have not, but as I say we'll get some rest and start again," Guardiola said. "I have not been disappointed with our play in these two defeats and we'll forget them now and prepare well for Tuesday."Chelsea, too, are unlikely to lose sight of the fact that they were comprehensively outplayed for much of the first leg.

Barcelona enjoyed 70 percent possession, hit the woodwork twice and carved out three other scoring chances that they would normally have expected to convert with ease. Chelsea's lone shot on target proved to be Didier Drogba's first-half winner, scored on the counter-attack after a mistake by Lionel Messi.

Interim Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo is under no illusions about the scale of the task in front of his side. "It's going to be a high-intensity game, mentally as well, with pressure," Di Matteo said. "Every player that's going to go on the pitch is at risk."

Yet Di Matteo is hopeful that the drive of Chelsea's senior citizens -- John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Petr Cech and Drogba were all outstanding in the first leg -- augurs well for Tuesday. "The personal ambition of these players comes through in these games," Di Matteo said. "You can see the drive and also quality that these players have.

"They want to show it and I think there is a good group of players here that have shown it in the past and are now continuing to show their great strength."Another standout performer in the first leg was Gary Cahill, who is finally starting to show the sort of form which persuaded the club to sign him from Bolton in January for around £7 million.

Cahill and Terry have conceded just one goal in the five games the two have started together in central defence, with another clean sheet coming against Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday. Cahill is delighted with his form but expects he will need to raise his game to another level to withstand Barcelona's relentless pressure on Tuesday.

"I think we require similar to the home leg: a little element of luck, defensively as a whole unit everyone sticking to their task and the concentration level," Cahill said. "The other night, I think physically I've run more in games, but the concentration level had to be unbelievably high and that's what all the lads did. So we need that again," said Cahill, who has never played in the Camp Nou.

"Obviously, I haven't played there yet, but the lads tell me that the pitch is massive," he said. "It's tough because there'll be a lot of space there and fantastic players filling it. We know how tough it's going to be but we go there to give it our all and with a good start."

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