Chelsea continued their impressive run in the Champions League, winning all three points and extending the unbeaten run in the group stages of the Champions League to 22 matches, spanning over 7 years.

After a goalless first-half, which lacked in quality and cutting edge, Chelsea came out roaring after the break with the impressive Anelka opening the scoring for the Blues, before a Drogba penalty and a brace by Ivanovic sealed it, although the Moscow side did get a late consolation through Bazhenov.

On paper this sounded like a tricky fixture and with Liverpool awaiting Carlo’s men on Saturday, the Blues could have been excused for taking things lightly. But, as we have seen previously this season this group of players don’t necessarily need to be at their best to get the job done.

John Terry was rested for the game with Didier Drogba, who returned to Chelsea’s European squad after missing out previously due to suspension and injury, captaining the side. Florent Malouda and Michael Essien were also missing due to minor injuries as Carlo Ancelotti rotated his team. Spartak also saw the return of their influential captain, Alex, as they looked for some inspiration at the Bridge.

The game started in a cagey manner as both sides failed to get any kind of control on the game. Chelsea had the better of the possession but lacked the cutting edge and fluency to cause any real trouble.

Nicloas Anelka created the first opening for the Blues, as he cut in from the left and skipped past two Spartak defenders before unleashing a curler which went just inches away. Despite the good start, Didier Drogba remained the only Chelsea player who forced a save from the keeper in the first half.

On the other hand, Valeri Karpin’s men looked to play on the counter, but the Chelsea defence stood strong and avoided any sort of constant pressure. McGeady and Kombarov, who were restricted to taking shots from distance, were not able to trouble Cech with their respective shots.

As Chelsea went it to the break, it was clear that they needed a spark and urgency to break down this Moscow side, and so was the case when Carlo Ancelotti’s men came out in the second half.

The Blues were in a determined mood and were soon rewarded for this, as the influential Anelka opened the scoring. The Frenchmen received the ball on the right and played in Kalou, before making a diagonal run behind the defenders, and the Ivorian played an intelligent ball back to set him through on goal, as he put the ball in the net from a tight angle.

The goal was supposed to spur the Russian side on; instead it was the home side that looked to have found some of their momentum, as they soon made it 2-0 after Makeev brought down Drogba in the box. Our captain on the night picked himself up and then put the ball into back of the net with a powerful low shot.

Spartak side were still thinking about the magnitude of their task ahead, when it just got even bigger. Kalou was fouled on the edge of the box on the right resulting in a free-kick for the Blues. Drogba‘s delightful box in the box found Ivanovic, who managed to evade his marker before nodding in the third goal. Incidentally, this was his first goal at Stamford Bridge.

Carlo substituted his two star strikers to standing ovation from the Chelsea faithful and Roman Abramovich, as Sturridge and Kakuta came on to join Josh McEachran, who had earlier came on in place of Mikel.

Chelsea still had chances to increase their lead further but Kalou and Ramires missed their chances when it was easier to score. Sturridge was unlucky not to get on the score sheet after he slipped and his header went wide from 2 yards out.

Bazhenov grabbed a consolation for the Russian side and broke Petr Cech’s record of not conceding for 956 minutes at Stamford Bridge, before Ivanovic scored his second on the night with a neat finish which even Didier would have been proud of.

Chelsea have now qualified for the knockout stages with two games to go and just need another point to confirm the top spot in the group.

Carlo Ancelotti was delighted with the progression to the next round and after the game, he said; “We played very well, it was just the 15 minutes in the first half that was not so good but in the second half we were fantastic.”

“Our aim was to qualify and that’s what we’ve done and now we want to arrive in first place and we have two matches left and we want to do our best.”

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ferreira, Alex, Ivanovic, Cole; Ramires, Mikel (McEachran 68), Zhirkov; Kalou, Drogba (c) (Sturridge 75), Anelka (Kakuta 75).
Scorers Anelka 48, Drogba 61 pen, Ivanovic 65, 90+1.

Tonight Sir Didier of Drogba makes his return to the Champions League, in an effort to help Chelsea secure qualification for the next round.

With injuries mounting up, Ancelotti gave some indication of who may play by stating who won’t. “Malouda and Bosingwa are not available for tomorrow. Malouda has a problem on his ankle after a tackle in the last game,’ reported Ancelotti. ‘It’s not a big problem but he won’t be available for tomorrow. I hope he is ready for the game against Liverpool.”

“Lampard is out, as is Benayoun, as we know, and Bosingwa is not ready for tomorrow. There is more than a 50 per cent possibility Lampard will be involved in the game against Liverpool. The other players are good, they’ve had a good recovery from the game against Blackburn but I want to look at all the players before I make a decision about the team tomorrow.”

He added; “Maybe I can change something compared to the line-up against Blackburn because I want to make sure all the players have recovered well. We have a lot of important games, tomorrow, against Liverpool, against Fulham and I want everyone in good condition with no injuries. I don’t want to take a risk.”

Didier Drogba is expected to start alongside either Kalou or Sturridge with Anelka up front, with a midfield of Ramires, Essien and Mikel, Ivanovic should keep his right back slot with Alex, Cole and JT completing the defence.

Speaking of Drogba, Ancelotti said; “‘He is involved, he wants to play and give his support to the team. He was out of the previous games, the team did well and we won but with Drogba we have more possibility to win.”

Branislav Ivanovic is certainly happy to see the return of Drogba; “Didier is a very important player for us. Defensively he is very important because with corners against us and free-kicks he clears a lot of balls and does a very good job.” The Serbian believes we can go all the way this season; “‘It is an important competition and everyone has in their mind to try and win but it is very difficult to play every game at the same level.”‘

He added; “You play the teams from Europe, from other countries and you have to be ready for every team. I like to go step-by-step. Now if you think about the final you will never get to the final, you have to go step-by-step. Everyone in this club is thinking only of Chelsea and to give to this club success so we can try and win trophies. We have a good enough squad to win this but we have to show this on the pitch and not just say it.”

If you’re on way to the match tonight, be reminded about the strike action that will cause disruption throughout Wednesday. Certain services are expected to run on Wednesday but Fulham Broadway Station and Parsons Green will be closed for the duration of the strike, with West Brompton and Parsons Green stations closing from 9pm.

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Chelsea returned to the Luzhniki Stadium, the venue for the infamous 2008 Champions League final, for the clash against Spartak Moscow.

Carlo Ancelotti said at the beginning of the match that ‘today is going to be a different day’, and so it proved to be, as Chelsea put the records straight and came away with a 2-0 victory.

Both teams went into the game unbeaten, with Chelsea leading the group only on goal difference, and both were also missing influential figures. The Blues were without their star duo of Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, with a host of other players out as well, while the Russian side were missing their Brazilian Captain, Alex.

Chelsea had to make two changes from the game against Villa after Ramires was ruled out with an ankle injury. Zhirkov started against his former local rivals and Kalou returned from his injury layoff to replace Kakuta in the starting line-up. As it has been the case against Villa, Chelsea’s bench looked like a reserve team bench with an average age of just 19.57 years.

The game started well with both teams trying to get an early breakthrough. Spartak created the first chance of the game after Parshivlyuk made a run from midfield and sliced open the Chelsea defence, but luckily for Chelsea, Kombarov couldn’t take advantage and shot high over the bar.

Chelsea were still trying to get into the game when Spartak broke again, this time from the left, as Wellington received a low cross and unleashed a fierce low shot at Cech’s near post, only to be sharply blocked by the big Czech stopper.

Soon, Chelsea began to assert themselves on the game and started to put pressure on the Spartak backline. Chelsea favoured the left hand side as the trio of Malouda, Zhirkov and Ashley Cole were combining well.

Malouda, Essien and Kalou all went close for Chelsea, before Zhirkov silenced the crowd with an absolute screamer from 30 yards. John Obi’s long ball had fallen loosely, after Spartak failed to clear properly, which Zhirkov capitalised on, and stuck a sweet half volley over Spartak keeper Andrey Dykan. This was Zhirkov’s first ever Chelsea goal since his £18m transfer from CSKA in the summer of 2009 and some might say it was worth the wait.

The game went through a scrappy phase after the goal went in as both sides failed to take control. Chelsea were still the better team with Anelka doing a brilliant job up front. After failing to convert a one-on-one early on, Anelka capitalised on the next chance in the 43rd minute when Essien broke from midfield and played him through, he still had a lot of work to do in the box, but he maintained his composure and score his 50th Chelsea goal thereby giving Carlo Ancelotti’s men a 2-0 lead going into the half-time.

The second-half began just like the first with Spartak coming flying out of the box. Former Celtic star, McGeady, finally woke from his slumber and tested Cech from distance, resulting in a series of corners for the Russian side. Spartak were restricted to taking shots from distance only, as Chelsea’s defence stood strong. Isbon was next in line to try his luck from distance, but Cech was also upto the mark and denied him on both the occasions he tried.

As expected, Spartak couldn’t maintain their initial spell of pressure and soon waned. Chelsea sat back in the second half, with only occasional surges of attack, one of which led to a glorious opening for Essien, after a cutback from Kalou, but his shot went just wide. McEachran continued his impressive streak of first-team action with another appearance from the bench, replacing Kalou with 15mins to go. Gael Kakuta and Patrick van Aanholt also came off the bench late on.

Chelsea now go top of the group with three wins out of three, making the qualification to the next round and the top spot in the group just a formality. Carlo Ancelotti praised his side’s professionalism after the game, he said; “I think that we played a good game. It was not an easy game because Spartak, above all in the second half, played well. We established good control in that first half, scoring two goals, and then controlled it defensively in the second.”

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry (c), Cole (van Aanholt 86); Essien, Mikel, Zhirkov; Kalou (McEachran 73), Anelka, Malouda (Kakuta 81).
Scorers Zhirkov 23, Anelka 42.

Twelve yards, a ball, a goalkeeper and a defender, John Terry vs. Edwin Van Der Sar, this for the European Champions League, the run up and then in slow motion the slip, and as if in slow motion, the ball cannons back off the post and United go on to steal the Champions League from Chelsea.

Two years, three managers and another semi final heartbreak later, Chelsea return to the scene which has haunted them ever since that fateful night in May.

Although an entirely different team is likely to be fielded tonight, only three players from that final are expected to start; Terry, Ashley Cole and Malouda – with youngster McEachran expected to start ahead of Essien, who will be rested because of fears over the artificial pitch.

Along with Essien a further seven players are out injured, including Didier Drogba, who was sent off here two years ago after he slapped United defender Vidic during the closing moments of injury time.

Like Chelsea, Spartak Moscow also has a couple of injury concerns ahead of the Group F clash, as they also look to continue their 100% start. Brazilian Midfielder Alex is out with a thigh injury, and 23-year-old striker Welliton is also struggling with the same problem. Former Celtic man Aiden McGeady is likely to line up on the right against Ashley Cole following his summer move from the Old Firm side.

Having famously lost a Champions League final with AC Milan against Liverpool in 2005, Chelsea Boss Carlo Ancelotti knows all about the heartbreak of losing a final, however he also knows how to bounce back, his AC Milan side defeated Liverpool two years later to gain revenge after Milan’s penalty shootout defeat in Istanbul.

Chelsea’s Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic is expecting a tough game at the Luzhnki Stadium, having played there before joining Chelsea; “I remember (playing for Lokomotiv) against Spartak, Torpedo and CSKA Moscow. It was always difficult there. And this time we will not have an easy ride. Especially, as we have several players injured.” 

A draw tonight will be a good result for a injury ravaged Chelsea side, 7 points from 3 games would leave them joint top with Spartak in the group, and they play them at the Bridge when the next Champions League fixtures come around.

A win at the Bridge would almost secure qualification to the next round, and we all know how important finishing top in your group is.