Champions League fixtures - September 29 / 30
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Tuesday, September 29 2009 - (Wed Morning)
Rubin Kazan - Internazionale 12.30
Fiorentina - Liverpool 2.45
Unirea Urziceni - VfB Stuttgart 2.45
Barcelona - Dinamo Kiev 2.45
Debreceni - Lyon 2.45
Rangers - Sevilla 2.45
Arsenal - Olympiakos 2.45
AZ Alkmaar - Standard Liege 2.45
Wednesday, September 30 2009 - (Thur Morning)
CSKA Moscow - Besiktas 12.30
Milan - FC Zürich 2.45
FC Porto - Atlético de Madrid 2.45
Bayern München - Juventus 2.45
Bordeaux - Maccabi Haifa 2.45
Manchester United - VfL Wolfsburg 2.45
Real Madrid - Marseille 2.45
Apoel Nicosia - Chelsea 2.45
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September 29, 2009
Wigan fiasco taking its toll on Chelsea’s preparations
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Chelsea arrived in Cyprus last night with a depleted squad for tomorrow’s Champions League group match against Apoel, but rather than the absence of Michael Ballack and John Obi Mikel, it is the fallout from last weekend’s Barclays Premier League defeat away to Wigan Athletic that continues to trouble them.
Petr Cech accused Phil Dowd, the referee, of failing to apply guidelines that were circulated to Premier League clubs at the start of the season by sending off the goalkeeper for bringing down Hugo Rodallega, while Didier Drogba described the 3-1 defeat as the worst performance the striker has witnessed in five years at Chelsea.
Cech was willing to concede that Wigan deserved a penalty after he caught Rodallega with his left leg at the start of the second half at the DW Stadium, but claimed that the presence of Ashley Cole covering behind should have saved him.
“The complaint is not about the penalty because you can see why it was given,” Cech said. “The player clipped my leg and fell down, which you see given many times. The surprise was the red card, because before the season started, referees came to the training ground to explain which cases would be red or yellow cards.
“You see some cards given as reds and some as yellows. On the same day there was a penalty for Cardiff in the Championship, the goalkeeper [Peter Grant, of Sheffield Wednesday] made the same contact and got away.”
Drogba was less willing to offer Cech’s sending-off as an excuse for Chelsea’s first defeat of the season. “We didn’t play very well,” he said. “We lost all the battles, all the duels. We didn’t win anything and were poor. This is the worst game I have played in since I have been at Chelsea. We need to think about it, correct what was wrong and try to go again.”
Drogba will not have that option against the Cypriot champions tomorrow as he serves the second game of his three-match ban and calf and ankle injuries to Ballack and Mikel respectively leave Carlo Ancelotti short of options in midfield.
The Italian could give Joe Cole his first Champions League start since December, but is more likely to employ Juliano Belletti in the holding role behind a three-man midfield of Michael Essien, Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda, with Salomon Kalou and Nicolas Anelka up front. Ashley Cole should be fit after suffering a knee injury against Wigan.