Didier Deschamps will relish Stamford Bridge return
Olympique Marseille's manager, Didier Deschamps, has said he will relish returning to London on Tuesday to face his former club Chelsea.
The Frenchman joined Chelsea in 1999 after winning three Scudettos, one Champions League title and the Coppa Italia with Juventus between 1994 and 1999.
“Returning to Stamford Bridge will give me great pleasure. Although the stadium itself is renovated and much bigger, the wonderful atmosphere which I experienced remains,” Deschamps told UEFA.com. “English grounds always seemed full and at the Bridge there
were always families in the stadium and a great match atmosphere."
In 2000, Deschamps formed part of the Chelsea team that won the FA Cup under Claudio Ranieri, who currently manages AS Roma. Two years prior, he captained the French national team when Les Bleus won the World Cup on home soil.
As a manager, Deschamps led AS Monaco to the 2004 Champions League final, defeating Chelsea in the semi-final. But despite his record against his former club, Deschamps remains mindful of the threat posed by the English champions.
“Chelsea now [has] a very competitive European team with something like 20 internationals — a great compensation if you have injured or suspended players... They won the [Premier League] title last season and are already performing really well. I know their
manager [Carlo Ancelotti] well."
One Champions League point so far
With seven games played, Marseille is sixth in the Ligue 1 table with 11 points. Their first European fixture of the season ended in a narrow defeat to Spartak Moscow, who defeated Deschamps' side 1–0 in the Russian capital.
Deschamps' team can realistically hope to defend the French title this season, but the manager conceded that his team is considered to be outsiders in Europe, especially compared to the likes of Wednesday's opponents.
“Without hesitation, the Champions League is the best of all competitions. Not only [does] Chelsea want to win this trophy, they are among four or five teams that can legitimately expect to do so."
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