Chelsea will be looking to finish off FC Copenhagen and advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League when they facing the Danish Superliga champions at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Half the job has been done already, as Chelsea produced a clinical display against a ragged Copenhagen team at the Parken Stadium to bring a two-goal away lead back to London, with Nicolas Anelka scoring on either side of halftime to lead his team to a 2-0 win. Nevertheless, they will still be wary of the team, who are making their maiden entry into the knockout rounds of the competition, and can still spring a surprise. Chelsea, on the other hand, will be looking to make the quarters this season after bowing out to Inter Milan at the same stage last time around.
Chelsea :
The Chelsea system is still not a settled one, especially in attack, as Carlo Ancelotti has not been able to find his best combination after Fernando Torres' January move to Stamford Bridge.. However, with this tie all but in the bag, Ancelotti can afford to tinker his line-up a bit to see what he can get out of his players.
Torres has been the talk of the town for a while now after his exorbitantly valued purchase, but has not yet proved value for money, as he hasn't found it easy going, having not broken his duck for Chelsea yet. However, he alongside Nicolas Anelka looked a potent partnership in the first leg in Copenhagen, with the French striker scoring both goals for the away side, his sixth and seventh in the Champions League this season. This might lead to a recall of the same duo at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and Didier Drogba being benched again, not something the big Ivorian has been used to, being pivotal to Chelsea's attacking threat till recently.
The Blues have had a revival in form of late, as they have beaten Premier League leaders Manchester United 2-1, and have emerged victorious in a tricky away fixture at Blackpool after beating the Danish Superliga champions. They will go into the game brimming with confidence, favourites to advance to the quarters.
They face a tough test on the coming weekend, as they host Manchester City, in what could well be the game which puts a final nail in the title challenge of one of the two sides. Their team selection for the Copenhagen game could well be made with an eye towards the weekend.
FC Copenhagen:
The Danish team were on their domestic winter break when they hosted Chelsea in the first leg, having not played a competitive game for eleven weeks prior to the match. That indeed cost them, as they looked woefully out of touch, not being able to capitalise on Chelsea's poor form then. Now, the team, reeling after their two-goal loss at home, start as massive underdogs for the second leg.
History in not on Copenhagen's side, as no Scandinavian side has ever won a Champions League knockout-stage match, a feat they will have to achieve convincingly to progress to the quarter-finals. Also, no Danish team has ever won inEngland, and Chelsea have never lost against a team from Denmark. They resumed their defence of the Superliga title a week back, albeit with a poor result, as they lost for the first time domestically this season to FC Midtjylland away from home. However, they recorded their first win after the break on Sunday, beating a struggling AaB side 1-0.
Following the trip to London, Copenhagen host Brondby IF before going away to Esbjerg fB.
Head to Head :
22 Feb '11 : FC Copenhagen 0 - 2 Chelsea
Form Guide :
Chelsea (WWWDD)
7 Mar '11 : Blackpool 1 - 3 Chelsea
1 Mar '11 : Chelsea 2 - 1 Manchester United
22 Feb '11 : FC Copenhagen 0 - 2 Chelsea (Champions League)
19 Feb '11 : Chelsea 1 - 1 (3-4) Everton (FA Cup)
14 Feb '11 : Fulham 0 - 0 Chelsea
FC Copenhagen (WLLWW)
12 Mar '11 : AaB 0 - 1 FC Copenhagen
6 Mar '11 : FC Midtjylland 2 - 0 FC Copenhagen
22 Feb '11 : FC Copenhagen 0 - 2 Chelsea (Champions League)
7 Dec '10 : FC Copenhagen 3 - 1 Panathinaikos (Champions League)
4 Dec '10 : FC Copenhagen 3 - 1 Esbjerg fB
FC Copenhagen (4-4-2) - Wiland, Jorgensen, Antonnson, Wendt, Pospech, Kvist, Bolanos, Gronkjaer, Santin, N'Doye
The away side need goals to win, and are likely to play an attacking 4-4-2 formation to do so. Jesper Gronkjaer will be pivotal to their chances, as the former Chelsea man has been in good nick all season. Upfront, it will be a toss-up between Martin Vingaard and Cesar Santin for the second striker's spot alongside Dame N'Doye.
[The sports campus]
My Line up
------------Cech-------------
Bosingwa--Ivanovic---JT-----Cole
------------Essien------------
Ramirez---Lampard----Zhirkov
--Anelka/Drogba---Torres---
Champions league mathematics
We have 2 away goals which puts us at a very comfortable spot however as we have learned in the past, we can even concede that many in the first half in the champions league. Overconfidence is something we should avoid. I think we should play a solid and not too flashy match and bag a home goal to knock them out and don't risk the players for the weekend.
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