The message will have already got back to the Nou Camp, a warning of the whirlwind coming their way.
Barcelona may represent attacking football in its purest form but what they face over two Champions League legs in the space of barely a week is something entirely different, a type of football that is alien to La Liga.
And as Arsenal were blown away by the sheer power and determination that Guus Hiddink has brought back to the Stamford Bridge machine, the belief that Chelsea will do exactly the same to Barca grew ever stronger. It was not just the sight of Didier Drogba destroying Mikael Silvestre and unhinging Lukasz Fabianski that made you believe Chelsea should be favourites for Champions League glory.
Just as illuminating was the way Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard combined to squeeze the life out of Cesc Fabregas and Co in the Arsenal midfield.
No wonder Arsene Wenger, through admittedly gritted teeth, agreed with Hiddink that this Chelsea side have a physical dimension that makes them ruthlessly formidable.
"Chelsea are physically strong and mature," conceded Wenger. "They know where to stand on the pitch, and you feel that if one team will take advantage of a mistake made it will be them because they have huge experience.
"It's all based on power and efficiency and they did it well.
They played to be efficient.
When you get closer to the trophies that has a part to play." It was the part that proved the difference at Wembley on Saturday, although Wenger suggested Arsenal had played into Chelsea's hands by sitting back after Theo Walcott had taken advantage of a deflection off Ashley Cole's hand to volley home.
More truthfully, it came down to Hiddink's tactical tweak - pushing Essien slightly forward - and Chelsea putting the Gunners in a stranglehold they never looked like escaping.
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Fabianski, who had escaped a hare-brained dash from his line after four minutes thanks to a Kieran Gibbs rescue act, was negligent in allowing Florent Malouda's right-footer to level.
And when he repeated his earlier folly after Lampard played a ball over the top with six minutes left, Drogba made him pay (below).
Hiddink said: "I don't think I've known a team with this much power, although I have prepared teams for World Cups which have also been physically very strong.
"But power alone is not enough. I also like the very clever players who can smell and read the game and know where the danger comes. If you have the balance of all those things, that is what you want." Of course, it helps when you have a lineleader on a one-man mission to show he is as good as he believes he is.
Three months after being dropped by Luiz Felipe Scolari for the third-round replay at Southend, Drogba is in supreme form with eight goals in his last nine games, including five in four. "He is a killer in his head," Wenger noted.
"He can wait for his moment without losing his concentration or his confidence. No matter what happens to him you feel that when a chance comes he will take it because he is not affected by what happened before."
And Hiddink echoed that sentiment, adding: "He's physically very strong, he's brave, and he's also one who is saying in the locker room 'Hey guys this is the moment we have to deliver'." Hiddink acknowledges that his spell in charge at Stamford Bridge could surpass even his own wildest expectations.
"Being at Wembley for the FA Cup Final at the end of my schedule is a dream scenario," he said.
"From where we were in February, when the team was fading and looking like finishing fifth, to where we are now means I'm very happy." Barcelona, beware.
( Martin Lipton / Mirror )
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