Well UEFA finally ruled on Chelsea’s behavior after the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona and I am surprised at how lenient the bans are.
The media is portraying UEFA’s ruling to hand lengthy European bans to Didier Drogba and Jose Bosingwa as harsh. I disagree.
Drogba was given a six-match ban, but since the last two games are suspended for two years making this a four game ban for his foul-mouthed confrontation with referee Tom Henning Ovrebo at the end of their Champions League semi-final defeat by Barcelona in May.
Subscribe to our blog via RSS to get more great posts like this
Carlo Ancelotti will become manager of Chelsea on July 1st after signing a three-year contract with the English club.
The 49-year-old ended an eight-year spell at AC Milan yesterday, a 2-0 victory at ACF Fiorentina clinching third spot in Serie A and a berth in next season’s UEFA Champions League. Ancelotti replaces temporary coach Guus Hiddink, who has returned to take charge of the Russian national team after a 15-week stay at Stamford Bridge which concluded with Saturday’s FA Cup final victory against Everton FC. The London club sacked previous incumbent Luiz Felipe Scolari in February.
A Chelsea statement said:
Subscribe to our blog via RSS to get more great posts like this
If losing to Barcelona in the last minute was not bad enough, the actions of Chelsea’s players during and after the game has to result in suspensions from UEFA.
First up has to Michael Ballack who was incensed that a penalty was not given in extra time and aggressively chased the referee on the pitch. The TV replays seemed to indicate that Ballack bumped the referee and that should lead to at least a rebuke from UEFA.
In a post-game interview, Chelsea’s Jose Bosingwa reportedly told RTP after the game:
Subscribe to our blog via RSS to get more great posts like this
Barcelona wailed about Chelsea’s defensive tactics in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final but they should be more concerned about their own rearguard before the return at Stamford Bridge.
With Carles Puyol suspended and Rafael Marquez injured, Barcelona look horribly exposed in central defence, especially with the powerful presence of Didier Drogba poised to overpower whoever is drafted in.
Amid the jubilation of Barcelona’s 6-2 thrashing of Real Mad rid on Saturday, Chelsea’s spies will have reported back that Real’s two goals were via the heads of Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Ramos courtesy of slack marking in the middle.
Subscribe to our blog via RSS to get more great posts like this
It wasd Deja Vu for Barcelona who were once again frustrated by English opposition in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Last year it was Manchester United and this year it was Chelsea who left the Camp Nou with a goalless draw.
Barcelona have now failed to win their last five home games against Premier League sides. For the most part Barcelona created few chances until in added time, when substitutes Bojan Krkić and Aleksandr Hleb both missed great opportunities.
More bad news for Barcelona was that they lost central defender Rafael Márquez to a knee injury and his replacement Carles Puyol collected a yellow card which rules him out of next week’s return.
Subscribe to our blog via RSS to get more great posts like this
Kick-off: Tuesday, 28 February 2009, 20:45 CET –Camp Nou, Barcelona
Barcelona’s Quest for Glory
This is a huge two week period for Barcelona. While all the focus in England has been on Manchester United’s pursuit of the quintuple, in Spain the talk has been all about Barcelona’s quest for a history-making treble voyage.
Barcelona faces four games that will make or break its season. Stumble at home in the first leg of the semi-final face-off with Chelsea and they can kiss their treble desires goodbye. And with Real Madrid coming up this Saturday, a trip to Stamford Bridge for the return clash next week, and a tricky meeting with Villarreal four days after that, Barcelona’s incredible season could turn very sour extremely quickly.
Subscribe to our blog via RSS to get more great posts like this
A month ago it was a foregone conclusion that Manchester United were going to win another Premier League title. But after back-to-back defeats and Liverpool thrashing Real Madrid, Man United and Aston Villa in their last three games the title race is back on. The International break came at a bad time for Liverpool and Chelsea. Will they be able to pick up where they left off and will Man United’s bobble continue?
The fixture list for each team is below:
Subscribe to our blog via RSS to get more great posts like this
Amazing figures from Stamford Bridge today as Chelsea announce a massive £66 million loss for the year to the end of June 2008. Included in those numbers is an incredible £23 million in compensation last season after parting company with managers Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant. That figure does not include the £7.5 million it is thought that Luiz Felipe Scolari will receive after being sacked this week.
Chelsea announced that shareholder loans have been reduced to £339.8m, while shareholder capital/equity has increased to £369.9m. Basically Abramovich changed part of that investment from an interest-free loan into shares in the club. With the equity swap, Abramovich has now poured £710 million into Chelsea.
Subscribe to our blog via RSS to get more great posts like this
Chelsea have announced that Guus Hiddink will take over as temporary coach until the end of the season. Hiddink, who will continue to coach the Russian national side, replaces Luiz Felipe Scolari, who was fired on Monday.
The Dutchman is currently in Turkey with the Russian squad and is likely to be a spectator at Chelsea’s FA Cup fifth round tie at Watford on Saturday, with the Premier League clash at Aston Villa on 21 February his first in charge.
“It’s never enough time to prepare a team in one week but this is an exceptional situation,” Hiddink added. “Chelsea have good players and they should be in top form and that should make my job easier.”
Subscribe to our blog via RSS to get more great posts like this
