Copenhagen F.C. vs. Chelsea – UEFA Champions League preview
Carlo Ancelotti’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 visit Parken København to face Copenhagen F.C. as the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen resumes on Tuesday, 22nd of February, 2011. Let’s take a look at how both the teams will line up for their season defining encounter.
Copenhagen F.C.
The Danish league champions are set to take on the English Premier League champions in their first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen as Chelsea visit Denmark to face Ståle Solbakken’s team.
The Løverne have built up a formidable reputation in the UEFA Champions League as in the previous years, they have obtained crucial results against the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.
Out of their last five UEFA Champions League encounters, Copenhagen have won two, lost two and drawn one. Their two wins came against Panathinaikos in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and their two losses came against Barcelona and Rubin Kazan.
In the 2010-2011 club football season, Solbakken’s outfit have performed admirably in the Danish football league as they currently lead the Superliga by 19 points due to their 51 point tally from a total of 19 fixtures.
Byens Hold have also won their last two league encounters against the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Randers-FC-c40313 and Esbjerg thus their form going into the matchup against Chelsea is remarkable to say the least.
Chelsea
Out of the English Premier League title race, out of the Carling Cup and now out of the FA Cup as well, it hasn’t been Chelsea’s season up till now. However, Ancelotti’s team now must put all of their eggs in a single basket of the UEFA Champions League
as the European competition is Chelsea’s only chance of obtaining silverware in the 2010-2011 club football season.
The Italian manager is already under pressure at Stamford Bridge and a defeat against Copenhagen can prove to be fatal for Ancelotti, who is already rumoured to leave the London club if they fail to qualify for the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea are going through a bad run of results at the moment as they have only won once in their last five competitive fixtures.
The Blues were knocked out of the FA Cup over the past weekend as they lost a penalty shootout to Everton. Before that, Chelsea lost to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 in the English Premier League before drawing against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
All in all, Ancelotti’s team really do need a favourable result in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Denmark-c2884, a failure to do so will spell disaster even at such an early stage in their UEFA Champions League campaign.
Team news
Copenhagen have a fully fit squad available for selection, which is a blessing at this point of the season for the Løverne. Importantly, Ståle Solbakken will be allowed to select Claudemir de Souza and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jesper-Grønkjær-c18421 for the encounter against Chelsea as
both the midfielders have been central to Copenhagen’s success in the 2010-2011 club football season.
Expected Copenhagen Line-up: Wiland, Pospech, Jorgensen, Antonsson, Wendt, Zanka, Claudemir, Grønkjær, Vingaard, Santin, Bolanos
Chelsea will be without the services of their new centre back, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Luiz-c10542, who was signed by the London club in the winter transfer window from Benfica. The Brazilian defender is cup tied as he played for Benfica during the group stages of the UEFA Champions
League.
However, the Blues will have http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Terry-c18895 are also fit for the match in Denmark.
Expected Chelsea Line-up: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Malouda, Essien, Lampard, Drogba, Anelka, Torres
Key players
With five goals to his name in the UEFA Champions League, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicolas-Anelka-c27786 will be the man to watch out for in Chelsea’s offensive line up.
The Frenchman has faded away from the limelight due to the arrival of Fernando Torres in the winter transfer window but expect him to pull the strings in his new trequartista role for the English champions.
After holding Barcelona to a draw in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, Copenhagen F.C. will be hoping that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Claudemir-c9286 guide them to a favourable result against Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea.
The Brazilian playmaker has become a fan favourite at Parken København and another heroic performance on the 22nd of February, 2011 might attract some attention from big European clubs come the summer transfer window of 2011.
Prediction
Chelsea's erratic form means that Copenhagen will be gunning for a draw on their home turf. Prediction: 1-1
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