The TimesOctober 2, 2008
Chelsea given a real fright in EuropeCluj 0 Chelsea 0
Matt Hughes in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
It is ironic that Chelsea failed to draw blood for the first time this season in vampire country, although Luiz Felipe Scolari is unlikely to see the funny side. The Brazilian will find a squad that looks like it has been savaged by a whole host of unpleasant creatures when he returns to the club’s training ground this morning, with Chelsea’s players collecting enough bumps and bruises to satisfy even the most voracious opponent’s thirst for blood.
Cluj could not be described as a neat counter-attacking side, but when they look back at Chelsea’s horror show they will be cursing that they failed to score and record another famous win. Scolari was honest enough to admit afterwards that he was disappointed with his players’ performance for only the second time in his brief reign, though he will have been pleased with the resilience they showed to dig in for a point in the face of considerable adversity. As has been the case since José Mourinho joined the club four years ago, Chelsea are not easily beaten.
When the dust settles it will be the number of injuries that worries Scolari most, rather than his side’s surprising sloppiness in possession and limited attacking threat. Didier Drogba’s knee injury is the biggest concern, although the knocks collected by John Terry, Ashley Cole and Alex will also present problems to a squad missing Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole and Deco. Any club in the world would struggle without players of that calibre, and in the coming weeks Chelsea may find that they do, too.
On the surface, their trip to Transylvania seemed like a journey back in time to the days when European competitions frequently brought adventures into the unknown, although it could also come to represent a vision of the future. Michel Platini, the Uefa president, is determined to increase the presence of clubs from smaller nations in the Champions League and Cluj’s remarkable success story gives his plans increased credibility. This juxtaposition of old and new was reflected in the Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium, with the brand new stand that has been built to bring the ground up to Uefa standards sitting alongside Soviet-style flats that would long since have been condemned in the West.
The home fans were determined to enjoy the biggest occasion in the club’s 101-year history, arriving two hours before kick-off to create and then revel in a party atmosphere that continued after the final whistle, when they celebrated as if they had won the game. The size of Cluj’s challenge was even reflected in the music that was played on the PA before kick-off, with the German Eurohouse of Toca’s Miracle by Fragma imploring the players with the refrain “I Need a Miracle”.
Cluj have already achieved one miraculous result this season in a city that glories in them, beating Roma in the Olympic Stadium two weeks ago, and with better finishing they would have pulled off another one. Having seen that game, Scolari resolved to take no chances, bringing his players here earlier than usual on Monday night and subjecting them to several hours of DVD-watching on Tuesday, although to judge by the way they started many of them may well have drifted off after sampling the popcorn. Despite enjoying almost 60 per cent of the possession, Chelsea were uncharacteristically wasteful, giving the ball away frequently and allowing Cluj to build threatening attacks on the break.
As Scolari had predicted, their multinational opponents played like a team of South Americans, using their talented wingers, Juan Culio and Sebastián Dubarbier, and attacking full backs, Alvaro Pereira and Tony, to break at speed and were it not for the absence of a killer final ball they would have taken a deserved lead by half-time. The muscular Yssouf Koné, an Ivory Coast team-mate of Drogba, also caused problems, with Terry and Alex made to look distinctly leaden-footed. Carvalho is badly missed when Chelsea’s opponents possess real pace.
Cluj were largely restricted to pot-shots from distance in the first half, although they did create a couple of clear-cut chances. The best fell to Eugen Trica, who volleyed wide from close range after being released by a sublime chip by Dubarbier after a break from Pereira.
With Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda offering nothing down the flanks, Scolari introduced Nicolas Anelka in place of the Ivorian for the second half. The manager would have been tempted to make more changes, although his resources are so stretched that Franco Di Santo and Miroslav Stoch, an 18-year-old Slovakian promoted from the youth team, were his only other attacking options.
Anelka made an immediate impact, playing a one-two with Frank Lampard that enabled the England midfield player to volley wide at the near post in Chelsea’s first attack of note in the 48th minute. When Drogba was withdrawn, Scolari’s revealing response was to bring on Juliano Belletti as an additional defensive midfield player.
Such caution was well advised because by the end Chelsea were hanging on. Culio shot narrowly wide of the far post in the 80th minute and it took a smart save by Petr Cech to deny the outstanding Pereira three minutes from time. In the land that inspired a thousand horror films this was quite a fright.
CFR Cluj (4-2-3-1): E Stancioiu — Tony, Cadú, De Sousa, A Pereira — Dani, G Muresan — S Dubarbier, E Trica (sub: Dida, 89), J Culio — Y Koné. Substitutes not used: Nuno Claro, C Panin, H Alcantara, C Deac, E Kone, D Ruiz. Booked: Pereira, Dani.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech — J Bosingwa, Alex, J Terry, W Bridge — J O Mikel — S Kalou (sub: N Anelka, 46), M Ballack, F Lampard, F Malouda (sub: F Di Santo, 74) — D Drogba (sub: J Belletti, 58). Substitutes not used: Hilário, B Ivanovic, P Ferreira, M Stoch. Booked: Alex, Anelka.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Telegraph:
Didier Drogba injury caps frustrating night for Chelsea and Luiz Felipe Scolari in Cluj draw
CFR Cluj (0) 0 Chelsea (0) 0 By John Ley in Cluj-Napoca
Chelsea's season took an unexpected twist when Didier Drogba was carried off early in the second half with medial ligament problems, a suspected fractured right knee and ankle damage.
Though Chelsea protected their unbeaten record, it was the first time that they have failed to score under Luiz Felipe Scolari and completed a miserable night for the manager.
Transylvania has rarely witnessed a sporting occasion such as this and CFR Cluj, an unknown quantity, equipped themselves well, threatening to claim a shock result with a succession of wasted first-half chances.
In contrast, Chelsea rarely looked like scoring and the injury to Drogba, in only his third start following trouble with his other knee, could leave Scolari with more problems.
Chelsea, already missing key figures in Deco, Joe Cole, Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien, were dealt a further blow when Ashley Cole withdrew after complaining of pain in his lower back.
Fortunately, in Wayne Bridge, they had a ready-made replacement and the England defender slotted into the left-back spot in an otherwise unchanged side.
Unbeaten in eight games going into the game, Chelsea were keen to guard against any surprise result. Having lost in recent years to unfancied Swiss side St Gallen and the Norwegians of Tromso and Viking Stavanger, they approached the game with care.
Scolari, in his first away game as a manager in the Champions League, had warned that there were no weak sides at this stage, pointing to CFR Cluj’s remarkable 2-1 victory in the Olympic Stadium in Rome a fortnight ago.
Chelsea started in the knowledge that they had not lost an away game in the group stages for nearly two years, when they lost 1-0 to German side Werder Bremen in November 2006.
But the memory of the defeat in Moscow in the final, against Manchester United, still hurts – so when the Romanians played a compilation song dedicated to United, with the chorus “Sing up for the champions” an hour before kick-off, the reminder will not have been welcomed.
Chelsea were almost taught a harsh lesson early on. Within three minutes, and with the stadium a sea of cherry red and white, Eugen Trica’s through-ball sent Sebastian Dubarbier towards goal, with Petr Cech having to rush out of his area to block with his body.
Another warning shot was fired by Yssouf Kone, but his lob was well off target, before Juan Emanuel Culio fed Trica for another lofted attempt which went only narrowly over the crossbar.
Cluj were passing the ball well, giving Chelsea few early opportunities to threaten, but with Frank Lampard in impressive form the visitors began to improve. Drogba shot from 25 yards, albeit wide of the target, and when John Obi Mikel delivered another attempt, the signs were promising.
Chelsea survived a potential scare midway through the first half when Dubarbier’s cross was knocked on by Culio and Trica squandered a chance, mis-timing an attempted volley when he could have scored.
It was another warning for the beaten finalists and when Alvaro Pereira found his way into the Chelsea area in some style, it took a timely tackle from Jose Bosingwa to defuse another dangerous threat. Another volleyed attempt from Trica and a drive by Pereira were too close for comfort as Chelsea held on frantically.
Chelsea’s frustration was illustrated by a crude challenge by Alex on Kone, which earned the defender a yellow card as the London side went in at half-time knowing they had played poorly were grateful to still be on level terms.
Scolari took steps to improve the club’s chances of victory by introducing Nicolas Anelka, for Salomon Kalou, and going with a two-pronged attack but soon after the restart the home fans found a funny way of reminding the visitors of their Moscow defeat with a banner reading: “Roses are red, Chelsea are blue, my grandma can take spot kicks better than you.”
However, Chelsea almost had the next laugh when Lampard combined passes with Anelka before forcing Eduard Stancioiu, the Cluj goalkeeper, to save well by the foot of his left post.
It was the closest Chelsea had come to scoring and taken 51 minutes but the influence of Anelka was telling. However, it was not long before Chelsea had problems when Drogba, in attempting to meet a Malouda cross, clashed with Andre Souza and had to be taken off on a stretcher in the 58th minute.
The sight of Drogba leaving the field, one hand on his forehead, gave Chelsea even more cause for concern. Scolari reverted to a one-man attack, with Juliano Belletti coming on into midfield, with Ballack moving into a more forward role behind Anelka.
In the 72nd minute Lampard tested Stancioiu again, from 30 yards. Soon afterwards, Scolari brought on Franco Di Santo and his first act was to meet a throw-in from Belletti and send the ball just wide. In the 80th minute Trica came close to scoring with a curling shot that grazed the post as Cluj finished strongly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guardian:
Drogba injury leaves Chelsea reeling· Ivorian striker suffers knee-ligament damage · Knocks for Terry, Alex and Cole add to Scolari's woes
CFR Cluj 0 Chelsea 0
Louise Taylor at the Dr Constantin Radulescu Staium
Didier Drogba signals for help after going down injured during Chelsea's disappointing draw in Romania. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
It is several centuries since visitors to Transylvania routinely ran the risk of slow death by skewering at the hands of Vlad the Impaler but Chelsea certainly did not escape unscathed last night. An already uncomfortable trip to the home of Dracula was tainted by the apparently serious knee medial ligament damage suffered by Didier Drogba on an evening when Luiz Felipe Scolari's side failed to score for the first time under the Brazilian.
Drogba, who has only recently recovered from serious damage to his left knee, was dispatched to hospital for x-rays on his right knee after appearing to catch his studs in the slightly rutted turf following a powerful, yet apparently clean, ball-winning challenge from Andre de Sousa as the Ivorian shaped to shoot. If Scolari did not appear perturbed by the defender's tackle he was clearly anxious to learn the prognosis on Drogba but must wait until further scans are conducted today. Moreover, having lost Ashley Cole to back trouble before kick-off, Chelsea's already sizeable injury list is lengthening and they finished the game with John Terry also carrying a back injury and Alex nursing a buttock area complaint.
"I've asked the doctor what is happening but I'm not sure of anything yet, it's too early to say how bad Drogba is," said Scolari. Relieved to have secured a draw on surely the most challenging evening of his fledging reign, Chelsea's manager described his side's performance as "not very well" before adding: "I'm happy with one point."
Drained of their recent imagination and incision, his players were reminded that they are mortal after all and it required a superlative, one-handed save late on from Petr Cech to deny Alvaro Pereira what would have been a deserved winner. Forced to endure the sound of "Glory, Glory, Man United" blaring out of the Cluj public-address system in the preamble to kick-off, Chelsea singularly failed to punish their hosts for that little joke during a night spent largely on the back foot.
With Ashley Cole - who should be fit for England's impending World Cup qualifiers - ruled out with an injury, Wayne Bridge was offered a rare outing at left-back. Scolari likes his full-backs to push up and overlap at every opportunity but this tactic looked somewhat risky in the face of Cluj's quickfire counter-attacking. Certainly Sebastian Dubarbier and Juan Culio delighted in exploiting the resultant space and cleverly supported Yssouf Kone, deployed as a lone striker by Maurizio Trombetta, the Romanian side's Italian coach. Deployed wide on the left, Culio, whose two goals undid Roma away last month, demonstrated just why the Argentinian is known as "Emperor Culio" in Transylvania and seemed to relish detecting weaknesses in Jose Bosingwa's defensive game.
Studded with South American players, the Romanian champions were fluid and boasted some wonderful changes of pace but, nonetheless, tended to come unstuck whenever Kone came into Terry's orbit. Equally well shadowed but not quite as well fed, Drogba - facing at least six weeks on the sidelines - was seeing rather less of the ball than normal as Cluj dominated possession and might have taken the lead when Dubarbier's chipped pass bisected Terry and Alex only for Eugen Trica to miss the opportunity.
Cluj had done their homework so well that the two excited fans who had clambered on to a crane hovering over one end of the ground appeared in real danger of bouncing out of it. By now the Romanians were endeavouring to outdo Chelsea at their own overlapping full-back game. Pereira, Cluj's left-back, was running at Bosingwa with real menace and dispatched a shot which whizzed just wide of the far post. With Terry also required to whisk the ball off Kone's toes in the penalty area, Scolari probably found the half-time whistle a relief.
The Brazilian replaced Salomon Kalou with Nicolas Anelka but the Frenchman's briefly promising partnership with Drogba was to be short-lived. Soon after Anelka's smart pass swiftly provided Frank
Lampard with a close-range chance blocked by De Sousa, a tackle from the same defender ended Drogba's night. Just as the striker stretched to tap home Malouda's fine cross from close range De Sousa steamed in to win the ball but Drogba's right leg twisted and buckled beneath him and he was carried off in evident agony.
Although Franco di Santo nearly scored with his first touch after replacing Malouda, Chelsea were badly missing the creativity often supplied by the indisposed Joe Cole and Deco, and Trica went mighty close for Cluj before Cech's save prevented a historic home victory.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indy:
Drogba ankle injury drives stake into Chelsea's season
CFR Cluj 0 Chelsea 0
By Jason Burt at Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium
No goals in Transylvania. But another horror show. Didier Drogba was carried off last night with suspected ligament damage to his right knee and, possibly, although as yet unconfirmed, a fracture to his ankle after crumbling under an innocuous looking challenge. If the early fears are realised – and he was being X-rayed after the match and will undergo scans today – then it is a hammer blow to Chelsea's ambitions this season.
Injuries are piling up. It is a real crisis now. A real drama. No hammed-up construct. Drogba is added to Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole and, of course, Michael Essien as being ruled out. Chelsea also lost Ashley Cole, with a back strain, prior to kick-off with manager Luiz Felipe Scolari also declaring that both John Terry and Alex played most of the game injured.
Terry, once more, was feeling his back – a worrying recurrence for club and country – while Alex had a buttock strain. Scolari will pray all three defenders are able to come through quickly. Terry certainly felt he would make it. "What can I say?" said Scolari shrugging his shoulders at the result, the performance and the aftermath. "I'm happy with one point because Didier is out. Terry played, after 15 minutes, with problems. Alex played, after 15 minutes, with problems. It's difficult to play like this but we know we didn't play well. I have four or five days to build a team again. I don't know what the possibilities are for Sunday." Then Chelsea host third-placed Aston Villa and having failed to score for the first time this season last night, as they faced the vibrant, tricky Romanian champions, Scolari's resources are desperately stretched.
Cluj had the appetite to cause another upset having beaten Roma – in Italy – in their first ever Champions League tie. In the end, and partly through an alert save by Petr Cech, they were denied victory but their supporters celebrated wildly as if one had been achieved all the same. Chelsea were not exactly clueless in Cluj but they were non-plussed at times. In a land of mystery, they certainly did not have all the answers in Group A even if they still sit at its summit.
Chelsea had been all but deified since their arrival. In the warm-up the cameras picked out Drogba and then played a slow-motion replay of the Ivorian as he prepared for what was his first appearance in this competition since his slap at Nemanja Vidic in last season's final. Cluj's fans were pinching themselves. Their team has come a long way quickly and, having spent 88 of their 101 years outside the top division, to win the league and cup last season was some achievement.
Minutes before the match started a rumble swept around the ground, as the supporters stamped their feet in unison. It sounded like the noise of a train passing by, all the more appropriate given the club developed out of its railways links, with a train coming through a tunnel the main element on the crest. It was the tempo Cluj wanted to set and for all Chelsea's efforts to slow it down, which was hampered by their poor passing, they were suckered into being hit on the counter-attack by a team that Scolari had warned played more like South Americans than Eastern Europeans.
Terry, maybe partly because of his back problems, found the powerful, raw-boned Yssouf Kone, who had been at Rosenborg last season when they drew at Stamford Bridge in Jose Mourinho's last game in charge, a handful throughout but it took time for Cluj to really believe. When they did they shot wide and high at Cech's goal before Jose Bosingwa had to be alert to stop the impressive Alvaro Perreira as he worked his way through and Gabriel Muresan attempted to catch out Cech with a quick, driven free-kick. The goalkeeper held on.
Scolari withdrew the ineffective Salomon Kalou, replacing him at half-time with the more aggressive Nicolas Anelka who immediately made a difference. He crossed for Frank Lampard, a far more polished presence than Michael Ballack, who would have scored but for Cadu's block before Drogba attempted to reach Florent Malouda's centre, was beaten to it by De Sousa, but remained lying on the turf. The rutted pitch may have contributed to his injury, his studs appeared to catch in the grass. If it is ligament damage alone it will cost him four to eight weeks of the season.
Cluj began to tire. They retreated to the edge of the area as Chelsea piled on the pressure and, with his first touch, Franco di Santo headed fractionally wide. But then the home side rallied. Cech had to react quickly to deny Kone before Eugen Trica tricked his way into space for another shot that whistled too close to goal. It became increasingly tense and a clever, instant lob forward by Lampard, who later struck a snap-shot wide, found Juliano Belletti whose first touch was fine but he then drove over when he should have steadied himself.
Pereira again burst through only for Cech to palm away his powerful shot and preserve parity. Nevertheless Chelsea came away with much to contemplate; much to fear; much to be concerned about.
CFR Cluj (4-2-3-1): Stancioiu; Tony, Cadu, De Sousa, Pereira; Dani, Muresan; Dubarbier, Trica (Didi 88), Culio; Y Kone. Substitutes not used: Claro (gk), Panin, Alcantara, Deac, E Kone, Ruiz.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Bridge; Mikel; Kalou (Anelka h-t), Ballack, Lampard, Malouda (Di Santo 74); Drogba (Belletti 57). Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Ivanovic, Ferreira, Stoch.
Referee: F Meyer (Germany).
Group A
Results: Chelsea 4 Bordeaux 0; Roma 1 CFR Cluj 2; CFR Cluj 0 Chelsea 0; Bordeaux 1 Roma 3.
Chelsea's remaining group fixtures: 22 Oct: Roma (h); 4 Nov: Roma (a); 26 Nov: Bordeaux (a); 9 Dec: CFR Cluj (h).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mail:
Ragged Chelsea pay a high price for a Champions League pointBy NEIL ASHTONLast updated at 2:31 AM on 02nd October 2008Comments (0) Add to My Stories CFR CLUJ-NAPOCA 0 CHELSEA 0 With a manager demanding goals and glory, Chelsea players can expect a few subtle reminders of the targets they have been set by Luiz Felipe Scolari.There were no goals and no heroes for Chelsea last night after CFR Cluj became the first side to stop them scoring under their demanding new coach.The Brazilian claims that records mean nothing to him, just the trophies at the end of the season - and perhaps that is just as well.Chelsea had scored in each of their eight previous games, 13 counting the pre-season friendlies, rattling in 20 goals to the approval of Roman Abramovich. And yet they were stopped by Romania's feisty champions.Cluj had made their mark in the opening game of Group A, shocking Europe with a remarkable 2-1 win in Roma's Olympic Stadium.
No mugs, they matched Chelsea for effort and should have nicked this match for enthusiasm alone.Scolari has set his team the immediate goal of securing the 10 points that will confirm their place in the knockout stage. Bouncing off their 4-0 win over Bordeaux two weeks ago, he surely expected his team to brush aside Cluj.
Instead, they were held to a draw - by no means a disaster - after another outstanding display by the Transylvanian side.
Scolari will be concerned by Chelsea's failure to make goalkeeper Eduardo Stancioiu work for his money and also their inability to keep quiet Cluj's outstanding left back Alvaro Pereira.The defender was superb, minding Salomon Kalou in the first half and giving Jose Bosingwa a hard time by bombing up and down the wing with unrelenting pressure.This is some player, another of Cluj's surprise weapons. He might even have inflicted the first defeat on New Chelsea when he found himself alone on the edge of the area in the closing minutes, but Petr Cech's outstanding save at the near post protected their unbeaten start.Of more pressing concern are the injuries to Ashley Cole, prevented from playing here after complaining of lower back pain overnight, and striker Didier Drogba.Eight senior players, including Ricardo Carvalho and Deco, are now in the treatment room after Drogba was carried off clutching his right knee.
The striker's exit came 57 minutes into his first European outing since the petulant shove in Nemanja Vidic's face that earned him a red card against Manchester United in last season's final. Drogba is that rare player good enough to shoulder the burden of responsibility in Chelsea's threeman attack. They need Drogba, a player who guarantees goals. His performance against Liverpool in last season's semi-final second leg was immense, but he was way off the pace against Cluj. His night ended when he collided with Andres De Sousa in the Cluj penalty area. A medial knee ligament injury means he is definitely out of Sunday's Premier League clash with in-form Aston Villa. Scolari admitted: 'We didn't play well, certainly not as good as the other games, but we have to be happy with one point. 'Drogba is out, John Terry has problems with his back and Alex has problems with his backside and can't move. I asked the doctor what happened and he doesn't know. 'It is difficult for us under those circumstances so we have to accept a point, but the players know we did not play well. I am happy with my players. They tried.' Martin O'Neill's progressive young Villa team will now fancy their chances of blotting Chelsea's outstanding home record.
Drogba will wince when he sees the tackle again and so will Scolari when he sits down with his team to watch the DVD of this game.It was an uncomfortable night, especially after Chelsea's excellent form in the first two months of the season, but Transylvania presented a different challenge. The innovative Cluj manager, Maurizio Trombetta, had done his homework, letting Chelsea keep possession in their own half and then rattling their ball-winners whenever they tried to advance. Cluj simply replicated the tactics that were so successful against Roma, sitting back and lulling more illustrious opponents into a false sense of security.
Chelsea dominated, but they frequently gave away possession. Michael Ballack was the most culpable, gifting the ball to Cluj's central midfielders and conceding needless free-kicks in revenge. It was almost too easy at times, a training ground exercise of keep ball, as Chelsea searched for the goal that would open up this Romanian side's defence. Instead, they returned to London happy with a draw. 'I have four days to build a team for Aston Villa,' added Scolari. 'Some of my players may even be better by then.' He was talking about the injuries. Perhaps he should have been talking about their form.
CFR CLUJ-NAPOCA (4-4-2): Stancioiu 6; Tony 6, De Sousa 6, Cadu 7, Pereira 8; Culio 6, Muresan 6, Dani 6, Dubarbier 7, Trica 6 (Didi 88); Y Kone 7. Booked: Pereira, Dani.CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech 6; Bosingwa 6, Alex 7, Terry 7, Bridge 5; Obi 6, Ballack 4, Lampard 7; Kalou 5 (Anelka 46), Drogba 4 (Belletti 57), Malouda 6 (Di Santo 75). Booked: Pereira.Man of the match: Alvar Pereira. Referee: Florian Meyer (Germany).
No comments:
Post a Comment