Mourinho makes Barca proposition

Barca are unhappy with the state of the Stamford Bridge pitch

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has offered Barcelona the use of their training base in Surrey ahead of Wednesday's Champions League tie.

Barca have expressed concern about the state of the Stamford Bridge pitch so Mourinho has invited them to give up their option of training there.

"If they want to train at our base on Tuesday to give us more time to work on the pitch, the offer's there," he said.

"Tuesday's training is nothing. It's just to get used to the ball."

On Friday, Mourinho laughed off suggestions that Chelsea had deliberately delayed re-laying the pitch until after the Barcelona match.

Heavy rain during Chelsea's FA Cup win over Colchester on Sunday made the surface appear worse but Mourinho insisted it was not as bad as it looked.

"Sometimes you see beautiful people with no brains. Sometimes you have ugly people who are intelligent, like scientists," he said.

"Our pitch is a bit like that. From the top it's a disgrace but the ball rolls at normal speed."