UEFA Champions League Review: Chelsea and Arsenal complete English quartet
Four English clubs are safely into the last 16. Arsenal huffed and puffed but came good in the end, but Chelsea continue to look out of sorts - their 100% record in Europe this season bit the dust last night. Let's not forget they
should have had a penalty (or two) against Marseille but it seems they are finding it hard to rediscover their early season fluency.
This was a deserved win for Marseille against a side bereft of confidence and ideas. Much work for Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti to do with Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal coming up in next three games. His fate will be decided
by his team’s performance in the next three games. If he manages to win those three they will be back to the summit and no crisis. But there is little on the pitch to suggest that things are going to turn around soon.
Chelsea play Tottenham on Sunday at White Hart Lane. The most worrying thing for Chelsea is that they can't even grind out results at the moment. Teams that go on to win things still find a way to pick up a point or three even
when they're not at their best.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti said after his side's 1-0 defeat by Marseille: "This was not 100% the performance I wanted. The first half was good for us, defensively we were good… but overall, we can do better".
Chelsea attack looked out of sorts as Didier Drogba made an emotional comeback to his former club. He lacked composure as occasion took better of him. Ancelotti replaced him on hour’s mark. He conceded that his players lacked belief
and conviction.
Ancelotti told reporters, “Defensively there was tactical discipline, but in attack we have to do better - we didn't have many chances and we needed to be better with our final pass and our shooting. We have to improve, obviously,
especially with Tottenham, Man Utd and Arsenal coming up. Really, we have lost confidence."
Meanwhile, Arsenal can be satisfied with the result - if not the performance. They beat Partizan Belgrade 3-1 with Samir Nasri again on the goal sheet. They have a proud record in reaching the Champions League knockout stage and
have done so again, but they will need to show more than this against better opposition.
The road to Wembley will continue in February, with three London clubs still with a chance of reaching a Champions League final in their own city. The draw for the next round takes place on Friday, 17 December in Nyon, Switzerland.
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