Rijkaard caught out over Frisk

The Barcelona tunnel row took a sensational new twist today when it emerged that Frank Rijkaard approached Anders Frisk three times during half-time of their Champions League clash with Chelsea.

Standard Sport can today reveal the precise sequence of events from that controversial night in the Nou Camp in February, which put Chelsea's complaints about Rijkaard in a totally different light.

Rijkaard has maintained he merely shook Frisk's hand and UEFA initially insisted there was nothing to investigate, but the report from venue director, Pascal Fratellia, paints a different picture. Fratellia went into Frisk's dressing room after the game and the Swede gave him a full debrief, telling him:

In his report to UEFA Fratellia, writes: "Frisk told us that he said to Rijkaard, 'It is not the moment to speak about match situations' and told him when he was in front of his (the referee's) dressing room to go back to his (Barcelona's) dressing room."

Steve Clarke witnessed the entire exchange apart from the period when Rijkaard passed out of view beyond the glass doors.

When he returned Chelsea's assistant manager incorrectly assumed the Barcelona coach had been in the referee's dressing room, passing on the information to Jose Mourinho and leading to a public war of words between Chelsea, Barcelona and UEFA in which the London club were accused of telling lies.

Chelsea were found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute and Mourinho handed a two-match touchline ban but the UEFA report essentially backs their claims.