Puyol: Chelsea pitch a factor

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol believes the state of Chelsea's pitch may affect them.

The Catalans take on Jose Mourinho's side in the first leg of their round of 16 UEFA Champions League clash on Wednesday - live on Sky Sports 1 - with the current condition of Chelsea's pitch a major topic of debate.

There have been suggestions in some quarters that The Blues have deliberately left the pitch in its current state in order to hinder Barca's style of play.

The visitors were surprised to see Chelsea's ground staff watering the pitch heavily before their training session on Tuesday.

Spain international Puyol admits the surface could be a factor in Wednesday's big contest.

"That's possible," admits Puyol. "You will have to ask Chelsea. I don't think you can discount it.

"The state of the pitch will affect us more because of the style we play.

"We like to move the ball quickly, work the ball and play a high tempo, zipping the ball around. We are not used to playing in these conditions.

"If we concentrate hard and not give the ball away in midfield where Chelsea are strong, we should be able to cope.

"There are no excuses. We are experienced enough to play on all kinds of surfaces."

The 27-year-old says revenge is not on Barca's mind, despite losing a highly-emotional tie to Chelsea in the same competition last season.

"We all know what happened last year and we can learn from that," he added. "Errors crept in and we have got to concentrate to put them right.

"It's not about revenge in any way. We want to win the tournament and in order to do that, we have to win this tie.

"The teams know each other well. We see English games on the TV.

"People are saying the team who goes through will win the tournament, but there are lots of teams left in it.

"I hope Barca wins, but there are lots of excellent teams left. It's a tough trophy to win."

Meanwhile, Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard says he will not instruct his players to use gamesmanship against The Blues.

The Dutchman was responding to comments from Mourinho, in which he claimed that players from countries like Spain have a habit of trying to con the referee into giving penalties and booking players.

"I am honestly not in favour of diving players and getting an advantage from something that didn't happen," Rijkaard said.

"It's not something I will be talking about to my players. That's not the way to win a game for me. It's all about quality.

"I am sure something will happen during the game and it's for the referee to decide. It's not our task."