We begin our journey towards Rome in the Champions League with a home match against Bordeaux, a French side. After a win against City in the weekend, the Blue spirits are high and Bordeaux would find it difficult to contain the quality chelsea possess. Their main agenda would be damage limitation. Maybe they'll have a go at Chelsea on home turf, but certainly not at Stamford Bridge.

It would be interesting to see how Scolari approaches today's game considering that we play United this weekend. Will he afford to rest key players like Lampard and Joe Cole taking into account the fact that they played 3 matches in a span of 8 days. Captain John Terry is suspended for the weekend and I don't think FA will admit the refereeing error. Refereeing was terribly bad last weekend. So Terry may be partnered by Alex and Carvalho might be rested for today's game. We might also see people like Kalou and Ivanovic in action today. Ballack will make his return from injury today but may not play the entire 90 minutes unless situation demands. We may also see the young striker Franco Di Santo in action today.

This is Scolari's first match at the topmost level of Club football in Europe, though he had won the South American equivalent, the Copa Libertadores twice with Brazilian clubs. Meanwhile Laurent Blanc's side is labeled "unpredictable" by many pundits. The Girondins, as they are called, are likely to flood the midfield and rely heavily on counter-attacks. Blanc is the oldest player to score in the competition, a feat he performed when playing for United. Chelsea and Girondins de Bordeaux have never met in European competition.

In the other Group A game, Roma face the newcomers CFR 1907 Cluj of Romania and are expected to come through without any loss of points. Meanwhile the Blue fans are also keeping their fingers crossed over the Terry red card appeal, on which a decision will be made today. Mark Halsey was pathetic last Saturday as a referee and the chances are that he will remain so during the appeal.

Guess at the team:
Cech  
Ferreira, Terry, Alex, Bridge
Deco, Mikel, Lampard
J.Cole, Anelka, Malouda
subs: Cudicini, Carvalho, A.Cole, Di Santo, Drogba, Ballack, Belletti, Kalou


Referee: Pieter Vink
Time : 0015 IST 
TV Timings: 0015 Zee Sports(IST), 17/09/08. 
Scoreline prediction: 4-0

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Scorers: J.Cole(I2'), Anelka(26'), Lampard(45'), Deco(89')

Starting Eleven:
Cech 
Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, A.Cole
Lampard, Mikel, Ballack
Deco, J.Cole
Anelka

Subs: Hilario, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Malouda (on 38), Di Santo, Alex, Ferreira (on 83).

Chelsea had a perfect start to the season as we smashed four goals past Redknapp's clueless Pompeys. In what was a perfect start to the campaign, both Deco and Bosingwa made impressive debuts and Deco was awarded man of the match after he rounded off his efforts for the day with a stunning 30-yard shot to beat David James. Stamford Bridge saw some of the best football played there in recent times. Chelsea dominated the game completely, with accurate, slick passes and great movement in the midfield. It was like all the Pompey players were invisible, except of course the goalkeeper whose efforts meant Portsmouth were punished with four only.

Bosingwa made his debut alongside Terry, Carvalho and Cole in the defense. His recovery from the injury picked in the pre-season friendly was fast and he made it to the squad. But, Essien didn't. Essien's unavailability meant Mikel did the defensive role in the midfield. Scolari had a line-up that was predictable, but what we were to spectate was never predicted. Anelka played the lone man upfront with Joe Cole supporting him.

In the first half, Chelsea showed all its class and quality with overwhelming possession and great passing. Deco demonstrated his range and vision with deft touches and accurate passes, while Lampard and Ballack were exquisite and calm. The ball rarely went behind Mikel, who was sitting pretty in the Makalele role. To add to the worries of Pompeys, both Chelsea fullbacks were attacking down the flanks. Ashley Cole, given the freedom to go forward did so with grit and flair while Bosingwa was impressive with his runs and crossing. Anelka played as if he wanted to prove a point and that Kalac wasn't the only reason he scored four in the last pre-season match.

The things that impressed me most was that all the players were involved and wanted the ball. Whenever Pompeys had the ball, they were closed down quickly and the ball was snatched with determination and ease. The last season had given enough reasons for motivation and it showed. It took eight minutes for Lampard to register his first shot, a long range shot that forced David James into action. After watching the early stages of the game, the first goal was just a matter of time, and the match was about how many.


Ze German showed his class when his perfect pass found Joe, after Anelka and Deco combined to initiate the move. Joe was through on goal and beat James with a low shot to the far post. Eight minutes later, Anelka should have doubled the lead having beaten the offside trap, but his low shot was straight at James. The second goal came as Deco found Anelka somehow from a Bosingwa pass and the Frenchman headed into an empty post. Ballack was forced to withdraw in the 37th minute and Malouda replaced him, though he played on left flank. But nothing changed for Pompeys. Hreidarsson handled inside the area when Pompeys were looking to escape first half with minimum damage and Lampard scored his first this season with ease.


The second half was the same. Maybe Portsmouth got a bit more possession when Chelsea downed their tempo but there were no genuine goal threats. Chelsea dominated possession again and Scolari decided to bring in Wright-Phillips and Ferreira instead of Joe and Bosingwa. Just when Redknapp sighed with relief that they will be punished with three goals only, Deco came with a shot from 30 yards out that surprised him, James and everybody. There was no wonder Deco was awarded 'man of the match', as Chelsea began their quest with a victory, and now is back on top of the league.


Just when I thought things couldn't get better, United drew at home to Newcastle. So both records stayed intact. United's record of not winning the opening match of the season since 99' and our home record. And Deco, Torres and Santa Cruz starred in my fantasy team. Chelsea plays Wigan next at the JJB. An away game considered tough taking into consideration the JJB pitch. But from what we have seen, there are more good things to come and the season promises much.

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With four days gone after Chelsea's initial bid for Robinho, things have gone quiet on the that front; I feel Madrid have quoted a ridiculous fee, signaling their intention to keep him and we've walked away. Robinho and his agent still maintain that he is interested in a move away from the Bernabéu. Maybe Madrid had no other options left with Ronaldo still at Manchester and Sneijder injured, courtesy Arsenal.

Another interesting transfer rumor that has been in the news columns lately is about Chelsea signing Kaka. Kaka would be an excellent signing for any other club. But for Chelsea with an already surplus midfield, spending above 60 million for Kaka, who had his share of injuries in recent times with his knee, would not be a good idea. And where would he fit in? It would be an added pressure on Scolari to accommodate him in the midfield. But chances are that there is no truth in the rumor, and Milan may hold on to their decision that Kaka is not for sale, even though reports say Kaka's desire to play Champions League football next year might fuel a move away from Milan.

Milan is increasingly linked with another transfer speculation though; the signing of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. Milan's Dario Simic has joined Monaco, and that points to the fact that Ivanovic might be a done deal. But having sold Ben-Haim and with just Alex as back-up for the central defense, the plan to sell Ivanovic and cut losses, defies logic. And unlike last year, Ivanovic may get enough playing chances because Scolari did experiment with the youngster in pre-season friendlies.

Malouda has announced his intentions to fight for a place in the squad, according to timesonline. By doing so, the French winger has closed the possibility of a move to Roma, who were interested in signing the struggling winger. Hull City are looking for a loan deal to get chelsea striker Pizzaro, which would be a good deal because that would atleast give some playing chances for the Peru captain. As if these transfer speculations are not enough for us, Martin O'Neil and Benitez both are reportedly interested in signing Joe Cole!

Even though he's quiet in the transfer market so far, Sir Alex makes his presence known to the media by constantly trying to get into a verbal duel with Big Phil. With Ronaldo locked away safely from the reach of Ramón Calderón, the wily old manager has focused his attention back on "aging Chelsea". This time, Fergie compares Blues' to the Liverpool side that fell into steep decline after the title triumph of 1990. He seems to be very imaginative with every dig at Chelsea, and is more concerned about it than the injury troubles with his team or his failure again to capture the gifted Bulgarian striker.

There's good news as well for us before the season opener on Saturday. Bosingwa returned early to training following the thigh injury sustained on the club's pre-season tour of Asia. He took full part in the training session, and Scolari is optimistic that he will be able to make his debut against the Pompeys.

It feels good to post an article, after a gap of four days, and it feels great to think that the Premier League will start in another four days time. So do follow Living True Blue to get all the latest Chelsea news, match previews as well as post-match reviews. If you haven't subscribed, please subscribe.