Ancelotti To Prioritize Champions League

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has explained how important it would be for the Londoners to win the Champions League this season.

The Blues get their European adventure up and running at Slovakian side MSK Zilina on Wednesday evening and, following their league and cup double last term, the Italian coach would love to see the coveted prize arrive at Stamford Bridge at the end of this term.

"It's the competition which has given me the most satisfaction in my career, both as a player and as a coach, so it has a very special importance for me to take part in and to win it," he said.

"In Europe, everyone knows the importance of this trophy.

Essien: Blues Ready For Long Euro Road

Michael Essien accepts Chelsea still have plenty of hard work ahead of them as the Barclays Premier League leaders set their sights on conquering Europe.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men have started the new campaign in the way they finished the last, with a 100% record from their opening four games, and have conceded just one goal.

Chelsea embark on the quest to lift the European Cup at Wembley in May with a trip to Slovakian minnows MSK Zilina on Wednesday evening, where the Blues could be without both captain John Terry, because of a rib injury, and midfielder Frank Lampard, just back from a hernia operation, as well as the suspended Didier Drogba.

While the desire for Champions League success burns as fierce as ever, both within the squad and the boardroom, plenty of challenges lie ahead, with Marseille and Spartak Moscow still to come in Group F.

"We still have a lot to do," said Essien, who netted a brace in Saturday’s 3-1 win at West Ham.

"The season is very long, but we have played some good football and are scoring a lot of goals – we have to keep going like that."

Ancelotti has won the European Cup four times, twice as player and again as coach when he guided AC Milan to Champions League glory in 2003 and 2007.

The 51-year-old Italian would like nothing better than to emulate that feat with Chelsea.

"It’s the competition which has given me the most satisfaction in my career, both as a player and as a coach, so it has a very special importance for me to take part in and to win it," said Ancelotti, whose side went out in the last 16 to eventual winners Inter Milan, and a certain Jose Mourinho last season.

"Everyone knows the importance of this trophy. A London team hasn’t won the Champions League, but this season there is a better chance with three teams in the competition and the final at Wembley so for London it is a special year. Given that we won the Championship last year, it would be great to win something in Europe as well as at home."

Chelsea have met Zilina once before, in the 2002/03 Champions League qualifier, which the English side won 5-0 on aggregate.

The Slovakians had to come through three preliminary rounds to make the group stages, knocking out Sparta Prague.

Ashley Cole Rested As Frank Lampard Is Forced To Wait For Return

Chelsea will rest Ashley Cole for Wednesday’s Champions League tie away to MSK Zilina and have resisted the temptation to recall Frank Lampard.

John Terry, however, has recovered from bruising to his ribs which forced him to be substituted during Saturday’s Premier League victory at West Ham and will play.

After the hamstring and gluteus problems which ruled him out of England’s last two internationals, Terry had been thought a doubt.

Chelsea have deemed that Lampard — who underwent groin surgery and missed the England games against Bulgaria and Switzerland — is not fit enough to play so he will stay behind to train while the squad travel to Slovakia. He is expected to return for Sunday’s league match at home to Blackpool.

The absence of Cole was less expected. It is understood the left-back has had an ankle niggle although Chelsea maintain he is being left out simply because of the number of games he has played.

This means a rare opportunity for Yuri Zhirkov, who has grown frustrated at the lack of opportunities since he moved to Chelsea in the summer last year.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti said: “Ashley Cole stays out because I want to give him a rest. He played two games with the national team, played Saturday, and I will give him a rest.”

With Didier Drogba suspended, Nicolas Anelka is expected to play as a central striker, rather than on the flanks as he has done in Ancelotti’s formation. Florent Malouda will return to the starting XI.

Varney Aims To Bridge The Gap

Luke Varney has warned Chelsea that Blackpool is capable of pulling off a shock victory at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

The Tangerines, installed as favourites for relegation before the season began, have defied their critics so far this campaign by picking up seven points from their four Premier League fixtures to climb to fourth in the table.

Perhaps the most impressive of their performances was Saturday's surprise 2-0 victory at Newcastle, which came courtesy of goals from DJ Campbell and Charlie Adam.

Now Varney, who won the penalty which enabled Adam to open the scoring on Saturday, has warned the champions, who have a 100 per cent record so far this year, that he and his team-mates are brimming with confidence ahead of Sunday's game.

Varney said: "We spoke before about what we wanted from these two games and to be honest I would have taken a point from Newcastle but we can go to Chelsea now and enjoy ourselves.

"We are going to go there with the same attitude, the same group, the same togetherness. We're achieving a lot more than everyone was expecting so we'll be full of confidence and who knows what will happen?

He added: "It will be a daunting proposition too but we know we can go into the match on the back of Saturday's game with a lot of confidence."

Yuri Zhirkov's Failure To Impress At Stamford Bridge Blamed On Former Chelsea Boss Guus Hiddink

Guus Hiddink has been blamed for ruining Yuri Zhirkov’s talents by a Russian football legend.

Zhirkov has been an £18million disappointment at Chelsea after being plagued by injury last season and he is threatening to ask for a move in January if there is no way into Carlo Ancelotti’s team.

The 27-year-old is commonly seen as being behind left back Ashley Cole in the Stamford Bridge pecking order, despite making his name as an attacking winger before leaving CSKA Moscow for England before last season.

The world saw Zhirkov excel as a makeshift raiding full back for Russia at Euro 2008, but 1960 European champion Viktor Ponedelnik believes the role did more harm than good.

‘As a player, Zhirkov was broken by Hiddink,’ said Ponedelnik, 73. ‘And it’s important to say this loudly.

‘Yuri played tremendously as a left attacking midfielder. He has a left leg as if he were holding a spoon in his hand to eat borsch (vegetable soup) from a cup.

‘But Hiddink decided to invent some revolutionary system so that one player was the left back and the attacking winger. But for that it was necessary to insert four hearts in Zhirkov.’

Zenit St Petersburg and Spartak Moscow are monitoring Zhirkov’s availability.

Pat Nevin: Deadly Weapon

Pat Nevin witnessed the latest Chelsea win in the flesh and as he watched the ball and game squirm from West Ham's grasp, he spotted a set-piece trend, as he explains in this week's column.

As I was broadcasting (in a totally unbiased manner) on Saturday for BBC Radio 5 at Upton Park, I was struggling to find just the right words to describe Chelsea's performance. Perfunctory sounded OK but not quite right. Functional or efficient didn't sum it up either but I was getting closer. Eventually it came to me, sufficient.

How depressing it must have been for the Hammers to know in their heart of hearts that most of the Blues players had at least another couple of gears in reserve if and when needed. The reason for the less than full throttle approach for 90 minutes was of course the barrage of games on the horizon, so Avram Grant may have been able to suggest West Ham controlled large parts of the game, but surely he knew what was likely to happen if his team had the audacity to get within a goal of Chelsea.

There were a number of particular highlights, the short cameo by Gael Kakuta near the end lifted the spirits, he will certainly be needed between now and the end of the season. Michael Essien in particular looked unstoppable, the two goals being merely the icing on the cake of a sensational performance. There was a gap where Frank Lampard usually arrives in the box to get his habitual goals and the Ghanaian decided to fill it with devastating consequences for West Ham.

One of the other heartening sights was the Chelsea bench and the quality sitting there. Zhirkov, Malouda, Sturridge, Benayoun and Alex were alongside the aforementioned Kakuta, each capable of having a huge effect if needed. Add on top of that the final minutes of the Everton v Manchester United game and it made for a particularly pleasant Saturday afternoon. In fact I would go so far as to say it was bordering on relaxing for the players, which is just what the doctor ordered before setting off on the European travels.

One player who to be honest wasn't at his very best at the weekend was Didier Drogba, it was just one of those days for him. We all know that he can have those afternoons and even the boss was seen to remonstrate with him vehemently after one incident of less than adequate holding up play. His head just didn't seem to be in the right place, but incredibly he claimed two assists and the two most important ones at that. If you are going to have an off day, you might as well make it a productive one.

One moment in particular struck me, or more pertinently struck West Ham keeper Robert Green, that long-range free kick which the Englishman fumbled horribly. Now here's a thought, I do not think Didier was necessarily trying to score with that strike. He was simply trying to get it on target with pace, dip and some movement hoping the keeper would parry or punch instead of catching it, then the other strikers could follow in to mop up the pieces.

It is not the first time this season that this has been the specific aim of a Chelsea free kick. Witness the first goal v West Brom or a save Thomas Sorensen had to make for Stoke City, do you notice the similarity?

Because of the unusual way Didier strikes the modern 'lighter feeling' ball, much as Cristiano Ronaldo does, it is a ploy that is horribly difficult to cater for. Of course Green was at fault to a large degree but forget the slow motion replays. When you see that ball coming at the keeper at match speed, moving three different directions at once, it is not at all easy to deal with. It is yet another deadly weapon to use this season, the answer is of course to have a six-man wall to cover the entire goal, but this leaves gaps elsewhere for Chelsea players to utilize. Catch 22 again for the opposition.

So next stop Zilina and hopefully a winning start to the Champions League campaign. This game will be important mostly for the effect it will have a few months down the line. Three points out there and the Holy Grail of early qualification is a possibility that of course leads to the chance of resting those who need it most, allowing kids to be blooded in Europe and giving fringe players an opportunity to shine.

United Keeping Plenty In Reserve Chelsea Clash

Ryan Donaldson says Newcastle United's young guns will not shirk the chance to take on the mighty Chelsea in the Carling Cup next week.

United take part in something of a dress rehearsal for the third-round tie on Thursday night at St James’ Park, and it’s likely that several members of the cast of characters for the cup clash will be involved in the FA Premier Reserve League encounter.

Donaldson put in a solid performance at Accrington Stanley in the second round last month and, while he has dropped back into the reserves since then, he has been checked out by several Football League sides – including Carlisle United – for a possible loan move.

Donaldson told the Chronicle: “As long as we’re in the cup the younger lads have a chance of playing. We’ll just have to wait and see and keep our fingers crossed.

“Chris Hughton has got a lot of trust in us and it’s good to see him saying that when you pick up the paper. The manager put in a lot more experienced players in as well in the last round like Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands and Ryan Taylor.

“It was easy for us because we want to play, but they showed that they are good professionals as well by putting in the performance too.”

Donaldson has bittersweet memories of the Carling Cup after enduring a shock defeat at the hands of Peterborough last season.

He said: “We all know what happened last year against Peterborough so it was good to exorcise the ghost a bit at Accrington. It wasn’t a pretty game but in the cup it is about getting through and we go the right result in the end.

“It wasn’t the best experience a year ago at Peterborough, but if anything that has made us stronger.

“The gaffer and Colin Calderwood reminded us of what happened last year and I think it showed.

“We’re all a year older as well now.

“That was a big game for us, so we were all delighted.”

United’s second-string game with Chelsea on Thursday kicks off at 7.05pm.