Chelsea vs Kobenhavn 22/2/11 and 16/3/11

[CJACKO11]

Venue: 1st leg Parken Stadion - Copenhagen. 2ng leg Stamford Bridge - London
When: 1st leg 22/2/201. 2nd leg 16/2/2011. Both kickoff at 19:45,1st leg on SkySports and 2nd leg on ITV
Competition: Champions League last 16 knockout round

Chelsea 1st leg news:
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is set to hand Spain forward Fernando Torres his Champions League debut for the club, but defender David Luiz is cup-tied. Michael Essien, Jose Bosingwa and Nicolas Anelka who, like Torres, missed Saturday's FA Cup defeat by Everton are also likely to start.
Ancelotti is still without injured defender Alex (knee) and midfielder Yossi Benayoun (Achilles).

Kobenhavn 1st leg news:
Danish league leaders Kobenhavn have not played a match since the start of the winter break two months ago. Among Stale Solbakken's team will be former Chelsea winger Jesper Gronkjaer. But the Dane, a crowd favourite at Stamford Bridge after signing in 2000, insists he is unsentimental about playing against his former club.

Kobenhavn, coached by former Wimbledon midfielder Solbakken since 2006, have never before reached the knockout stages but drew with tournament favourites Barcelona in the group stage.

1st leg stats and Milestones:

• Chelsea have reached the semi-finals five times in the past seven years and represent a tough challenge for FC København as they prepare for their debut appearance in the last 16.
• The Danish champions are appearing at this stage for the first time whereas Chelsea are in the last 16 for the eighth successive season. In five of the last seven campaigns they have gone on to reach the semi-finals or better, although in 2009/10 they lost 2-1 at Inter Milan at this stage, subsequently going down 1-0 at home to bow out of the competition.
• København are unbeaten in five European home games winning four stretching back to a 3-1 reverse against Marseille in last season's UEFA Europa League round of 32.
• A 1-0 defeat at Marseille on Matchday 6 put an end to Chelsea's ambition of becoming only the fifth team to win all six games in a UEFA Champions League group.
• Branislav Ivanovic celebrates his 27th birthday today.
• FC Kobenhavn went into the winter break with three successive victories playing their last game against Esbjerg on 4 December.
  

Team Ties:

• Jesper Grønkjær was a Chelsea player between 2000 and 2004, scoring one of their goals in a 5-3 aggregate defeat by Monaco in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League semi-final. He scored seven times in 87 Premier League games.
• Grønkjær and Ashley Cole were on opposite sides at the 2002 FIFA World Cup when England beat Denmark 3-0 in the last 16 in Niigata.
• Zdeněk Pospěch and Petr Čech are team-mates with the Czech Republic national team.
• On 9 February a Denmark team including Mathias Zanka Jørgensen, William Kvist and Martin Vingaard were beaten 2-1 at home by England in a friendly international at FCK's Parken Stadion. Captain Frank Lampard, Cole and John Terry appeared for the visitors.

Head to Head:
The teams have only met on one previous occasion in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round, Chelsea winning the decisive second leg in Kobenhavn with a single goal from legendary Danish striker Brian Laudrup. It was his only goal for the London club in the final game of his brief stay, Laudrup moving back to his homeland to join FCK in 1999, scoring twice in 12 league appearances.

The first leg of that UEFA Cup Winners' Cup tie had ended 1-1, Marcel Desailly equalising with just a minute remaining to cancel out Bjarne Goldbæk's 81st-minute opener. The Danish midfielder took the opposite path to Laudrup when he joined Chelsea shortly after the tie and scored five times in 29 league appearances before joining Fulham in 2000.

Chelsea's biggest away win in the Champions League
20/10/1999 - Galatasaray 0-5 Chelsea - First group stage

FC Kobenhavn's biggest home win in the Champions League
06/12/2006 - FC Kobenhavn 3-1 Celtic - group stage
07/12/2010 - FC Kobenhavn 3-1 Panathinaikos - group stage

My take on Both Ties:
If Carlo goes with a 4-3-3 tomorrow with Torres upfront on his own then i can see us winning the away leg leaving us just to finish the game in the 2nd leg at home. Im pretty confident but ONLY if he goes back to a 4-3-3. I also believe Torres will get his first Chelsea goal in the 1st leg as he wont have as much pressure on him. Although i have predicted a win in the away leg i would be very happy with a 1-1 to take back to the Bridge

1st leg prediction: 1-2
2nd leg prediction: 2-0 so 4-1 on aggregate

Chelsea 2nd leg News:
Manager Carlo Ancelotti has made it known that he intends resting some players ahead of the vital Barclays Premier League game against Manchester City on Sunday. David Luíz is already one since he is cup-tied, Alex will be available at the weekend after a long lay-off too. Branislav Ivanovic is likely to return to centre-back alongside John Terry this evening, with Jose Bosingwa or even Paulo Ferreira occupying the right-back slot.

The Italian could make changes in other areas too, in midfield Josh McEachran, who has started twice in this competition, may figure following his assuredness at Blackpool last week. Mikel will also be pressing for a recall, despite being one yellow away from a suspension in this competition. Yossi Benayoun is still out of contention but returns to training at the weekend.

The shape Chelsea play will be a determining factor for many. The Blues have been shaping up in a 4-4-2 formation in recent games, but 4-3-3 is ingrained enough to allow a reversion if needs be. Upfront Salomon Kalou pressed his case for action by adding impetus to the Blues' attacks in the 3-1 win against the Tangerines. Although there are options as to his strike partner, it seems certain that Fernando Torres will start this evening.

In Copenhagen he showed fine movement and delightful touches, and it was in fouling the Spaniard that Czech international defender Zdeněk Pospěch, one of FCK's most experienced campaigners, received the third yellow that rules him out tonight. Chelsea's no.9 also had a shot cleared off the line. This evening he will be hoping to open his account against the Danes' depleted back four in front of the Blues fans who sing his name throughout matches.

Kobenhavn 2ng leg News:
There will be a warm welcome back to Stamford Bridge for Chelsea's former winger Jesper Grønkjær. The Dane crossed to make one of the most important goals in Chelsea history for Marcel Desailly's equaliser against Liverpool in 2003. A point would have been enough to secure the last Champions League slot, but Grønkjær added a second himself to ease the pressure.

FCK manager Ståle Solbakken played out a 1-1 draw here as part of Wimbledon's 1997/98 team. He will have noted that Martin Vingaard gave FCK more attacking impetus to his low-scoring side when he replaced ineffectual Brazilian forward César Santin, and brought the first serious saves from Petr Cech.

His team's deficiencies lay further back though, with static defending and poor covering especially exposed by Nicolas Anelka, who scored both Chelsea's goals. Powerful striker Dame N'Doye cut an isolated figure until Vingaard's introduction, but the Danes now have a couple of league matches in their limbs following the resumption of domestic competition. However, the defeat at Parken by the Londoners looks to have shaken FCK quite badly. They lost their first league game since the winter break to Midtjylland 0-2 immediately afterwards, followed by a somewhat fortunate 1-0 victory last weekend over Aalborg.

The Danes have not travelled well in this competition. The biggest threat to Chelsea's progress could be in underestimating the Scandinavians.

2nd leg Stats and Milestones:

• The Blues have won nine of their 18 knock out matches in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge although they haven't won any of the last three.
• In Chelsea's eight previous Champions League campaigns we have failed to progress from the last 16 to the quarter-finals twice - against Barcelona in 2005/06 and Inter Milan last season. We have reached the quarter-finals once, the semi-finals on four occasions and the final in 2008.
• The Blues defeat to Inter Milan last season is their only reverse in 25 home Champions League matches (including 18 victories) at Stamford Bridge since 2006.
• Chelsea have been knocked out in the last three seasons to the eventual winners.
• Salomon Kalou's next appearance from the bench will set a new club record 94 substitute appearances for the Blues and will move him ahead of Joe Cole's equal record 93.
• FC Kobenhavn have lost their last two away Champions League group matches without scoring a goal.
• Together with Man Utd, they have scored the fewest goals of the teams still left in the competition - 7.
• This is the furthest they have reached in this competition.
• FC Kobenhavn have won 20 of their 45 European Cup/Champions League matches scoring 69 goals and conceding 58.

History:
Chelsea's biggest home win in the Champions League
19/10/2005 - Chelsea 4-0 Real Betis - group stage
16/09/2008 - Chelsea 4-0 Bordeaux - group stage
21/10/2009 - Chelsea 4-0 Atlético Madrid - group stage

FC Kobenhavn's biggest away win in the Champions League
29/09/2010 - Panathinaikos 0-2 FC Copenhagen - group stage

Champions League top scorers this season:
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 8
Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 8
Samuel Eto'o (Internazionale) 8
Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea) 7
Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 6

1st Leg Highlights:
YouTube - FC København vs Chelsea Video Highlights Interviews 22nd Feb 11

 

[Jak]

nice OP, I would expect a 2-0 Chelsea win. How come you have called the other team both Kobenhavn and Copenhagen throughout your post? You copy and paste this off a website?

 

[Alex]

Copenhagen 4/1 to win tomorrow.

Definitely having some of that.

 

[CJACKO11]

Copenhagen 4/1 to win tonight.

Definitely having some of that.

Well considering its tomorrow lol

 

[Alex]

Well considering its tomorrow lol

Still having some of that

 

[filipe_18]

I expect a Chelsea win by 2-0 with goles from Drogba and Lampard. But Kobenhavn are a difficult opponnent like they showed against Barcelona.

 

[CJACKO11]

nice OP, I would expect a 2-0 Chelsea win. How come you have called the other team both Kobenhavn and Copenhagen throughout your post? You copy and paste this off a website?

some of it, not all of it. I have a habit of spelling it both ways sometimes lol.

 

[Fonzie]

Copenhagen to win both legs, at Parken 1-0 with a Ottesen header from a corner and at Stamford Bridge 1-0 with a Claudemir screamer from 20 yards.

 

[Blynd1]

Copenhagen will win the home game thats for sure! And i predict a 1-1 draw @Stamford Bridge

 

[Ride The Walrus]

Kobenhaven to kick ***** out of Chelsea. Flying high in their league, winning by a ****-a lot of points, so much confidence.

 

[ravenie]

I've gotten into Kobenhavn a lot in recent times, played them on Fifa and did quite well with them on FM. They have solid foundations in their team. Both full backs enjoy getting forward and they have Mathias Jorgensen a player that is often recognised. In midfield they have hard working Claudemir and William Kvist has a really good pass on him. Dame N'Doye and Cesar Santin are skilled forwards as well.

They'll go for it and I expect a 2-1 Kobenhavn win.

 

[Calum]

4-0 to the danes over the two legs

 

[fm1063]

it will be jsut like the everton game evryone predicts a chelsea win but i said everton on penalties

anyway i chose kobenhaven in extra time

 

[CtPauley]

Kobenhavn to win as CJACKO has made the thread again

Seriously though, Chelsea will probably record a comfortable win in both legs. Could be the game Torres finally scores.

 

[Aannddyy]

If Carlo goes with a 4-3-3 tomorrow with Torres upfront on his own then i can see us winning the away leg leaving us just to finish the game in the 2nd leg at home. Im pretty confident but ONLY if he goes back to a 4-3-3. I also believe Torres will get his first Chelsea goal in the 1st leg as he wont have as much pressure on him.

Yeah I mean a Premier League game against Fulham has so much more pressure on it that the last 16 in the Champions League........

 

[joeWFC]

I think Kobenhavn will nick a 1-0 win in Denmark.. and I think Chelsea will win 2-1 at the Bridge sending the Danes through on away goals!

 

[CJACKO11]

Yeah I mean a Premier League game against Fulham has so much more pressure on it that the last 16 in the Champions League........

The media and the home supporters will not be slating him every time he touches the ball etc. You know exacly what i mean why try and twist it? He is under more pressure in the PL than the CL and thats a fact.

 

[Aannddyy]

The media and the home supporters will not be slating him every time he touches the ball etc. You know exacly what i mean why try and twist it? He is under more pressure in the PL than the CL and thats a fact.

Wasn't twisting anything.. The fact he cost £50m and has taken Drogba's place is pressure enough no matter what competition it is. Plus him ******* up in the Champions League is going to have a much bigger impact on Chelsea than his terrible performances in the Premier League, all I was saying, no need to be so defensive.

 

[Ben]

First leg: FC Copenhagen 2-0 Chelsea
Second leg: Chelsea 3-1 FC Copenhagen

3-3 agg, Copenhagen to advance on away goals, Ancelotti to be sacked shortly after.

 

[CJACKO11]

Wasn't twisting anything.. The fact he cost £50m and has taken Drogba's place is pressure enough no matter what competition it is. Plus him ******* up in the Champions League is going to have a much bigger impact on Chelsea than his terrible performances in the Premier League, all I was saying, no need to be so defensive.

Im not being defensive. I just think to him there is more pressure for him to play well and score in the PL than the CL. The Kobenhavn fans wont be signing "what a waste of money" every time he mis controlls the ball etc. He will feel less pressure thats for sure and so will Chelsea, a CL game is just what we need.