Chelsea have today signed Marko Marin from Werder Bremen in a fee what is believed to be £8 million. What do I say about that you may ask?? A BRILLIANT BUY!!
Him, alongside Juan Mata on either side of the wing would be instrumental to say the least, especially on paper! The guy is a true wizard, and he reminds me of a German Lionel Messi in a way! I think he could be an exceptional addition, and expect to see either Florent Malouda or Salomon Kalou get sent their marching orders too!
Welcome to Chelsea, Marko!!
Never in my whole entire life as a Chelsea supporter, have I been able to witness such an amazing 2 weeks of European football. Not only have we been able to reach the Champions League final, but we were able to do it, by overthrowing the darlings of European Football, Barcelona! At the very beginning, I thought we could never do it, but here I am, sitting here, writing a blog on this site, telling you how enthusiastic I am with my Chelsea heroes!
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Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona – UEFA Champions League – 18/4/12
Didier Drogba’s goal on the stroke of half time was the only goal scored here, amid a constant early threat from Barcelona at Stamford Bridge! The Catalans had hit the woodwork twice during the game.. once when Alexis Sanchez lobbed the ball over Petr Cech only for it to bounce off the crossbar, and secondly, in the last few seconds of the game when Pedro’s effort went through everyone and bounced off the post! We were so lucky, but in the end, we were able to get a very precious victory to take to the Nou Camp!
“One Shot, One Goal”, that’s all it took! Barcelona could have had all the possession, all the passing, and all the shots.. but what mattered the most, is that the number of goals were more for us than them on the night, and we went away thinking, that only half the job was done, but that part of the job was a hard one in itself, as it meant that Barcelona had failed to score against us away from home, which meant the away goals rule was firmly on our side going into the second leg the following week!
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Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea (Agg: 2-3) – UEFA Champions League – 24/4/12
This is a night, that I will never, EVER forget!
The night we defied all the odds, the night where 10 men wearing Chelsea badges on their shirts became warriors and heroes, the night that we over-threw the darlings of European football, rubbed it in their fans’ faces, and starting singing songs about going to Munich! This was the night when I had been reminded what it was like to be a hardcore Chelsea fan! It felt like we had won ugly because of our constant sitting back and defending, but it was worth it because our defence worked so hard in keeping Barca out for a whole second half, and for it to be rounded off by a goal scored by Fernando Torres, it was just a beautiful sight!
It was difficult to begin with however, as goals from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta had put the tie in their favour with goals that you had expected to see at some point in the game. Sandwich those goals with a stupid dismissal of John Terry after he had jousted a knee into the back of Alexis Sanchez which was just…. uncalled for! At 2-0 down, and with JT sent off, it seemed like we had lost the plot, and JT was to be blamed for everything……
….not on our watch!!
Ramires, linking up well with Frank Lampard puts us back in it with a tremendous lob over Victor Valdes, and puts us right back into the tie, scoring a huge and vital away goal… half time whistle goes, and we all start to believe again!
The beginning of the second half started very sourly though, as Barcelona got a penalty after Cesc Fabregas played for a foul following Drogba’s tackle on him, but Lionel Messi, whom despite his world class fame, had never scored a goal against Chelsea in his career, and has his penalty pinged off the bar and came out.. you could say, that the blue angel that had watched over us in the game at Stamford Bridge, was certainly on our side at the Nou Camp as well!
The Barcelona wave was not done there however! Alexis Sanchez almost beat the offside trap to nod the ball in only for it to be waved off. Javier Mascherano tested Petr Cech from some way out, and Messi tested Cech from the same distance, only for it to be palmed lightly onto the post! In between these efforts though, endured more than just blood, sweat and tears, as we constantly defended for our lives.. a squad that had no Terry or Cahill, Jose Bosingwa playing at “LEFT centre back” and a man light!
…. and then …. it happened!
Ashley Cole deep in the penalty box hoofed the ball up the pitch, and on the end of it, the lone substitute, Fernando Torres who sprinted up the pitch all alone in the Barcelona half, up came Valdes to meet him, but Torres was able to sneak round him and roll the ball into the net, levelling the score up at 2-2 and sending us to Munich for our second European Final in 4 years!
Now if THAT GOAL, is not worth £50 million, then I could probably sell my tatty old sofa for the same amount at a car boot sale if I wanted to! And if that goal doesn’t bring back his old self again, you might as well sign me up and put me up front and sell Drogba!
To this day, I still can’t believe how we did it, with 10 footballers on the pitch, no recognised centrebacks and no captain, we beat Barcelona at the Nou Camp.. it just goes to show, that no matter how well-recognised a football club is for their beautiful football, it doesn’t mean they’re the best and that they’re not beatable! Football is a funny game!
I will never forget this night, and I hope to the heavens that we can beat Bayern Munich in the final. The odds are stacked against us because Munich will be playing on familiar grounds, but to me, that’s bullshit! If we can beat one of the greatest football clubs, who play the greatest football ever seen.. in their own back yard, we can dispose of the Germans, and we will finally win what Roman Abramovich has been dreaming of having for a whole decade… the European Trophy! ….. and we will be the first London club to do so as well!!
First of all, let me take this opportunity, to once again, apologise to everyone following this blog for not updating it after matches have taken place! Judging from the date of my last entry, it looks as though I’ve abandoned it, but I reassure you that I am still using this blog, and I prove that with a long-awaited update. This blog, won’t be too long. Instead, I will briefly explain the Chelsea matches that I have missed, and how they made me feel afterwards… so here goes…
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Chelsea 2-1 Wigan Athletic – Premier League – 7/4/12
If it hadn’t been for a last gasp winner from Juan Mata in this game, we would have felt utterly embarrassed, and as a result, lost our grip on catching Arsenal and Tottenham for a 4th placed spot! Branislav Ivanovic scored from a rather debatable offside goal when Raul Meireles fed in a ball to him from outside the penalty box, which, to his credit, was a quite remarkable position to fizz one in, but it was clear to see that Ivanovic, at the time the ball was played, was behind Wigan’s defence before he slotted in the opening goal on 62 minutes, resulting in offside, but no linesman waved it off, and I wasn’t complaining.
Not until Mohamed Diame slammed one in for Wigan with 8 minutes to go.. that was it I reckoned, all was lost! If we couldn’t beat a struggling team at home.. a team we were able to take to the cleaners with an 8-goal thrashing of them 2 years ago, then our hopes of catching our fellow Londoners were all but dashed.. thankfully though, after Fernando Torres had hit the post with his effort, Juan Mata followed the ball in, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. A win is a win, 3 points is 3 points, both of those statements are true.. but a scrappy win against any struggling side can also bear question marks over the team’s half empty approach to games we need to be winning in style.
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Fulham 1-1 Chelsea – Premier League – 9/4/12
I couldn’t watch the second half of this game because I was out playing football myself, but from what I was able to see of the first half, things looked promising enough.. the performance was far from impressive mind, but a penalty from Frank Lampard after a foul committed by Danny Murphy seemed enough for me to go to the session feeling happy enough, but we held out with 8 minutes to go until bloody Clint Dempsey turned in a header from a corner, and that seriously bollocked any chance of a top-four finish.
Dempsey, like Louis Saha, always from out of nowhere at least, manages to put one past us. I remember one time in a game away to Fulham, where we were 2-1 up at Craven Cottage, I think it was the 2008-09 season, correct me if I’m wrong, but Dempsey scored a last gasp goal against us that year, preventing us from winning 3 points. Dempsey is a jammy bugger, but he is also a fantastic player for Fulham, and I can’t knock him for that.
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Tottenham Hotspur 1-5 Chelsea – FA Cup Semi-Final – 15/4/12
Quite simply put… this has to be the greatest match I have ever watched this season, and Chelsea didn’t have to play sexy football for me to say that!! Just to say, we thrashed the Spuds at Wembley and sent them back to where they belong… the dump… is an understatement of its own!
We had to wait until the stroke of half time to see our first goal however, and it was certainly worth the wait too! As we have seen countless times over 8 seasons, Didier Drogba’s trademark movement before scoring, is to back into a defender, use his strength to control the ball, turn on the defender, and then bang it into the net, well he certainly did that for the first goal, turning on, who else but W*lliam G*llas.. you couldn’t have asked for the perfect goal.
Then in the second half, came the all important debate. Was it really a goal?? Juan Mata’s toe punt towards Tottenhem’s goal seemed to have been blocked before the ball had reached the line. Many had said the goal should never have stood because of that reason, but the officials issued it as a goal, regardless, and I wasn’t complaining over a 2-0 lead!
Then, a lack of concentration cost us dearly as Tottenham pulled a goal back through Gareth Bale, as Emanuel Adebayor was put through by Scott Parker’s cutting through ball, Cech palmed Adebayor’s effort, but it somehow ended up with Bale, who rolled it into an empty net.
Thankfully though, Ramires helped us maintain our two-goal advantage by dinking the ball over ex-Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini, followed by a quite breathtaking free kick from Frank Lampard, and to round off the rout, Florent Malouda slotted in Chelsea’s 5th goal, and secured our passage into the final showdown with Liverpool.
All in all, you could not have asked for a better day at the office! Not only did we secure our 4th final in 6 years, but in doing so, we thrashed and shat on the Spurs in the process, and that, for me, as a Chelsea fan, is a stunning moment!!
First of all, I would like to make an apology to anyone who reads my entries for not updating my blog immediately after this game had finished! I was a little busy at the time, and as a result, I never got round to writing it.
And now, onto the game…
In Lisbon, we were able to take home with us, a 1-0 victory thanks to Salomon Kalou’s late strike, assisted by Fernando Torres.. and in the home meeting at Stamford Bridge, there was no excuse not to finish the job. Thankfully, albeit a wobbly end to the game, we got the job done, and may I say, the goal from Raul Meireles at the end was an absolute gem!
Things started off so well for us, when Ashley Cole was bundled down into the penalty area by Benfica’s Javi Garcia, and Frank Lampard had no problem converting the penalty to make it 1-0 to us at the Bridge, and a very comfortable 2-0 lead on aggregate.
What really bugged me throughout the game, were all the massive chances we had of sealing the tie, giving us an easy passage through to the semi-final tie against Barcelona. Torres, Kalou and Juan Mata all had big chances to score the second goal, and at a time where Benfica only needed 2 goals to go through, it was very crucial, just so the nerves would be put to rest.
Come the end of the game though, us fans were living on the tips of our nerves. We put our foot off the gas for one second, and Benfica levelled up the score with 5 minutes left to go. Javi Garcia nodding in a header from a corner, which meant another goal for them would take them through. The scores would be level, but Benfica would have scored more away goals, thus sealing our fate.
But later we had to thank a man, a former Porto superstar that Benfica supporters love to hate, Raul Meireles, with a quite breathtaking bit of solo display to waltz up the field with the ball following a failed Benfica attack, and place a sweet strike into the near top corner of the net and seal our semi-final showdown with Barcelona.
It was a very nervous end to the game, which does worry me to some extent. If we are going to beat a club like Barcelona, we need to show none of that. We all know how the Catalans can punish teams who show a lot of nerves. Thankfully, from what I’ve been reading, people like Roberto Di Matteo and John Terry show none of that fear, but instead reveal unfinished business with the Spanish giants, like when they knocked us out in 2009 through Iniesta’s last gasp strike.
But no team is invincible. We have beaten them at Stamford Bridge before, and we have faced them as many times as any of these other big teams. I’ve watched matches where Jose Bosingwa actually had a good game at the Nou Camp, and Dutchmen like Khalid Boulahrouz had Ronaldinho in his pocket for a whole 90 minutes, and who could forget the quick 3 goals at the beginning of…. yeah you should know the rest of that game!
As a Chelsea supporter, I don’t fear Barcelona.. in fact I pity them.. they play amazing football, but they don’t have warriors like John Terry, who would want nothing more than bringing a Champions League trophy to the King’s Road for the first time.
With every game we win, I’m really starting to trust Roberto Di Matteo’s philosophy because judging from the results we’re getting under his leadership, albeit an interim one, it’s giving us all the confidence we need to turn our season around, and hopefully end the season, either with a Champions League place, or even winning the Champions League.
And our great form under Di Matteo continued today with a very well-deserved 4-2 away win over Aston Villa. Considering that this was only our 2nd win at Villa Park in 12 meetings, I’d say this was a key win today.. and Arsenal lost 2-1 away to QPR, so it’s smiles all round for us blues. If Swansea can defeat Spurs tomorrow, then that would just be the icing on the cake!
Daniel Sturridge got us off the mark with a tap in on 9 minutes, and then it stayed 1-0 until Branislav Ivanovic popped up to nod in our second goal. Villa fought back however through goals by James Collins and Eric Lichaj to make it level at 2-2, and suddenly, all hope looked bleak.. another game at Villa park without a win was looming… until Ivanovic smashed in our third, and then Fernando Torres, after 6 months without a league goal, ended his drought with a last minute strike.
Speaking of Torres, I think he deserves all the recent plaudits given to him by the Chelsea fans. It wasn’t very long ago that he was playing second fiddle to Didier Drogba because he was on the decline under Andre Villas-Boas, and there were question marks on his future at the club.. now under Roberto, he has found the sparkle in his form, and is now linking up well with Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge in attack, and it looks like we’re finally seeing the Torres of old.
Another player I want to talk a little briefly about is Mata. When I first saw the team sheet before the game, I said to myself, “oh goodness me, why is he starting again for Chelsea? He NEEDS to rest!” .. but to tell you the truth, Mata certainly plays well for someone who’s played 4 straight matches without being able to rest.. he was one of our star performers until he had to come off for Florent Malouda.. definitely deserved the plaudits, and should have definitely scored a goal for himself.
And just a little more here about David Luiz coming off at half time? What was wrong with him. Some people say that he came off with an injury to his ankle. Well, when he walked off the pitch to be replaced by Gary Cahill, he was walking perfectly fine to me. Maybe it was a slight injury to his ankle, and nothing more than that. I reckon he will be fit for the home leg against Benfica next week.
In conclusion, great win! Especially at a venue where we don’t win very often, and Roberto Di Matteo is certainly getting it right in terms of rotating the squad, and letting players work in the way that they want. It was never like that under AVB.. players emotions and feelings were all over the place back then, and hence the barrage of defeats.. but under RDM, players play because they care about the club, and the turnaround of results in all competitions we’re in really proves that. Can we snatch 4th place from Tottenham… I say YES… we can!
Going into the away match at Benfica tonight, my immediate thoughts were, “it’s an away match, the best we can salvage is a score draw and hope we can finish the job at Stamford Bridge”, however, what we got, was not only a quite remarkable first away victory in the Champions League, but the fact that Roberto Di Matteo was proving to everyone that he’s not just a caretaker manager!
The players must have studied Benfica’s tactical game prior to the match and then put their preparation into practice on the training pitch.. a little similar to AVB’s job when Mourinho was in charge. But, whatever it was, everything seemed to fall into place. Benfica were rattled at times, Chelsea’s defence were in the right positions to stop Benfica from creating and attacking, and it all worked like a charm!
David Luiz and Ramires in particular just didn’t stop working! Ramires with his darting runs in central midfield, winning crucial free kicks in the middle of the park wherever necessary, while Luiz’s dazzling defensive diving headers just kept Benfica’s attack guessing. It’s this kind of ambition which shows that some of these players are still determined to keep going in Europe, and knowing that our hopes of landing a top 4 spot in the league, meaning qualification to next year’s competition hang in the balance, so it’s important that we keep going and get these important results.
And about Luiz, I’ve never witnessed a player with a strong desire of playing for Chelsea as much as him, since John Terry! Every time he plays for the club, he’s always giving 100%, and not only that, he’s probably one of the most “happy-go-lucky” players we have at the club. I almost felt insulted when I read an article from the Daily Mail the other day about Barcelona, planning a £35m bid for him in the summer! It obviously won’t happen simply because he loves playing for us! The only slight fault I have in Luiz’s play however, is that sometimes, he enjoys going forward a bit too much, and if he’s too far up the pitch while the opponent has the ball, it means we’re lacking numbers at the back, although, we do have players like Michael Essien or John Obi Mikel to cover for Luiz while he’s up the pitch.
As for our goal, well, you can’t argue that Fernando Torres is showing everyone that he’s slowly starting to look like his old self again.. despite turning 28 a couple of days ago, he’s getting there. He doesn’t have to score goals to put on a good show, and his assist to Salomon Kalou for the goal just proves that!
I think we can finish the job at Stamford Bridge. With a 1-0 lead going into that second leg against a side who didn’t seem all that confident tonight, on their home ground.. we can easily score another 3 goals against them. If we can notch 3 past Valencia, and save ourselves from disaster with 4 against Napoli, we can certainly beat Benfica at home. The only thing that worries me however, is complaicency.
In the middle of March, after the 4-1 win over Napoli in the Champions League, it got me thinking.. is this the crucial stepping stone needed to lift our spirits and get as much confidence as possible to push for 4th place in the Premier League and be once again playing Champions League football?? … Then, a 5-2 defeat of Leicester City in the FA Cup Quarter Finals emerged with Fernando Torres getting 2 goals and 2 assists during the game… and there I was again, thinking and pondering to myself… has Torres finally found his touch of scoring goals again, and is he the one to steer us in the right direction??
Then, along come Manchester City and Tottenham, and in both those games, we’re only able to squeeze out a point, and then, I was like… “oh screw that then”!
There are a few points I’d like to go over in terms of the sheer frustration that was bellowed during the disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Tottenham today. First and foremost, Daniel Sturridge… I don’t know what it is with him, but he has turned from being one of the hottest prospects to come out from a loan spell with Bolton Wanderers, to being one of the most selfish and useless wingers in the Premier League. There’s no problem with the way he gets to the byline and out-runs his opponents for pace, but he has GOT to work on his passing, and just stop going for glory all the time, because it’s beginning to get really tiresome for a Chelsea fan, like myself, to watch something as selfish as shooting from such impossible angles, and hitting nothing but the side netting; or just getting as forward as possible, only to pass it straight to the opposition, and waste all of that effort getting into that space.
Another point I’d like to talk about is the contribution of Jose Bosingwa. Now, before I ramble on about how useless he is generally (most notably going forward), I have to commend his efforts at trying to keep tabs on Gareth Bale during the game. Bale is not an easy player to mark, as he is incredibly quick, and sometimes gets past lightweight players like Bosingwa with absolute ease. But, credit to Bosingwa, he did okay keeping him quiet at times. However, going forward, he is as much use as a brain-dead monkey on a unicycle. The guy just cannot make a good pass… and whenever he does bottle it with that kind of pass, always expect to hear three quarters of the Stamford Bridge faithful groan with agony at an opportunity wasted at the hands of Bosingwa! Put it this way, if a player like Ivanovic was fit, not only would Bale be in his pocket all game, but his determination would have shined through even more in terms of going forward, as we have seen in a lot of recent games. Anyone remember the Extra Time goal against Napoli??
One person I must talk about in great depth, and in a positive way, is Gary Cahill, or “Gazza” as I like to call him.. not to be confused with one England great Paul Gascoigne, but right now, I use the term, Gazza, for our current generation of players… in this case, Cahill. He has barely been at our club 2 months and he’s already won my charms. He has that style of defending that makes me feel as though John Terry cloned himself 7 years ago and that clone hadn’t aged. Seriously, if Cahill had not have been in our back four against Tottenham today, we would have lost 3-0. He’s quick, he gets back, he’s not afraid to go in for a tackle, and he’s stable, just like JT was 7 years ago. I say, if we can keep hold of Cahill for at least 3 years, he will be so important to us! You read it here first!
Last of all, the overall synopsis of the game. The first half was probably the most dull and depressing half I’ve seen this season, particularly when Tottenham looked as though they opted for a dull approach to the game, and, knowing us.. not capitalising on the opposition’s faults. As for the second half… well, I don’t know what Harry Redknapp said to his players at half time, but whatever he said, his side certainly came out of the blocks and immediately took the game to us.. especially in terms of the number of shots that were seen during the game. Tottenham managed around 13 shots, and we were only able to achieve 5. Now if you can consider our overall record against Tottenham at the Bridge over the last 20 years in the top flight, that’s just fucking disgraceful.
In conclusion, a 0-0 draw at home, is not good enough to push “The Turds” and “Lucknal” all the way in terms of fighting for 3rd/4th place in the League. I think we’re completely out of it now. If you look at our run-in compared to the likes of Tottenham, they have an easier time of it than we do, while “Lucknal” just keep winning at the moment, and I just cannot see us chasing them all the way, if all we’re going to do is just keep dropping points at every opportunity. It makes our Champions League campaign even more of a priority, if we’re going to compete in it next season. The thing is, I don’t see us dethroning Barcelona with the kind of form they have this season, but strange things have happened, and in this bygone era, you just never know what football might throw your way!
In what proved to be a disappointing result for us away to City, it was still a stern performance for us at the Etihad Stadium where no team this season has come away with a point or more, especially in defence. Gary Cahill for me, has come so far! Excellent display at the back, and I believe he is the long term replacement for John Terry!
It was in fact Cahill’s goal that gave us the lead, and at that point we Chelsea fans were all thinking of an unthinkable victory that would further propell Di Matteo’s populaity as our interim manager… but it was cut short in the 78 minute when Michael Essien handled in the penalty area, and Sergio Aguero netted from the spot, and then, yet another late goal conceded as Samir Nasri sealed our fate.
To be totally honest, I wasn’t expecting a victory tonight, because City have been so strong at home all season, while our overall form, particularly under AVB was more than just a questionable one.
The truth is, that ever since we had gone 1-0 up through Cahill’s strike, it was nothing but City threat… our midfield just didn’t want to know half the time, and players such as Bosingwa and Ashley Cole just didn’t possess any fight in them whatsoever! I think our main dagger to the heart in the whole game was the injury to Ivanovic. Had he have not got that knock in training, I would have expected to see a more vibrant Serbian defender at right back, and players such as Nasri and Silva would have had to work a lot harder.
Overall, I can’t fault the defence for the defeat because they pulled off a stern performance, keeping out City at home for just under 80 minutes, but I can blame some of our midfielders for not taking the initiative of City’s careless mistakes and frustration. Still, even though we lost, it was still a valiant attempt!
The beginning of a tough set of fixtures have begun for us now, starting with Leicester City today, then Manchester City during the week, and then Tottenham the same weekend, not to mention the Aston Villa game away from home, whom we’ve had major problems with form-wise away from home in recent years.
The good thing however, is that Roberto Di Matteo could not have asked for the perfect start during his short tenure as interim manager. Especially when our old guard, Didier Drogba, John Terry and Frank Lampard slapped their names on the scoresheet to revive our Champions League status with the impressive 4-1 win over Napoli at Stamford Bridge, and it’s those types of victories that are big enough to bring back the confidence in the team, steady the ship, and… maybe, just maybe, catch Arsenal and snatch 4th place. But they are going to take some stopping, especially when Robin van Persie is not disappointing Arsene Wenger in terms of scoring goals.
But today sees us play Leicester at the Bridge, in hopes that we can secure our 3rd successive semi-final in 4 years. I believe with the right mentality, and the right tactical approach, we can overwhelm our visitors and fight on in the rest of the competition.
The way the season has gone for us as a whole, particulary during the times of AVB, I don’t think we’re the favourites to win the trophy because Tottenham are still in the competition, and Liverpool are starting to find their feet under Kenny Dalglish.. BUT.. we ARE capable of winning big games, as we saw in the game against Napoli.
What does seem to linger at the back of my mind however, is that when AVB managed his first game in August, his team went on to be unbeaten in 5 matches before Manchester United beat us 3-1 at Old Trafford, so REALLY.. Di Matteo still needs a few more games to prove that he is the real deal. Generally however, It’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks for us. We need to keep fighting like we have been doing in the games against Birmingham, Stoke and Napoli. The players are fired up now, so there will be no excuse for defeat today.
One final thing I must say before I finish this blog. My thoughts and prayers go out to Fabrice Muamba, who is fighting for his life after he collapsed during yesterday’s Bolton match away to Tottenham. He is currently in a “stable” condition, and in this case, I hope and pray for his recovery, and my condolences are with his family at their very difficult time.
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My Chelsea team to face Leicester: Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Cahill, Bertrand; Ramires, Mikel, Lampard; Sturridge, Torres, Mata
Subs: Hilario, Cole, Romeu, Essien, Malouda, Kalou, Drogba
Never in my whole entire life as a Chelsea supporter, have I witnessed anything like the match I watched tonight! And it comes at a promising time when the fixture list gets tough, and winning points could be hard to come by!! Right from the off in the Champions League tie at home against Napoli, I expected us to flourish! I said to myself, “I don’t care where the goals come from, I just want Chelsea to find the goals needed, and get the job done”, and by jove, they certainly did that!
Didier Drogba on 28 minutes started the comeback with a stunning header from a cross by Ramires, who showed off quite a stunning performance himself. Then later, in the second half, John Terry nodded in a header from a corner to make it 2-0 and level the tie at 3-3, putting us in the driving seat to go through. But a rather breathtaking strike from Gökhan Inler from outside the box swung the tie back in Napoli’s favour again with the score at 2-1.
Frank Lampard however, thrashed in a penalty to take the game into extra time, with us winning on the night 3-1, until Branislav Ivanovic powered in our 4th goal from Drogba’s low cross to ensure our progress into the Quarter Finals!
Is this the beginning of the long-awaited Chelsea revival?? YES, and MORE! Roberto Di Matteo has only managed 3 Chelsea matches, with the team scoring 7 goals, and letting in just one… compare that run of form with what we had to endure with AVB, and the results speak for themselves. I know this is only 3 games, but let’s be honest. If you have players such as the ones who performed like beasts out there today, coming back from a 3-1 deficit against one of the most in-form Italian clubs to date, you can clearly see that this club HAS what it takes to turn the season around! I bet those who threatened to burn their Chelsea shirts and give up on the club because the team weren’t delivering the goods, are well and truely changing their tune now!
One question that must be asked, is who do I want to see us playing in the Quarter Finals? Well, right off the bat, Barcelona have to be avoided because right now, as we all know, their football is on a different planet at the moment, particularly when Lionel Messi seems untouchable, and that they are unbeaten at home in La Liga, dropping just 2 points from 13 matches. On the other hand, Real Madrid are possibly one to give a miss as well because they have Jose Mourinho, and despite Barca’s untouchable home form, they boast an impressive 10-point gap over the Catalans at the top of that table!
With that said, I’d go for either Marseille or APOEL. And I say that only because I claim those teams to be the weaker of the 7 teams available. Benfica might be a do-able tie, and it would mean both David Luiz and Ramires would be returning to familiar grounds! Bayern Munich and AC Milan could be tough opponents as well, although most English teams now know the faults of Milan’s back line, because Arsenal were able to put 3 past them at the Emirates.
But whatever team we’re drawn against on Friday, I have my full backing, not just for the team, but for the manager. Roberto Di Matteo since he took over as interim manager has impressed me from day one. He stated right from the off, that he cared about the club, and wanted to bring the best he can in the latter stages of this season, and with this fine display and impressive win over Napoli, he has ticked a dozen of boxes!
Who Needs Mourinho??
chrismada9cfc 