Fernando Torres continues his Sutton-esque form for Chelsea as the Londoners are sent packing in the all-English quarter final. Carlo Ancelotti tries that old 4-3-2-1 favourite but finds his Christmas tree-shaped plans are out of season. Man United continue their push for the treble by recording their seventh straight win in all competitions, as Ryan Giggs provides the creative spark to propel Fergie’s side into the last four. Here’s the notes from last night’s Champions League heavyweight showdown…
Since signing on the dotted line at Stamford Bridge back in January, David Luiz has caught the eye of Fantasy Managers far and wide with goals, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Bonus Points, clean sheets and the added guarantee of being ineligible for European competitions. Now Chelsea are out of Europe and their squad is burgeoning just that little bit more – particularly at the back. Having been injured since late November, Alex returned to the starting line-up against United and while he neither shone or prove a liability last night, his return adds the further chance of rotation to the Blues back-four.
With Chelsea having just seven Premier League games remaining this season and four registered centre-backs (Luiz, Alex, Ivanovic and Terry) as well as three viable right-backs (Bosingwa, Ivanovic and Ferreira) is anyone besides Ashley Cole now safe from rotation?
Another Brazilian decided to play to type yesterday evening when Ramires (the bookies favourites for a yellow card pre-game) decided to go the whole hog and pick up not one but a matching pair of yellows. Chelsea were resultantly left with an even greater uphill task, having only 10 men for the final 20 minutes of the match. Anyone looking for a wild gamble on Ramires ahead of Chelsea’s double header can be assured that his suspension does not cross over to the Premier League. Ancelotti however, may well be questioning Ramires’ big game temperament given his double booking last night.
As this site rather happily points out, Fernando Torres still hasn’t been able to notch his first goal for Chelsea. Being substituted at half-time for Didier Drogba will likely only dent the Spaniard’s confidence and pretty much sums up his display in the first forty-five. Given that he has a weighty Fantasy Premier League (FPL) price-tag of 11.5, even ahead of a promising double-gameweek, there looks to be better options elsewhere.
Carlo Ancelotti did at least appear to try and work to Torres’ strengths with last night’s formation. As pointed out by The Guardian’s own Sir Paulos, Jonathan Wilson, just 24 hours ago, the 4-4-2 of late doesn’t help El Nino’s cause. By reverting to a 4-3-2-1 christmas tree formation, one that he used reliably at AC Milan, the man in charge appears to have acknowledged that Torres requires improved service. The change failed to help matters, as neither Nicolas Anelka nor Frank Lampard offered the creative bridge between the midfield and strikeforce required to feed Torres on the night.
Chelsea’s Mr. Reliable didn’t have a bad game, but he certainly didn’t have a good one either – but we can confirm he was on the pitch. The average position of the 20 goal a season man perhaps provides solace in the fact he was given a greater influence further up the field than in recent weeks, but apart from Chelsea’s only shot on target of the first-half, his contributions weren’t significant when assessing Chelsea’s display.
The Ivorian striker is by no means on fire right now, but, then again, few are in the Chelsea squad at present. Drogba’s half-time introduction certainly reinvigorated the Chelsea attack and his direct approach ultimately brought reward, even if the satisfaction of his equaliser diminished quickly. Drogba might not be Chelsea’s most in-form striker right now -that honour is reserved for Danny Sturridge on loan at Bolton- but with 2 goals in his last 3 games he’s certainly worthy of consideration over Torres.
A goal in Saturday’s home win over Fulham was not enough to maintain his place in the United starting line-up, as Dimitar Berbatov returned to bench-warming duties again last night. Having served one game of his two-match domestic ban, Wayne Rooney returned to the first XI, as did Javier Hernandez, with Fergie reverting back to 4-4-2, following the weekend 4-3-3. Little Pea continued his fantastic debut season with a crucial opener on the verge of half-time, further making a mockery of the minimal £6m United paid for his services last summer.
With United still in the hunt for a possible treble, rotation will surely continue to be an issue over the next few weeks. Having just returned from long-term injury, Antonio Valencia has been in fantastic form of late but perhaps with the club’s packed schedule in mind, the right winger found himself joining Berbatov on the bench last night. The United boss found time to praise Valencia prior to the match:
“We expected Antonio to come back like this. He is an outstanding footballer, who is very capable of being a threat. His understanding of the game is terrific. He has a great tactical brain. The boy has everything, balance, power and speed. When we got nearer the time, we couldn’t get him back quickly enough. We arranged closed-doors games to get his tempo and rhythm back.”
Ji Sung-Park started instead on the right and vindicated his selection with a busy performance and the goal that effectively killed off Chelsea’s hopes of a revival, literally seconds after Drogba had given the ten-man visitors a lifeline.
Playing in central midfield, Ryan Giggs showed real class with two sublime assists that cut through the dogged Chelsea resistance. The Welshman has now assisted United’s last four goals in the competition and, with such a vital contribution on this European run, no one would blame Fergie if he was rested for this upcoming weekend for United’s trip to Wembley and preserved purely for the semi-final, which will surely be against Schalke.
John O’Shea got the nod over Wes Brown at right-back, with Rafael not 100% ready for selection. Rio Ferdinand started alongside Nemanja Vidic and within ten minutes it seemed like the ex-England captain would have to depart the proceedings, but the injury worry subsided and Ferdinand saw the 90 minutes out without any further complications. The Drogba goal was only the third United have conceded in the Champions League all season, in a run that has saw them chalk up seven clean sheets along the way.
There was no hiding his pride after the 3-1 aggregate win saw United reach the semi-finals yet again under Sir Alex Ferguson. With the afore-mentioned treble still very much on the cards, the United boss beamed post-match:
“I think we’ve hit our form. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.It’s a great moment for us and I think the players are enjoying it. They’re relishing the challenges they’ve got now. I think you saw that tonight…Momentum is a great thing. The bonus I’ve got is that all my players are getting fit again now and that’s a great boost for us.”
With Man City still licking their wounds from Monday night’s Anfield hammering and more than likely to be without the talents of Carlos Tevez, Fergie will be looking forward to this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against the “noisy neighbours” with a certain wicked relish.
