The Ivorian winger believes that the Blues are capable of eliminating the Champions League holder as he looks to Jose Mourinho's Inter side from 2010 for inspiration.
Salomon Kalou is confident that Chelsea can pull off an unlikely victory against Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal, despite admitting that his side was lucky to oust Benfica in the last eight.The Blues set up a tie with the reigning champion by beating the Portuguese giant 3-1 on aggregate, and despite conceding that Pep Guardiola's men are the favorites to reach the final, the 26-year-old insisted that his side is capable of causing an upset.
"We're in the semifinals and we must concentrate on Barcelona," he told RMC. "They're a great team, but over two legs, it's possible. We've seen how Mourinho's Inter caused them problems two years ago."
Kalou went on to reveal that a late Andres Iniesta goal that eliminated Chelsea from the semifinals of the 2009 edition of the competition brought agony to the Stamford Bridge squad.
"We've played some great matches against Barcelona," he said. "But that Iniesta goal three years ago was a painful moment."
Finally, Kalou acknowledged that his team was fortunate to reach the semifinals after an unspectacular performance against Benfica at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
A Javi Garcia goal on 85 minutes meant that Jorge Jesus' side needed only one more strike to send it through on away goals, setting up a thrilling finale at Stamford Bridge
However, Roberto Di Matteo's men were able to hold firm, and scored a breakaway goal through Raul Meireles in injury time to kill off any threat of a Benfica revival.
"The start of the game wasn't easy because we didn't take the match in our hands," Kalou said. "We were lucky to score with a penalty. Then we had some moments of doubt after their goal."
Chelsea hosts Wigan on Saturday in the Premier League as the team looks to keep up its bid to qualify for next season's Champions League.
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