Carlo Ancelotti

Stamford Bridge
Tuesday 15 Sept
Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Group D: Chelsea, APOEL, FC Porto, Atlético Madrid

The dawn of the new Champions League has arrived, and over the bustling Stamford Bridge ptich, the lights will bedeck the famous blue of Chelsea as they take on FC Porto. Chelsea have a 100% record at the start of the new Premier League season, but they have been pushed all the way in a couple of the games, having had to rely on injury time winners to collect all three points. Those wins sees them top the table. Maybe the positive to be taken from this is that they have shown a new edge of mettle which has kept them pressuring opponents to the final whistle, until they get what they want. That’s exactly how Champions win, scrapping for late winners as well as turning on the style.

They are now under the guidance of Italian manager, Carlo Ancelotti, who is insistent that his new team get to the Champions League final. Chelsea, have been so near, yet so far on so many occasions, reaching the semi final stage in five of the last six attempts. Supporters will now hope that Ancelotti’s experience will be the missing X-Factor that will get them that missing piece of Abramovich’s silverware. Chelsea have only reached the final once, where they were defeated in a penalty shoot out by English rivals Manchester United. Ancelotti has the experience of winning the Champions League twice with AC Milan, and is now looking to add a third title with the London club.

Chelsea will kick off their Champions League quest without the domineering presence of striker Didier Drogba. The Ivory Coast star received a ban after mouthing at the referee at the culmination of Chelsea’s exit against Barcelona in the semi final of last year’s competition. Chelsea had had numerous penalty appeals turned down, and eventually lost to a late goal. This enraged the passionate Drogba to the point where he could no longer control himself. His is a presence which will be missed, as he has found the net four times already in the Premier League.

To add more problems, Chelsea were recently hit with a transfer ban, after allegations of wrong doing involving the transfer of Gael Kakuta. FIFA hit them with a ban that sees them face an embargo on signing new players in the next two transfer windows. Ancelotti however, is determined that it will not play too much of a factor in their challenge for both domestic and European glory. The Italian has been insistent that he has the squad capable of winning already. Other absentee’s from the Blue’s line up on Tuesday evening will be Joe Cole, Alex, Yuri Zhirkov, Jose Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira and Deco, who will miss the chance to face his old team. Even without Drogba, Chelsea still have a lot of power going forward, and Nicolas Anelka, who found an amazing new leash of life last season, will share responsibility up front with Salomon Kalou. They still of course have Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack running the show from midfield.

Porto are also undefeated in their respective league, having only dropped two points out of 12. Chelsea will have to watch out for Colombian striker Radamel Falcao Garcia as he averages a goal a game for his new club. Chelsea have shown that they have the mentality and staying power to reach the latter stages of the competition time and time again. They just need to now show that they can go one step further and join Manchester United and Liverpool as English Champions League winners.

Match Odds
Chelsea to win – 2/5 at Victor Chandler
Draw – 15/4 at Bet365
Porto to win – 9/1 at BetFred

Betting tip: Chelsea at home should be a banker in the Champions League. Porto have shown in the past they can be a pain in the neck, but Chelsea should still have the class to play their way through their opponents. The missing Drogba may take one dimension out of their game, especially if they need to scrap again for a late winner, but they have enough creativity and tactical know-how to not let any points escape them in this home fixture.
A comfortable 2-0 win for Chelsea will bring 11/2 at BlueSquare