It is rare for any club to go only to the second Champions League group match with a must win situation. Yet, ahead of the Steaua Bucharest match, Chelsea find themselves in this position due to the 2-1 defeat against Basel. Chelsea were never at the races in that match, but subsequent performances will give the players a lot of confidence. Of course, we were not at the best in the first half, at Tottenham, but a massive improvement in the second half will definitely bode well for this match.
Steaua Bucharest were defeated 3-0 in their opening match against Schalke, but Chelsea fans will not have forgotten the 1-0 defeat we suffered last season at this ground in the Europa League. The National stadium in Romania has seen constant downpour in recent days, and hence, the pitch may not be in the best possible condition.
Team news:
Eden Hazard is the biggest absence from this match after injuring his ankle against Tottenham. Mourinho has said that he is unlikely to be fit even for the visit to Norwich on Sunday. Michael Essien and Kevin De Bruyne are the other high profile players not to be involved in the match. Both have not been part of the squad.
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Interesting statistics:
- Torres has scored 10 goals in his last 16 European cup competitions
- Steaua Bucharest have just one win in their last six home Champions League matches
- This is the third of four consecutive away matches in all competitions for Chelsea
- Chelsea have just two wins in the last 11 Champions League away matches[/box]
Fernando Torres is almost certain to start since he will most definitely miss the forthcoming Premier League matches. It is not a bad decision since Torres has been great in cup competitions.
Stefan Nikolic and Alexandru Chipciu are ruled out for the home team. Mihai Pintilii is a major doubt.
Predicted line-ups:
What will be your starting line-up?
De line-up is good but cahill have to come in for either luiz or terry. De score is 5-1 in favour of chelsea.
I dont like the line up
The lineup is a good one, xo am predicting 1:4 in favour of chelsea
The lineup is okay,chelsea wil win 2 0 and torres will score
D line up is good,chelsea will d match 3-0
D line up is ok
up blues chelsea will win their game in jesus name amen ooooh…
The line up is ok n chelsea will win de match 3-0
D line up is okey mata will give us d goal nd torres 2 5-0 in fevour of chelsea up blues
de line- up is good, up blue. chelsea may win 3-1.
I so much like d line up buh we nid cahil in dat game…chelsea will win 3-0…1goal for occar…
I don’t like de line up chill must be there with mikel too
He didnt suppose to start lampard,why not mikel.well the line up is good.in the second he should bring in eto,willian and mikel