http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Ballack-c25270 delighted with Champions League success over the Blues - UCL News
Having defeated Chelsea in a crucial Champions League tie, Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, Michael Ballack, has expressed delight on progressing through to the next round. He also considered his team ‘lucky’ to have outgunned the Blues in later stages of the
game.
Leverkusen played host to Chelsea on Wednesday, November 23, at BayArena. Eren Derdiyok and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Didier-Drogba-c11044 was the only man on target for Andre Villas-Boas' men.
The Werkself badly needed a win in order to progress through to the knock-out stages, but made a poor start in front of the home fans. Drogba opened the scoring for visitors in the second half after both teams witnessed a goalless first period.
Leverkusen were found wanting after the first goal and pressed hard for the equaliser. After making several attempts to get level, Derdiyok finally went past Peter Cech on the 73rd minute to make the score line read 1-1.
Chelsea had a strong penalty appeal turned down by the referee after the equaliser as the match headed into its closing stages. Replays showed that the Werkself were fortunate to get away with the decision.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Friedrich turned his header past the goalkeeper to script a perfect finish for the hosts. It was Chelsea’s fourth defeat in the last five games, piling immense pressure on their new boss.
While talking to ITV after the game, the Ballack enthused:
"Being 1-0 down against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 is always difficult. We believed, though. We thought ‘they are not in the best moment’, but of course in the end it was a little bit lucky. We have a young team. We started well, but I had a feeling we didn't believe we could
win. Chelsea felt it I think, they came on strong and deserved the 1-0.”
"We are in the next round now and Chelsea play at home to Valencia so they still have a good chance. know the players, they are very competitive - they are a strong side and they will recover." Ballack concluded.
Chelsea are currently second in group E with eight points, level with the third placed http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863. A victory over the Spaniards will guide them through to the next round, but a loss would see them out of the competition.
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