Not many football encounters, nor for that matter, many sports duels, can claim to have caused a referee to hang up his whistle. Chelsea-Barcelona merits this claim, ask Anders Frisk. Not many one-off matches can decide the fate of a footballer's career within a club. Chelsea-Barcelona has, ask Assier Del Horno.

This is the third instalment of the Champions League series – Chelsea ousted Barcelona at the last 16 stage in 2004/5, the Catalan side getting their revenge in 2005/6 on the way to the European crown. Fans of the saga will experience no let-up in the passion, ambition and vengeance.  Jose Mourinho against Frank Rijkaard, Ronaldinho versus John Terry, the stakes are high, the match at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday crucial.

There is no love lost between the managers, or to put it less formally, they hate each other (Rijkaard certainly does, with Mourinho it's more a matter of jealousy). Only the Champions League trophy will satisfy his appetite. They represent two opposing footballing schools – Barcelona a romantic, technical and stylish free-flowing unit, Chelsea a strong, physical, scientific machine.

Now they play for points in the group stage rather than a sudden-death exit. But nothing can be of greater pleasure for either manager than to undermine the other's chances of qualifying for the knockout stages.

Barcelona look the better equipped. They have just beaten Supercup winners Seville 3-1 in La Liga with scintillating performances from Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi.

By contrast, Chelsea are not the force they have been in the Premiership. On Saturday, they beat newcomers Reading with a deflected goal and could have been thinking of Oscar Wilde's ubiquitous quote from The Importance of Being Earnest: "To lose one goalkeeper may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."

First-choice Petr Cech had a surgery on his skull while reserve keeper Carlo Cudicini was discharged from hospital but will not be fit for Wednesday. Enter Portuguese stopper Hilario, who will surely be jumping for joy at the thought of  Eto'o, Deco and friends bearing down on his goal.

Chelsea are also at pains to explain the slump in Frank Lampard's form along with the lacklustre start of Andriy Shevchenko. But ,as we know from previous encounters of this and other football battles, all the pre-game banter becomes an irrelevance as the referee starts the action. And if Stamford Bridge fails to live up to the hype this time, we have the pleasure to look forward to it all kicking-off again in two weeks at the Nou Camp.