Chelsea centre-half Alex Rodrigo Dias da http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Costa-c9458 set to return against Manchester City
Chelsea defender Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa is expected to make his long-awaited comeback from a knee injury in the upcoming top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on 20 March, 2011.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed that the Brazilian centre-half will not take part in the club’s UEFA Champions League fixture against FC Copenhagen. However, he is likely to feature in the weekend game against Manchester City.
Ancelotti said, “Alex will not be involved tomorrow, but he will be involved on Sunday.”
Alex was initially ruled out for a few weeks after sustaining a knee injury at the start of November 2010. However, the 28-year-old defender was forced to undergo a surgery and was expected to be out of action for at least four months.
Alex, who completed the rehabilitation process in his motherland http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Brazil-c2858, was part of Chelsea’s full training on Wednesday for the first time in over three months.
He was sorely missed during Chelsea’s poor run of form, in which the Blues endured a horrible League run- claiming only five points out of the available 20. However, Alex’s addition to the squad will surely boost the defensive options at Stamford Bridge
and especially in the UEFA Champions League matches, in which the club’s new signing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Luiz-c10542 is ineligible to play.
Alex’s return to full fitness means that Chelsea’s summer signing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 midfielder sustained an Achilles problem during their shock defeat against Newcastle United in the Carling Cup.
Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti confirmed Benayoun will be seen in action soon. Ancelotti said, “Benayoun will come back to train on Thursday or Friday, so this is a fantastic moment for us, to have all the players fit. I want to maintain a good motivation
for everyone. We need everyone for the run-in.”
Chelsea will play host to FC Copenhagen on Wednesday in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League fixture. They have a lead of two away goals from the first leg and are favourites to march into the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.
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