Chelsea drawn with Barcelona

Four ties in there that would not look out of place in the final; Chelsea v Barca, Juve v Madrid, Man Utd v Milan, Arsenal v Bayern – which means four of the favourites will get knocked out.

Also means that two of the quarter finalists will come from Bremen, Lyon, PSV and Monaco. So anyone decent who gets through this round has a great chance of winning it.

On another matter entirely – although I suppose it might mean he could play in the games against Barca – check this out – big story about Joaquin leaving in his local paper.

Looks like Jose was not being entirely honest when he said no new signings in January.

This is an exciting draw! As a Chelsea fan, I fear no team on the planet and, like Mourinho, I was relishing the prospect of having Barcelona for supper on the night of 22nd or 23rd of February! Barcelona are the only team in the continent that are trying to raise their puny head above Chelsea’s; so, it would be great to put the dampeners on them right now.

C’mon Chelsea!

As for that Joaquin story, perhaps before today’s Champions League draws, things weren’t very clear; but make no mistake about it, the chap is a Chelsea player in January and would play a part against Barcelona, either in the Nou Camp or Stamford Bridge or both. Mourinho is only playing the old diversion game with other likely interested big clubs and, perhaps, is also trying to keep the confidence of the bunch of players he has right now through the next coming games until the transfer window officially opens. Mourinho knows that news of a new arrival in any club upsets the players already settled there; so, he must be keen not to allow the speculations to distract the boys or unsettle them. That is why he continues to insist he isn’t bringing in new players in January. But, having said that, I do not think Mourinho will be bringing in more than one player. That will be the best compromise between the coaching team and the established players. With the Barcelona draw, he needs Joaquin more than before. Betis is not in Europe, so the chap will be eligible to play Champions League football with us from the next stage. He played a great part in the only domestic defeat Barcelona have suffered this season (fielding the complete first team); so, Chelsea will bring him in, hoping he can do more of the same.

Forget wingers. Just sign Dafoe. Dafoe is going to grow in stature in the next year or so and we may never get him.

Samba Mapangala

Samba,

We could go one better – that is sign Defoe and Joaquin. With Defoe, there will not be too much of a problem making him adapt – his mates from West Ham and the England team are there and he’s had a successful premiership experience with West Ham and Tottenham and Mourinho can simply justify it to the boys as a replacement for Mutu. So, that leaves Joaquin as the new man in the real sense of the word. I don’t think his adaptation to Chelsea style will take much time. Though I still think we are bringing in only one player in January, with the come-and-buy-him noises coming from Arnesen and our Champions League draw against Barcelona, you just never know.