Skipper Puyol fears the surface will harm the flowing football of the visitors and admits it could have been done deliberately.

The Spain defender said: “That’s possible. 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.”

Barcelona are determined to beat Jose Mourinho’s team after losing to them at the same stage of last season’s Champions League.

Puyol said: “We all know what happened last year and we can learn from that. 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.”

The state of the pitch has dominated pre-match comments.

Barca have been grumbling about it since last week but Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho insists the surface is actually much better than it looks.

Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard was in diplomatic mood after arriving in London.

He refused to moan about the pitch and insisted relations between the Spanish and English champions were good.

Rijkaard said: “There’s no bad feeling between the teams. I think Chelsea are a great club. They do a great job and they are wonderful opponents.

“Chelsea will be affected by the pitch just a much as ourselves. They have quality players with good technique and skill and they would prefer a better pitch.

“We are not complaining. If you have questions about the pitch, go and ask the board of directors of Chelsea.”

But the Dutchman was annoyed that Mourinho felt the need to claim Spanish players had a habit of diving to try to con the referee into giving penalties and booking players.

Rijkaard said: “I am honestly not in favour of diving players and getting an advantage from something that didn’t happen.

“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.”