Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho accused Barcelona of intimidating referee Stefano Farina after his team grabbed a dramatic draw in the Nou Camp.
Didier Drogba rescued a point for the Blues with an equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time.
Deco had fired Barca ahead before Frank Lampard equalised in the second half but Eidur Gudjohnsen looked to have won the game for the European champions against his former club until Drogba's late goal secured an important point for the Londoners.
Mourinho criticised the Italian official for brandishing 10 yellow cards in the 2-2 draw. But the Blues boss had some sympathy for Farina because players tried to con him with dives and crowded around him, trying to provoke him into showing cards.
Mourinho said: "It was not an aggressive game. But when you see so many cards, mainly for us, it is because people chase the cards. Sometimes there were seven or eight players surrounding the referee asking him to give cards.
"It's not easy for the referee to be always under pressure from the players, turning round and rolling on the pitch. It was both sides contributing but clearly one was doing it more than the other."
Farina incensed the home team in the first half when he appeared to book Ashley Cole without sending him off. But it later emerged Lampard had received the first booking for dissent.
Mourinho said: "It was a yellow card for Lamps and it was always a yellow card for Lamps. The fourth official answered my question immediately. The yellow card means Lamps is now suspended from the game against Werder Bremen and Ashley got his yellow card later."
Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard was furious with ref Farina and stormed on to the pitch after the final whistle to confront him. Rijkaard had to be pulled away by his captain Carles Puyol and spat angry at the turf.
He was unhappy because the ref advertised six minutes of stoppage time to be added on and then blew for time after only five.
Rijkaard said: "He blew up one minute before he should have done but I'm not blaming that for the result. It was a battle on the pitch and it was very interesting during the game and I went on because I wanted to thank the referee for his participation."