Terry basks in Chelsea superiority
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Your support makes all the difference.John Terry sent Barcelona out of the Champions' League on Tuesday and then rubbed in the message yesterday, saying: "Now you know how good we are."
John Terry sent Barcelona out of the Champions' League on Tuesday and then rubbed in the message yesterday, saying: "Now you know how good we are."
The Chelsea captain produced another outstanding performance against the Spaniards and finished a memorable night at Stamford Bridge with his fourth goal in the Champions' League this season. It sent Chelsea into the quarter-finals after a pulsating return leg.
"It was disappointing to read a couple of things their players said," Terry said. "They have tried to play a few mind games but we were having none of it - especially with our manager. He does not let things like that bother him or the team. They said we were not a good side but now they know we are."
Terry believes his team's performance has registered with the other sides in the competition and that, despite throwing away a two-goal aggregate lead, they never lost the belief that they could unlock Barcelona's defence in the second half.
"There's such a long way to go and there are some great teams still left in the competition," he said. "But I am sure there will be a few teams watching out there who are now afraid of us. Our ground is a lot tighter than the Nou Camp and we knew if we put pressure on [Barcelona], they would not like it and that was our team talk beforehand. They didn't like it at all.
"The belief was always there from the start. We believed we could beat this lot. After going three goals up it was a bit disappointing to give two goals away, but the belief was still there and that was drummed into us again at half-time by the manager.
"He said that we were still the better side and we could open them up again at the back. He was sure of that. At 3-0 I was trying to tell the rest of the lads to keep pressing but we eased off a little bit and dropped too deep. We had done all the hard work but they got two goals back and we threw it away really."
Terry was too busy celebrating in the centre of the pitch with Jose Mourinho and his team-mates to get involved in the scuffle between the Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard, his players and Chelsea stewards at the end of the game.
That incident may be subject to a Uefa investigation - though a spokesman played down the possibility yesterday - but Terry was not at all concerned.
He added: "We heard a little bit of it but it had all finished by the time we walked off the pitch."
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