LONDON — Barcelona must guard against its form dipping at just the wrong time to prevent it challenging England's domination of the Champions League.
While defending champion Manchester United and Arsenal warmed up for Wednesday's semifinal meeting with weekend victories, Barcelona prepared for its European showdown with Chelsea by only narrowly avoiding a Spanish league defeat Saturday -- Thierry Henry scored with four minutes left for a 2-2 draw against Valencia.
The end of a seven-match winning streak was hardly ideal preparation for Tuesday's first-leg meeting with Chelsea, which continued its impressive form under temporary coach Guus Hiddink with a hard-fought 1-0 win at London rival West Ham 1-0.
But coach Pep Guardiola still thinks his relentlessly attacking team should be fine.
"We finished like bulls," Guardiola said. "We're a machine."
Many neutrals are hoping he's right and that Barcelona can get past last season's runner-up. England has provided nine of the past 12 Champions League semifinalists in an unprecedented domination of the continent's top club competition.
Tuesday's game at Camp Nou will go some way to proving whether Barcelona, which has scored 94 goals in 33 games to lead the Spanish league by seven points, is good enough to add a third European Cup title to its collection -- three years after its last.
"The best team in Europe," Hiddink said of Barcelona. "Or the world."
Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi and Henry, who scored 10 goals against Chelsea in his eight seasons with Arsenal, will line up again to pressure a defense missing suspended left back Ashley Cole and injured central defender Ricardo Carvalho.
With Carvalho out, Chelsea captain John Terry should play alongside Alex, with Branislav Ivanovic one of the contenders to replace Cole and attempt to shackle Messi.
"Whoever is playing against Messi will have a tremendous job to do because he is the most productive player in the world and one of the players you like to watch, except when you play him," Hiddink said.
Hiddink rested striker Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and Alex at the weekend, only bringing on the midfield pair late to shore up the side.
The win kept Chelsea in contention for the Premier League title, although Manchester United and Liverpool are still ahead of the Blues. Chelsea's most likely route to a trophy this season appears to be the Champions League or next month's FA Cup final against Everton.
Manchester United's rivalry with Arsenal has been less intense in recent seasons as the Gunners have faded from contention for major honors.
But that could change when the teams go head-to-head at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
"There is more pressure on United because they are the team to beat," Arsenal defender Kolo Toure said. "United are the ones who won it last season, but for us we are going there to do the best we can playing free and passing the ball.
"We know when we play football against Manchester United, they struggle a lot."
United showed its attacking range when it rallied from 2-0 down at halftime to beat Tottenham 5-2 on Saturday, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney each scoring twice.
Arsenal is focused upon stopping Ronaldo, who scored in last season's final, with Toure suggesting 19-year-old midfielder Kieran Gibbs could be deployed to mark the Portugal winger.
"Let him play," Toure said. "He's a good player and very intelligent. He came in at a really difficult time when we play the big teams and I think he has showed good character.
"I think he is going to perform very well on Wednesday."
Ronaldo and Rooney are almost certain to start again against the Gunners, who had a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough on Sunday that was so straightforward that manager Arsene Wenger was able to replace captain Cesc Fabregas with more than 20 minutes remaining.
The key midfielder scored both his team's goals and could make use of the extra rest.
Toure is confident that his team can hold out against a United side making up for a shaky defense with some great attacking form.
"United are a really good team going forward, but, like us, at the back they have conceded a few goals," Toure said. "We have the same type of team: we both like to play, but sometimes you can be caught out at the back.
"The team that will win will be the one which defends the best."
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