After six games in a row in London, Chelsea have travelled 700 miles south to Spain. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton package up the semi-final story and statistics so far. Unlike much of the world's media, Chelsea are not here to genuflect at the new temple of total football and leave. The Blues travel with optimism we can complete the job for the glory of reaching another Champions League final. England's sole representatives have not lost to this highly-esteemed Barcelona in six games and should that become seven (even a narrow defeat might suffice) Bayern or Real and history await.

Few gave Roberto Di Matteo's team much chance when the draw was made. Even after the 1-0 win at the Bridge the Catalans remain the bookies' favourites to progress. The truth is the Blues arrived at this stage having let in the most goals of the last four, and notched up the fewest.

Yet under the Italian interim boss confidence and defensive solidity has been reestablished. Chelsea have scored in every Champions League away game, and one at Camp Nou would leave the hosts needing three. Also Barcelona have never won a Champions League semi-final after losing the first leg.

The Blues have only reached the final of Europe's elite club competition once before, and very few Chelsea fans will approach this evening with a sense of entitlement. Our history taught us not to.

The club's first half century up to 1955 can be characterised as glorious failure- frequently without the glory either. Even when the players were present - Vivian 'Jack' Woodward, Hughie Gallacher, Tommy Lawton, for example - too often the performance went missing.

That's why you won't find many Chelsea fans bemoaning the money-spun success since 2003. Especially not those whose grandparents and great-grandparents stood, tutting and shaking their heads, on the heaving terraces of Stamford Bridge, where 'Strolling' was the mournful anthem.

Barça have an equally colourful, far more glittering history. They are this tournament's defending champions. Each time they have won it they have taken the domestic title too.

This season the Primera looks beyond them, and they are a wounded animal after their first back-to-back defeats since 2009. Barcelona's defeat in 'el clásico' was their first at Camp Nou since September 2010. Real's winner was similar to Chelsea's at Stamford Bridge. The Barça player dispossessed, the swift exchange of passes, the clinical finish.

Now Pep Guardiola seeks a two-goal margin against the Londoners, the only team of the 55 his blaugrana have played and failed to beat. Chelsea and local rivals Espanyol share the distinction of being the only two sides to have managed two clean sheets against his teams.

Guardiola also knows that crucial absences for the versatile Eric Abidal and David Villa appear to be taking their toll on the rest of the regulars, with the leather-lunged World Club champions showing signs of fatigue in their recent matches against Real, Chelsea and Levante.

There is still plenty of running to be done. It's an overstated story trotted out by the Spanish media that Camp Nou has a massively bigger pitch than their rivals'. In fact it is two metres longer and just one metre wider than Stamford Bridge: 105m x 68m compared to 103m x 67m.

Nor is it unique; far from it. Its dimensions are exactly the same size as, for example, Wembley Stadium and the Emirates, and Di Matteo's side have not fared too badly there in recent weeks.

Recent sports science research from the USA also suggests that as the season winds to a close the 'bigger field' advantage diminishes.

In any case, the Blues looked well capable of exploiting the length of a pitch in last week's meeting - the winner derived from a break into space behind Dani Alvés by Ramires. The Barcelona wing-back may be even more wary of the tireless Brazilian's presence tonight.

Pitch size is one suggestion that borders on the psychological. Another is the huge, partisan crowd. That is where Chelsea's experience could again count. Thirteen of the current Blues squad have played in draws at Camp Nou, in front of an average crowd of 97,000. Three of them - Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and John Terry - have played there three times in succession without tasting defeat. All know what it takes to beat Victor Valdes.

However, one influence the players cannot moderate is that wielded on the referee. Having suffered at the whim of several officials against this opposition, everyone connected with the club will hope Cüneyt Çakir of Turkey is as impressive as Felix Brych was in the first leg.

Chelsea have won 11 of the 16 European knockout ties in which we won the first leg at home. Of the 23 UEFA competition ties when Barça lost the first leg away they have gone on to win on aggregate 11 times, but never at this stage of the competition.

Barcelona are averaging 3.85 goals per game at Camp Nou this term scoring 104 goals in 27 games in all competitions. They have scored at least two goals in all but one game when Sevilla managed a goalless draw in La Liga last October.

If the score after 90 minutes is 1-0 to Barcelona then extra time will be played and if necessary penalties. The away goals rule applies, so any other scoreline will result in the game ending after normal time.

Chelsea have won two of our last four penalty shoot-outs although in Europe, we have lost both to Man Utd in 2008 and Liverpool in 2007. Barcelona have won five and lost one in UEFA competition.

Twenty-one ties have been decided on away goals, including six where the triumphant team lost the first leg.

Only six two-legged Champions League ties have been decided on penalties.

The winners will play Bayern Munich or Real Madrid in Munich on 19 May.


- Match preview by chelseafc.com