Chelsea Left to Focus on Champions League

Chelsea travel to Denmark this Tuesday evening for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against FC Copenhagen.

With their Premier League title challenge dwindling with each passing week and a penalty shootout defeat to Everton in the FA Cup at the weekend the Champions League is now Carlo Ancelotti’s only chance of redemption this season.

Since the arrival of Fernando Torres at the club things have gone from bad to worse for the Blues. Their only goal from open play came in extra time of their defeat to Everton plus they have yet to win a game since the World Cup winner’s arrival.

However, it was widely believed that the main reason for Chelsea bringing the Spaniard in in the January transfer window was to bolster their Champions League chances. Thus this evening’s game will be the acid test.

Torres should slot straight back into the starting XI having missed the weekend defeat to Everton due to being cup-tied. Who will partner the £50million man up front will be a matter of debate right up until the teams are announced.

Michael Essien and Jose Bosingwa could both also return to the team but David Luiz is cup-tied having featured in the competition already for Benfica this season.

FC Copenhagen manager Stale Solbakken could hand Jesper Gronkjaer a starting berth against his old club. There are no major injury concerns for the Danes who have not played a competitive match since early December due to a winter break in the Danish Superligaen.

Despite Chelsea’s poor run of form the bookmakers are siding with the Premier League side to take a lead into the second leg. It is odds of 4/5 that Chelsea win Tuesday night’s game with 4/1 available on a home win.

Torres and Didier Drogba are favoured in the first goalscorer betting, both at general odds of 4/1. Nicolas Anelka is slightly bigger at 5/1 while midfielder Frank Lamaprd, who got on the scoresheet at the weekend, is 6/1 to net first.

Ancelotti is under increasing pressure at Stamford Bridge and if Chelsea do not progress to the quarter-final of the Champions League he will almost certainly be clearing his desk. These are testing times for the English champions.