Champions League Preview: Chelsea looking for inspiration

The post match focus last Wednesday again surrounded a penalty not given on a Stamford Bridge European evening, but it only served to cover Chelsea’s shortcomings: the Blues were comfortably out played by Manchester United in the first leg.  Sir Alex Ferguson’s side quite content to take their one goal lead back to tonight’s second instalment at Old Trafford, in a quarter final tie now firmly balanced in their direction, writes Charles Harris.

Quicker from the start, and playing with greater urgency, United looked the team driven by near misses to reach another final, not Chelsea. Carlo Ancelotti’s men were struggling to just string passes together, and it came as no surprise when they fell behind. No surprises again in that it was Wayne Rooney ghosting in to score. He simply loves the headlines, this time for the right reasons, and he grabbed United a precious away goal.

Frank Lampard, sadly anonymous in his 500^th Chelsea game will know his chance on the stroke of the half time whistle should have been buried. A chance his side will reflect on and rue, if their Champions League story is to be denied a final page yet again.

Ancelotti went with Torres and Drogba, omitting Anelka to try and solve his striker debate. Perhaps he will go with all three for the second leg. You feel Chelsea must score at least twice to have any chance of going through. They have the best record of any fellow domestic side at Old Trafford, but European nights have a different flavour to them, and they may have their work cut out to progress.

Chelsea will become the third member of a prestigious Champions League group should they progress. Just two sides ever, Ajax and Inter Milan have lost the first leg at home and still gone through, but Chelsea specialise in going the long, rocky route. They undoubtedly have the ability, and surely can’t play as poorly again, in the knowledge that any victory besides a 1-0 will definitely see them through. Perhaps that will help.  Play that emanated anxiety, and lacked ideas and focus seemed to result from not knowing what a good first leg result would be.

Petr Cech had little to do besides pick the ball out of his net from Wayne Rooney for the second time in three weeks, but there was to be no Chelsea come back this time. In addition to lacking their inspiration that night in the cup tied David Luiz, his replacement was ruthlessly exposed by the ever consistent Ryan Giggs for the United goal.Jose Bosingwa had no idea where Giggs was, and from the look of his crosses, the Chelsea penalty area either.

There would be no better time for Torres to finally get off the mark than at Old Trafford, and it was only a world class save from Edwin Van Der Sar that denied the Spaniard his first Stamford Bridge and Chelsea goal. He still looks out of sorts, but he is simply too good a player to continue his struggle for much longer.

With speculation rife that Chelsea’s in-charge Italian will preside no longer than the end of the season should he fail to deliver again, the pressure has never been greater. He needs a performance and a result from his team, and perhaps a stroke of luck too. A semi final against Schalke awaits, and you would have to make either English team favourite to reach the Wembley final, particularly with the second leg at home.

The game will define Chelsea’s season, they must leave no room for error if they are to deny their close domestic rivals. Ancelotti can draw faith from 2007 where 2-3 down from the first leg, his AC Milan side swept away United 3-0 in a cacophonous San Siro to book their final place, on the way to Champions League glory. He has plenty of numbers, a fully fit squad to choose from, but for a man that doesn’t know his best team, that poses him an added problem, rather than solving one. If Chelsea crash out of Europe again, the only numbers he may be dealing with come May, are a four and a five.