Ramires supports Chelsea defensive style

The West London outfit, who lifted the coveted trophy last May when they defeated Bayern Munich at the German giant's Allianz Arena home, have come in for much criticism over their ultra-defensive approach.

Many teams and coaches have compared their performances in the Champions League to England's recent approach in Euro 2012, where they were on the back-foot throughout the game and relied on counter-attacks.

However, Brazilian international Ramires has defended his side's football ability and is adamant the style was justified, having faced holders Barcelona, known for their attacking ability, in the semi-final.

"This anti-football is not Chelsea's style, we only played that way in those games against Barcelona," he told Radio Estadao ESPN.

"When we played against Napoli, we needed to score a goal and we did it, when almost nobody believed we would. If we tried to play as equals against Barcelona, we would have conceded five or six goals.

"We watched some videos of Barcelona and decided for that strategy. We knew we could beat them on counter-attack and we were happy for achieving that. If you don't play that way, you can't beat them.

"It's not only Chelsea that plays that way against Barcelona. We watched that game where Real Madrid beat them 2-1, playing the same way we did. Barcelona move the ball around a lot, tiring opponents that have to run after the ball. In our case, we scored that goal and then we took a defensive stance.

"If we always win playing that way, I'll choose to win."

By Matt Maltby

Nick Moore

Nick Moore is a freelance journalist based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He wrote his first FourFourTwo feature in 2001 about Gerard Houllier's cup-treble-winning Liverpool side, and has continued to ink his witty words for the mag ever since. Nick has produced FFT's 'Ask A Silly Question' interview for 16 years, once getting Peter Crouch to confess that he dreams about being a dwarf.