IF Barcelona's devoted disciples are to be believed, then there is more than just a place in the Champions League final at stake at Camp Nou this evening.

This, in the eyes of followers of the Catalan club, is the battle for football's soul, good versus evil played out between 22 men and two managers on a hallowed patch of grass in Catalonia.

Barcelona, need it be said, are the good guys of the piece, as their growing throng of admirers the world over will willingly testify. Pep Guardiola's side are not only one of the most decorated of recent times but they have achieved that success with a certain elan and panache that makes them mesmerising to watch. They are a gloryhunter's dream, a team that wins trophies by playing stylish football broadcast live on television most weekends. It is not difficult to understand their global appeal.

Pity, then, poor Chelsea whose job it is to try to deny Barcelona a fourth Champions League final appearance in seven seasons. If Guardiola, Lionel Messi, Xavi et al are feted and worshipped as gods, then there is little love for the London team, especially from those who believe the manner in which a team plays is as important as the result itself. Chelsea have never been a club to subscribe to that way of thinking, going back to the days when Jose Mourinho was in charge. Mourinho was, and still is, a winner and didn't really care about how that success was achieved, who he insulted or upset to get what he wanted. He encouraged his players to adapt a similar mindset and many of them still form the backbone of the current team.

There is Didier Drogba, the striker who appears to play the game while wearing rollerskates. The critics panned his diving, pouting and complaining in the first leg against Barcelona, but he showed a lethal touch, too, scoring the only goal of the game. Ashley Cole and John Terry are also never likely to be voted Humanitarian of the Year given their various off-field indiscretions over the years but both have become vital pillars of the Chelsea defence. The influence these figures, and the likes of Frank Lampard, another former Mourinho footsoldier, still wield was best illustrated by the departure of Andre Villas-Boas earlier this year. It was a classic manager versus senior players power struggle, and the players won.

Chelsea may not be a particularly likeable bunch, then, but that should matter little this evening. Roberto Di Matteo, Villas-Boas' successor, does not appear to possess the same callous streak as Mourinho but it seems unthinkable that he will arrive in Catalonia intent on matching Barcelona pass for pass. And nor should he. For if Chelsea can scratch, fight and battle to get the result they need to book a trip to Munich on May 19 to take on Real Madrid, and a reunion for some with Mourinho, or a joust with hosts Bayern, then they will not care how it was achieved. And this growing bunch of Barcelona aesthetes will recoil in horror and cling to their Messi replica shirts for comfort, further convinced that it is Barcelona who continue to tread the righteous path.

The fall-out from the first leg at Stamford Bridge told us as much. Di Matteo's negative tactics were criticised, Drogba was slated for falling over too readily, and Chelsea were written off as a team that had got lucky on a night when Guardiola's side showed glimpses of fallibility. Barcelona fans pointed to the possession and passing statistics as confirmation of their superiority. Chelsea fans merely pointed out the final scoreline.

This has not been the happiest of campaigns for Barcelona. Defeat at home to Real Madrid on Saturday night all but confirmed that, for the first time in four seasons, they will not finish the term as domestic champions. A team many believe, with good reason, to be the greatest of all time have lost to Getafe and Osasuna in the league this season and drawn numerous matches they were expected to win. A place in the Copa del Rey final awaits next month, against Athletic Bilbao, but a cup will be scant consolation if La Liga disappointment is matched by failure in the Champions League.

Chelsea have also under-achieved this term, albeit without the same level of expectation. Villas-Boas, the boy wonder who could do no wrong at Porto, could not work the same magic in English football and an ageing squad have struggled to keep up with the Manchester clubs at the top of the Barclays Premier League. A domestic cup final also awaits them next month but it is Europe – with the league title gone – that holds the greatest allure. The purists will be backing Barca. Chelsea will care little about that if they get the result they need.