Champions League Football. I think or say it and immediately I think of that Drogba header, that Cech penalty save and that Ramires lob.
This season, while I do get the same excitement when I hear the operatic intro music, I do notice myself feeling a lot less relaxed and I’m worrying about every pass and every out of position right back – something that arrogantly maybe, Chelsea fan’s haven’t really needed to worry about over the past few seasons.
We’re 2-1 down in the league against the bottom of the table – relax, we will win 3-2.
And it would happen more often than not. This season is a different story, which is why the win against Tel Aviv a fortnight ago was so important. Tonight we face a solid Porto side, that Jose will not want to drop points against for many a reason.
His former employers will be doing all they can to further rock the Chelsea boat, and the crowd will likely be a huge factor in trying to rattle this nervy Chelsea side.
As if by some strange coincidence, the days building up to the game have led to multiple newspapers reporting on the possible transfer of Porto’s star player, Yacine Brahimi to Chelsea.
Maybe good for two reasons really, 1) Chelsea need some confident players to get us through this patch, and 2) it’s always nice to ruffle some feathers on the day of the game – if it makes any difference to Brahimi’s game we will soon see – although if he does start shooting into the top tier I wouldn’t want him at the club anyway.
We need players who are unphased in any situation.
It’s extremely hard to spot what exactly is wrong at Chelsea at the moment but what is clear is we need players to remain calm, controlled and lethal in front of goal. As mentioned earlier in the week, Ramires saved us on Saturday night and we need other players to take inspiration from him. He gets in, get the job done and walks away.
Yacine Brahimi is clearly a very talented player, but with no goals or assists yet this season (in 6 appearances), let’s hope the Algerian play maker doesn’t turn up tonight. There are strong rumours he will start on the bench after a knock at the weekend, so he may not even get a chance to kick a ball against his possible, yet unlikely, new employers.
I think it’ll take a lot of work for Chelsea to break Porto’s 100% home record this season, but I think they’ll come home with the three points. Jose will put all affection aside and ensure his team dominate the game from the whistle. If the under 19’s game earlier that just finished is anything to go by, were in for a thriller. 3-0 up and the game finishes…3-3. Oh god.
Prediction. FC Porto 0 – Chelsea FC 2
KTBFFH
