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Check, but not checkmate, was the verdict on Chelsea throwing a bucket of cold London rainwater on Barcelona's bonfire on Wednesday night. There was begrudging praise for such a monumental defensive performance but still the belief that, as Diaro Sport put it, the "Nou Camp will have the last word".

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To what extent Barcelona fans shared the optimism of the newspapers they were reading after their first defeat in 15 games was a different matter. In most post-match polls on which team now had the tougher task of turning round their first-leg defeat Real Madrid (beaten 2-1 in Munich on Tuesday) or Barcelona supporters leaned towards giving Jose Mourinho's side the best shot at a Champions League comeback.

Back in 2009, many supporters believed it was their destiny to lift the trophy, especially when Andres Iniesta scored in the last minute at Stamford Bridge to knock out Chelsea in the semi-final. Now those fans believe their team having failed to score with 24 shots in 90 minutes are destined to fail.

The Catalan sports press did its best to argue to the contrary, suggesting that Chelsea will not be able to hold out against Lionel Messi and company for 180 minutes. Especially with the second 90 minutes being at the Nou Camp where the pitch is officially two metres wider and one metre longer, but always feels bigger to visiting sides who are dragged all over the place.

The post-match statistics were astonishing but just as Pep Guardiola had given them short shrift after the game, so they were overwhelmed by the images that dominated the inquest into Barcelona's defeat. One picture of Messi with the ball at his feet but with four Chelsea players for company appeared in almost every daily paper.

Another had him as the only Bara player in frame with eight blue shirts around him it was Messi surrounded, alone and powerless to combat a defence that with Matrix-style agility had time and again flung itself into the path of Barcelona shots.

While picking through the bones of Barcelona's failure to score, there was plenty of credit for Chelsea's resilience, too. Didier Drogba might have appeared on the cartoon on the back page of Diario Sport knee-deep in four-leaf clover but there was an acceptance that there was nothing lucky about the performances of John Terry, Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole.

The England left-back "closed-down his wing", pointed out Marca, "Alexis, Alves, Pedro and Cuenca all tried and failed to get past him". Terry's performance was described as a "recital" in the Catalan daily La Vanguardia.

"Watching him play is like opening an encyclopedia on central defending. Just as Messi always runs forward," it said, "Terry always runs back believing that he will be able to intervene. And with Cahill alongside him, the finest moments of his partnership with Carvalho came to mind."

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Lionel Messi and Barcelona taken to task by Chelsea, but 'Nou Camp will have last word'