The Barcelona manager cuts a far calmer, less incendiary figure than his Chelsea counterpart, writes Jon Brodkin

When Frank Rijkaard last night urged Barcelona supporters to applaud Jose Mourinho and the Chelsea team onto the pitch this evening, it seemed as optimistic as Tottenham calling on their fans to lay out a red carpet for Sol Campbell. The Dutchman was serious, though, when he asked the 90,000 or so home fanatics to provide an example to the world with their behaviour.

Rijkaard is well aware of the animosity to Mourinho here, summed up by a clutch of people abusing the Chelsea manager at the airport on Sunday and spitting at his window of the team coach. The many remarks Mourinho has made about Barca since last year, most recently accusing Lionel Messi of play-acting, have left a deep impression, but Rijkaard wants the public to rise above that.

He cuts a far calmer, less incendiary figure than Mourinho and seems to dislike being dragged into the sort of confrontations in which his Stamford Bridge counterpart sometimes revels. Mourinho expects a fierce reception and intends to step out before his team to draw the heat from them, and doubtless to show it does not bother him.

Rijkaard, mindful of the racial abuse directed at Samuel Eto'o in Zaragoza less than two weeks ago, is keen for the crowd to use its energy to inspire his players rather than insult others.

"It is a moment to speak up against all types of aggression and abuse," he said. "I hope Barcelona supporters can be an example of fair play and will applaud when the Chelsea players and Mourinho come out. We have to remember Mourinho worked at Barcelona. He has good memories of Barcelona. The club did well when he was here. I hope no one will insult anyone in any way and we will be a good example in this sense."

Mourinho's connections with Camp Nou have been used by some to mock him. He was taunted at the airport with shouts of "translator, translator", a reference to the job he did initially for Bobby Robson. Since then, he has become a formidable coach, and Barcelona know they cannot take progress for granted. When Rijkaard talked of the club "demonstrating to the world that we think differently", he emphasised that behaving well did not mean lacking an intense desire to succeed.

"We want to go to the next round," he said, "but yesterday I saw on television and heard on the radio some people insulting Mourinho, and I think this is not good. It's a really good chance for us to show we can be respectful to Chelsea. This must be improved in football. It has nothing to do with what is going to happen on the pitch: obviously we want to win."

Rijkaard is clearly an idealist in more than the style of football he prefers, and his midfielder Edmilson also denied ill-will towards Mourinho.

"We have nothing against Mourinho," he said. "He's a great coach. I don't know about the fans - we will see tomorrow - but we players are okay. We respect a great team and Mourinho is a very good coach."

In a confrontation of numerous subplots, attention will be on Messi, who left Barcelona's 2-1 win at Chelsea bruised and abused. Rijkaard does not believe the fallout will hamper the talented 18-year-old.

"It's rather a motivation for him," he said. "I think he is quite calm and ready."

Barcelona blew a 2-1 lead from last season's first leg, but Rijkaard said his players "have the confidence; we think that we can do the job". He acknowledged, though, that the defending had to be sharper than in a 3-2 win against Deportivo La Coruna last weekend, not least at set pieces. "I think the Deportivo match was like a warning for us," he said.

He played down his decision to allow only the first 15 minutes of yesterday's training to be watched, whereas Mourinho had kept Chelsea's whole session open.

"It's normal procedure and we stick to it," he said. "I don't see any reason to change it. We don't have anything to hide . . . but we have a lot of attention and I just want to create some rest for the players."