Ron wants Lamps to shine in Spain

The England midfielder, whose fiancee Elen Rives is Spanish, was linked with the Catalan club after his contract talks stalled. But last night he rescued Chelsea by scoring the equaliser in a 1-1 friendly draw with Feyenoord.

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Ronaldinho had fuelled the transfer talk earlier in the day as he spoke warmly of Lampard, who is a friend of the Brazilian midfielder and Barcelona's latest big-name capture, Thierry Henry.

"Frank is a great player who has shown his quality at Chelsea," said Ronaldinho at a training camp in Scotland.

"Obviously, I'd like him at Barcelona as I would any great player in the world."

Barca coach Frank Rijkaard, who is under pressure to land big names after relinquishing the Champions League and the Spanish championship, insisted no discussions were taking place, but added: "I won't go into details but the things that Ronaldinho said make sense.

"I don't want to say much as we have to pay respect to a player like Frank and to the team he is playing at right now. But, speaking in general, you can say that Frank is a great, great player."

Chelsea went behind in Rotterdam when Kevin Hofland headed Feyenoord into the lead.

Last season's double domestic cup winners could only blame themselves for Feyenoord's opener. Glen Johnson and Mikel John Obi were left arguing with each other after Hofland beat them both to an inswinging free kick on the stroke of half-time.

Peruvian signing Claudio Pizarro, making his Chelsea debut, hit a volley over the bar on 70 minutes and it was left to Lampard to equalise 10 minutes from time, firing home on the turn after Hofland's miskick landed at his feet.

After Carlo Cudicini saved a late penalty from Roy Makaay, Chelsea assistant manager Steve Clarke insisted they are shaping up well to take on Manchester United in the title race.

"From the point of view of our mentality it was very important not to lose," said Clarke. "Results do matter to us, because we don't like to get beaten. It was good to see Pizarro come in for us as he has only trained once. It was good to see him get a feel of the group and have him on the pitch."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger showed he has forgiven William Gallas for criticisms over Arsenal's transfer policy by making him captain for their game at Austrian champions Salzburg but it ended in a 1-0 defeat.

The former Chelsea defender was outspoken following the sale of Henry and his own future at the club appeared to be in doubt. With Gilberto Silva and Cesc Fabregas rested, the captain's armband would normally have been handed to Kolo Toure, yet Gallas was given the nod.

Although he has made his peace with Wenger, the French defender could not save Arsenal from their first defeat of pre-season.

He and defensive partner Toure were found wanting when Vladimir Janocko scored the only goal of the game with 14 minutes to go. The Arsenal duo failed to clear the danger and the Slovak's shot deflected off Gallas into the net.