Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola believes the bookmakers have got it wrong and that Chelsea are now the favourites to book their place in the Champions League final on May 19 (Barcelona 4/11, Chelsea 2/1 To Qualify).

The defending champions did most of the pressing in Wednesday night’s semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge but missed a number of chances, while Didier Drogba’s strike at the end of first-half stoppage time proved to be enough for the Blues to secure a 1-0 win.

The Catalans have drifted in the outright betting to retain the title although they do remain the favourites at 11/10, ahead of Real Madrid at 11/4, Bayern Munich at 7/2 with Chelsea the rank outsiders at 13/2.

Barcelona created enough chances to have won the game comfortably but were wasteful in front of goal and denied by the woodwork on two occasions.

The return leg next Tuesday is likely to take the same shape with Barcelona enjoying most of the possession but the fact that they failed to secure an away goal has not gone unnoticed by Guardiola.

“One-nil is a very good result for them,” said Guardiola. “They are the favourites.

“We have to focus on the next game now and try and create the same number of chances.

“It won’t be simple. They’ll have 10 men behind the ball, they’ll defend, they’re stronger than us, they run, they jump more than us.

“But we have to try and take the game under control and discover a way of scoring the goals.”

Ahead of the make-or-break return at the Nou Camp next week, Barcelona have the small matter of ‘El Clasico’ on Saturday (Barcelona 4/6, Draw 11/4, Real Madrid 3/1 Match Betting) as they look to close the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid to just one point.