Chelsea atmosphere at Stamford Bridge was ‘dead’ against Barcelona, claims former coach Ray Wilkins

RAY WILKINS reckoned Stamford Bridge “was like a morgue” during Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Barcelona.

The former Blues coach insisted Antonio Conte's side could have been more adventurous as they drew 1-1 with the La Liga giants in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

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Conte started the game without a recognised striker leaving Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud on the bench.

And Wilkins believes the Premier League side failed to make the most of their home advantage and admitted “the 12th man” was non-existent at the Bridge.

He told the “I was disappointed with their performance last night, Chelsea weren’t adventurous enough.

“I didn’t think it was the near-perfect performance people are saying it was, you need to use everything in your power to put Barcelona under pressure."

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“What Barcelona do when they go away from home is they wind the clock down to take you back to the Nou Camp.

“They keep possession and they keep the score as low as possible so that, when they get you back to Spain, they thrash the backside off you."

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“When Chelsea pressed high they gave Barcelona problems and they got the crowd involved as well.

"But the crowd was dead, it was like a morgue at the ground last night and it shouldn’t be that way, it should be rocking when Barcelona come to town because you should be going after them.

“If you don’t beat Barcelona by a couple of goals, you'll struggle when you go back there."

Wilkins continued:“If they’re saying they’re going to go to Barcelona now and attack, why not attack last night and use the crowd as your 12th man?

“I wanted to see a bit more physicality and see Chelsea get after Barca.

“You’ve got a chance at home - that’s when you win against Barcelona, you don’t often win at the Nou Camp.

“You beat them on your patch, and I just thought they missed a trick last night.”

The second leg in Catalonia is on March 14 after tough away trips to Manchester United and Manchester City in the Premier League.