Caretaker Blues boss Di Matteo will attempt to mastermind a victory over a team billed by some as the greatest of all time when the sides meet in Wednesday's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have been written off by some pundits but Di Matteo has spent hours scouring video footage of Barca since both sides won their respective quarter-finals almost two weeks ago.

And the Italian insisted they can be beaten.

"Yes, of course. They do have weaknesses," he said.

"We just need to exploit them."

Difficulties

Doing so has been the problem for almost every team who have faced the Spanish and European champions in recent years but Di Matteo has concentrated his efforts on those who have enjoyed some degree of success.

He added: "You look at the way you can hurt Barcelona and create them difficulties. I've seen many games."

But that has been the limit of Di Matteo's planning thus far, with Chelsea's punishing schedule simply not allowing them to work on specific tactics for Wednesday night's game.

That contrasts sharply with the preparation chronicled by former Manchester United captain Gary Neville ahead of the sides' 2008 semi-final.

Neville revealed United had practised defensive drills until they were blue in the face.

But Di Matteo said: "There has not been time to be able to prepare on the pitch the team against that because we had to prepare for all the other games."

Team tactic

Di Matteo believes they have to stop Barca as a team, rather than just concentrate on star player Lionel Messi.

He said: "It's not just about stopping a single player, because obviously they have so many players that can hurt you.

"It has to be a team tactic, a team strategy, to be able to limit their threat."

The Blues are likely to spend long periods without the ball but Di Matteo had no fears about how supporters might react to that.

"The fans will be behind us, no doubt about it," he said.

"The fans have always been great at Stamford Bridge, they've always been very supportive to the team and I've absolutely no concerns about the fact that the fans will be cheering the team on."