Barcelona ask Chelsea to rough up United

The midfielder, who stood in for the suspended Carles Puyol as captain, was left frustrated as his team dominated possession but failed to make a breakthrough as their Champions League semi-final first leg ended goalless in the Nou Camp last night.

Xavi remains confident that Barcelona will score at Old Trafford next Tuesday but urged Chelsea to make life difficult at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

The Premier League's top two meet in a potential title decider in the early kick-off on Saturday and neither can afford to rest their key players.

"We are very aware that between the two semi-final ties United are playing to potentially win or lose the Premier League," said Xavi.

"Hopefully they'll [United] have no chance to rest and it's a really tough match they face.

"It's not that we don't have an important weekend because, before we can start to think about the second semi-final in Manchester, we've got a game which will help determine whether we finish second or third in our championship.

"That makes the difference between automatic qualification for the Champions League or having to play the previous rounds.

"Obviously we'll be taking our task seriously on Saturday against Deportivo La Coruna but on paper United have the tougher work facing them before they host us next Tuesday."

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard saw his team dominate possession and is sure they will reach the final in Moscow on 21 May.

"We have a great chance - we can do it," he said.

"It won't be easy but we are capable. We must remain serious and organised in midfield. We have a chance.

"It is not a good result but we have to try to score a goal and see what they do. It won't be easy for them either and I believe we can do it. They haven't scored here so there is no reason why we can't go there and keep a clean sheet."

United didn't score because Cristiano Ronaldo blasted his second-minute penalty wide of the post after Gabriel Milito was punished for a handball.

The striker insisted he did not change his spot-kick style before missing and skipper Rio Ferdinand refused to blame the Portuguese for his miss.

Ferdinand said: "Collectively as a team, I thought we defended very well.

"We have done what we intended to do and keep a clean sheet. We hoped to nick a goal but unfortunately it was not meant to be. We had a great opportunity with the penalty but these things happen."

And the defender insisted United should have had another spot-kick when Ronaldo was brought down by Rafael Marquez later in the first-half.

He added: "I thought it was definitely a penalty, he [Marquez] just eased him out of the way.

"If you watch it you can see that the referee was blocked with his view, so he did not see it properly and could not make a decision and maybe his linesman could have helped him a bit more."