BAYERN MUNICH 1

THERE are a couple of interesting parallels for the Champions League semi-finals next for Chelsea.

On 28 Apr, Chelsea will first visit Barcelona, just like Bayern Munich did last week.

They then host Barca on 6 May.

The difference for the first leg is that Chelsea's manager Guus Hiddink will not only be telling his team to smell Barca's weaknesses (as he himself did before playing Liverpool away last week).

He will also remind his defence to be steady as a rock.

The way Liverpool almost came back to dump Chelsea out of the Champions League yesterday morning shows that Chelsea's defence look far from being rock-like.

Yes, John Terry was suspended and sitting in the stands.

But remember last weekend, when Terry was playing and they still almost let Bolton come back at them in their eventual narrow 4-3 win?

Seven goals conceded - a 4-3 win last weekend and a 4-4 draw yesterday morning - is evidence that Chelsea's defence has been suspect recently.

After all, defence used to be a cornerstone of Chelsea's reputation when Jose Mourinho took over in 2004.

But this season, under Luiz Felipe Scolari first, attacking invention has left their defence questioned.

Hiddink now has to try to marry both needs.

And it may be just a matter of confidence, not the personnel.

He must improve the self-belief of world-class goalkeeper Petr Cech in the next two weeks.

If not, Barca's attacking trinity - the energetic Samuel Eto'o, the magnetic Lionel Messi and the revitalised Thierry Henry - will tear Chelsea apart if they get in one-on-one with Cech in the penalty box.

Cech can't slip like he did to help Bolton come back last weekend, or blunder by not anticipating a low free-kick from Liverpool's Fabio Aurelio yesterday morning.

That's where Terry and Ricardo Carvalho will come in as they help guard Cech in central defence.

Long-ball option

Unlike Bolton, or even Liverpool, Barca are unlikely to try the long-ball option.

They prefer to weave through like spiders on the ground, executing mind-boggling passes from acute angles.

If yesterday morning's 1-1 draw with Bayern was any encouragement (from Chelsea's perspective), it was that Terry and Carvalho must remain fit.

Bayern sorely missed their key central defender Lucio last week, but when he returned yesterday alongside Martin Demichelis, the pair kept Barca goalless until Seydou Keita equalised in the 73rd minute after Franck Ribery's opener in the 47th minute.

I'll admit that even the best of defences will find it hard to keep out the sublime 19-pass move that led to Keita's equaliser. (See infographics on facing page).

But if Cech is more confident in two weeks' time, with Terry and Carvalho remaining fit, Chelsea can certainly hope to limit Barca better than Bayern did at the Camp Nou.

That will then set them up nicely for the return leg on 6 May at Stamford Bridge.

And this is where Chelsea will already be causing some worry for Barca now.

Scoring goals lately hasn't been a problem, but yesterday morning's performance against Liverpool also showed Chelsea's ability to come from behind.

This alone should tell you that Chelsea can do more than what Bayern did.

Strong and tall

Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique are strong and tall respectively, in Barca's defence.

But Bayern used Luca Toni up front to hold the ball effectively, while getting Ribery and Ze Roberto to run at the defence and latch onto potential through-passes.

While they lacked enough composure to do it to Barca often enough, I can see Chelsea's equivalent of Didier Drogba (up front) and the likes of Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard, doing better.

They could even use Drogba as a 'passive offside' decoy to fool Puyol and Pique, as Bayern did to put Ribery through to score their one and only goal.

So if Chelsea can improve their defence and keep it tight against Barca away, while knowing they can always step it up at home after that (like they did against Liverpool), they may just do it.

They may just beat Europe's most breathtaking side so far to take a step closer to their footballing Holy Grail.