Beating boredom

Published : Sep 27, 2008 00:00 IST

Chelsea's gaze is unavoidably fixed on the final in Rome next May. Having come close under Claudio Ranieri as well as Jose Mourinho and closer still under Avram Grant, the team has no option but to imagine its hands on the trophy at last, writes Kevin McCarra.

The only battle that daunted Chelsea was the struggle to maintain an interest in the Champions League match against Bordeaux. They came out ahead in that battle with late goals. The third, in particular, was a demonstration of the verve which is becoming characteristic under the management of Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Eight minutes from the end Mikel John Obi, who was nominally a holding midfielder, set off on a weaving run and a flick of Frank Lampard's heel then put Florent Malouda in position to fire into the far corner of the net. Scolari's disgust for even minor mistakes is always displayed but that would have gladdened him.

It will have raised the Brazilian's spirits that so little was taken out of his squad. Perhaps he will remember this occasion primarily as a useful opportunity to give Michael Ballack half an hour's practice after his foot injury. A wasteful Nicolas Anelka will be baffled that he made so little of his openings until, at the very end, he netted after the substitute Juliano Belletti had struck the bar. Neutrals would have felt sorrow that French football could send out a side so meek and fatalistic. They could not clear any sort of barrier, a limitation symbolised by the striker Marouane Chamakh falling over an advertising hoarding. Even the talent that Bordeaux do have was misapplied. Yoann Gourcuff, freed from his misery at Milan by a loan to Bordeaux, possesses talent but it was not used.

Although Scolari was unimpressed by Chelsea's display, it takes resistance of some sort for any team to define themselves. Their gaze, in any event, is unavoidably fixed on the final in Rome next May. Having come close under Claudio Ranieri as well as Jose Mourinho and closer still under Avram Grant, Chelsea have no option but to imagine their hands on the trophy at last. The majority of the line-up had also started when United raised the European Cup aloft four months ago.

Scolari, managing in the Champions League for the first time, would not have suffered from beginners' nerves. It was his own midfielder Mikel who caused fleeting concern when he hit a sloppy pass in a dangerous area after 10 minutes but it had already been clear that Chelsea would have many chances.

Regular watchers of Bordeaux had predicted that Chelsea would prey on their left-back, Diego Placente, and the opener did come from that wing, in the 14th minute, as Bosingwa crossed and Lampard, undisturbed by markers, headed home with care.

Resilience was not part of the visitors' repertoire and neither was attacking. All the same, this was additional evidence of the gusto in Chelsea's play that has been fostered by Scolari. Lampard's corner from the left, shamingly for Bordeaux, was headed into the net by the diminutive Joe Cole with half an hour gone. He does not get such chances very often but everything was possible for a Chelsea line-up encountering marginal resistance.

Lampard's miscue, after a delivery from Bosingwa had broken to him, felt like light entertainment. Scolari, however, is not prone to such indulgence. It says much for his professionalism that he could find it within himself to be disgruntled. Most spectators, when not heartened by the freedom with which Chelsea play, would have been staring in disbelief at the ineptness of Laurent Blanc's men. If Chelsea were troubled it would have been by their lack of ruthlessness and by the yellow card collected by Deco for a foul on Alou Diarra. Scolari soon took off the Portugal international, although that was less a punishment than a means of allowing Ballack his match practice.

A trace of slackness in Chelsea was perhaps inevitable. When Lampard hit a crossfield pass after 69 minutes and merely picked out the opposition midfielder Wendel, there was no price to be paid. Without the suggestion of danger from Bordeaux the levels of concentration slipped in the Premier League team. It is, for all that, a gratifying evening for a side when boredom is the most severe problem with which they must wrestle.

The results

September 17: Celtic 0 drew with AaB Aalborg 0; Dynamo Kiev 1 (Bangoura pen-64) drew with Arsenal 1 (Gallas 88). Half-time: 0-0; FC Porto 3 (Lopez 11, Gonzalez 14, Lino 90+2) bt Fenerbahce 1 (Guiza 30). Half-time: 2-1; Juventus 1 (Del Piero 76) bt Zenit St Petersburg 0. Half-time: 0-0; Lyon 2 (Piquionne 73, Benzema 85) drew with Fiorentina 2 (Gilardino 11 & 42). Half-time: 0-2; Manchester United 0 drew with Villarreal 0; Real Madrid 2 (Sergio Ramos 11, Nistelrooy 57) bt BATE Borisov 0. Half-time: 1-0; Steaua Bucharest 0 lost to Bayern Munich 1 (Van Buyten 14). Half-time: 0-1.

September 16: Barcelona 3 (Marquez 21, Eto’o pen-60, Xavi 87) bt Sporting Lisbon 1 (Tonel 73). Half-time: 1-0; Basle 1 (Abraham 90+3) lost to Shakhtar Donetsk 2 (Fernandinho 25, Jadson 45+1). Half-time: 0-2; Chelsea 4 (Lampard 14, J. Cole 30, Malouda 82, Anelka 90+3) bt Bordeaux 0. Half-time: 2-0; Marseille 1 (Cana 23) lost to Liverpool 2 (Gerrard 26 & pen-32). Half-time: 1-2; PSV Eindhoven 0 lost to Atletico Madrid 3 (Aguero 9 & 36, Maniche 54). Half-time: 0-2; Panathinaikos 0 lost to Inter Milan 2 (Mancini 27, Adriano 85). Half-time: 0-1; Roma 1 (Panucci 17) lost to CFR Cluj-Napoca 2 (Culio 27 & 49). Half-time: 1-1; Werder Bremen 0 drew with Anorthosis Famagusta 0.

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