By Alan Duffy

Chelsea, under the temporary stewardship of Roberto Di Matteo, looked to have a massive task ahead of them on Wednesday night, with visitors Napoli taking a 3-1 advantage to Stamford Bridge from the first leg of the last 16 Champions League tie.

The Guardian called it a low-rent performance. I'm not one to argue with such a statement. However, thanks to some inept officiating and a micro-flash of brilliance from Fernando Torres, it's three points gained from a match we likely would have lost a month ago.

How tough is that result on Wigan?

By Chris Wright

Callous: Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves ripping Branislav Ivanovic's heart in twain after last night's heroics in Catalonia...

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has voiced his frustration at the manner in which Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez convinced the referee's assistant to issue a red car to Blues captain John Terry at Camp Nou last night.

Terry was sent off in the 37th minute of Chelsea's 2-2 draw (a 3-2 win on aggregate) for kneeing Sanchez when both players were off the ball.

Is Pep Guardiola's Barcelona reign coming to an end?

That was the question after Chelsea on Tuesday ended Barcelona's attempt to win back-to-back Champions League titles, claiming a 3-2 aggregate triumph over Guardiola's side in the semifinal. The loss came three days after Real Madrid defeated Barcelona, making it unlikely the Catalans will repeat as La Liga champions either.

From 2-0 up and sleepwalking toward three points to 2-2 and then, amazingly, 4-2 this was not the way any of us expected this match to play out. And if you did, you're a weird soul. Nevertheless, it's a crucial win as we inch closer to the top four.

Relief.

I'm not sure that we've played a more bizarre game this season.

It's a question that no one will know the answer to until around 1700 on Sunday. There will be plenty of opinion from both sets of supporters on this that will continue to change right up until we find out from RDM and Harry Redknapp.
Of course being a Chelsea blog, I am going to focus purely on the Chelsea side and formation and to not take into consideration anything to do with Spurs.

I'm not one to attempt to spoil the fun lord knows there's all sorts of that to be had from now until the final on 19 May. But I felt like I had to post this. Reasoning after the jump:

This makes for heartbreaking viewing. I mean, I nearly teared up.

But by posting the video, I thought this thread could somewhat serve as a way to honor Bane for the contribution he's given this club not just on Tuesday, not just this season, but throughout his career.

FIFA has already taken steps to assure that players picking up a single yellow card in the semifinals of the World Cup won't be ineligible for the final because of card accumulation. Should club governing bodies adopt the same approach?

The question is raised yet again after Chelsea's riveting triumph over Barcelona, one in which three starters picked up their second cards of the knockout phase and are forced to miss the final.

And so it finally came to pass. Nine years after Roman Abramovich arrived at Stamford Bridge and spent like no other owner before him, and Chelsea win the one prize that always eluded Roman's riches. Ironically, this comes just a week after Sheik Mansour's Manchester City won the league on even greater resources than Chelsea have been used to.

Newly crowned European champions Chelsea will return to the United States for their preseason tour this summer and to promote it, the club put together the above video of various players trying out American sports. And it's fantastic.

You've got David Luiz jamming his Sideshow Bob hair into a Yankees cap, Petr Cech trading his scrum cap for a Seattle Seahawks helmet and Branislav Ivanovic trying to murder a baseball to promote the four-match tour that will include the 2012 MLS All-Star game in Philadelphia.

Mais um jogo das eliminatórias da Eurocopa de 2012, foi realizado no dia 07/10/2011, na cidade de Belgrado-SRB, onde jogaram as seleções da Sérvia (21º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção da Itália (9º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo
1982Belgrade 17/10/1981 YUG1:1 (1:1)ITA First stage1982Turin 15/11/1980 ITA2:0 (1:0)YUG First stage
Eurocopa
1968Rome 10/06/1968 ITA2:0 (2:0)YUG 1968Rome 08/06/1968 ITA1:1 a.

We're still trudging through Mordor aren't we? Gary Cahill takes over as Frodo on this day, as he welcomes his former employer to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

We kind of need a win here. Yeah, we definitely need a win here.

What to say? We've been shit for some time now, and it really doesn't look like getting better soon.

Um, did we really just do what I think we did? Yeah, yeah we did.

Chelsea somehow managed to overturn a two-goal, first-leg deficit with an astonishing 4-1 win in extra time on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge. This was an evening none of us will soon forget. Before we hit you with a full-on recap of the madness, here are some inspiring visuals from what must be categorized as a modern-day classic.

Benfica v. Chelsea Preview: do Chelsea have another magnificent performance left in the tank? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

It's been a rollercoaster of a season for Chelsea, but while the perennial Premier League title chasers are well off the pace domestically, their hopes for European glory remain alive and well.

Chelsea took a massive three points on Saturday at Villa Park in what turned out to be an important step towards the run in. Arsenal lost and Spurs won which means both are level on points five points clear of us in third and fourth, but with some big games coming up Chelsea delivered a good result.

Liverpool host Aston Villa tomorrow afternoon with a view to turning around the horrible run of league results that's seen them entrenched firmly in the middle of the table. Six losses in seven have left the club a point behind Everton and eleven off of Newcastle and Chelsea. Villa are safely out of the relegation discussion but have had struggles of their own, with only two wins in 2012 and seven goals conceded in their last two.

This afternoon, with numerous changes to the starting eleven from midweek, Chelsea stuttered to an important three points against a spirited Wigan side. With goals from Branislav Ivanovic and Juan Mata at the death sealed three points taking us two behind Arsenal and three behind Spurs.
Chelsea never really got going until late on which was disappointing.

It was a goal by Mata two minutes into stoppage time that gave Chelsea a 2-1 win over Wigan at Stamford Bridge today, and put the London side back into 5th place, but level on points at 56 with Newcastle. Branislav Ivanovic after scoring Chelsea's first goal And their first goal, scored by Branislav Ivanovic was clearly offside, as [.

Dave Bryan looks on stonily as Roberto Martinez gives him a piece of his mind

Wigan was robbed of a win against Chelsea by an incompetent linesman. Dave Bryan was guilty of letting both Branislav Ivanovic and Juan Mata's goal stand although they were clearly off side, the first more so than the second.

TweetWigan boss Roberto Martinez was left fuming after goals by Branislav Ivanovic & Juan Mata were allowed to stand as Chelsea overcame Wigan 2-1. Wigan were denied a point at Stamford Bridge a point which would have taken them out of the bottom three for the first time this year after slumping to [.

Man Utd edged closer to the Premier League title with their eighth successive victory on a crucial day in the title race. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Shaun Derry was harshly sent off for a shove on Ashley Young, who was two yards offside when the pass was played through to him.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Start printing the banners and begin tying red ribbons to the Premier League trophy. Barring a miracle, Manchester United are going to be the champions of England.

Manchester City continued their terrible run of form with a 1-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates and the so-called "noisy neighbors" fall eight points behind United in the race for the Premier League title with six games to play.

I think we all saw this coming. However, it still blows.

The FA charged Branislav Ivanovic with violent conduct today for his starring role in an incident with Shaun Maloney during the Wigan match on Saturday. Bane snuffed Maloney in the midsection after Maloney apparently swung an elbow at the Chelsea defender.

Chelsea and Branislav Ivanovic were dealt a massive blow yesterday as the FA decided to charge him with violent conduct after an incident during the Wigan game last weekend.
Being caught on camera, there was no way that Ivanovic would have gotten away with what he did and now faces the consequences which could be a three match ban.

Chelsea and Branislav Ivanovic were dealt a massive blow yesterday as the FA decided to charge him with violent conduct after an incident during the Wigan game last weekend.
Being caught on camera, there was no way that Ivanovic would have gotten away with what he did and now faces the consequences which could be a three match ban.

By THOMAS FLOYD

If Chelsea is going to defeat Tottenham in Sunday's FA Cup semifinal, the club will have to do it without Branislav Ivanovic.

The Serbian defender was handed a three-match ban by the FA on Thursday after video caught him striking Wigan's Shaun Maloney in the midriff during Chelsea's 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Franco Di Santo and Jordi Gomez scored a goal apiece in the opening eight minutes as Wigan Athletic claimed a crucial 2-1 win at Arsenal to increase the distance between them and the relegation zone.

Thomas Vermaelen pulled one back for the Gunners midway through the first half with a superb header to beat Ali Al-Habsi but the hosts were not able to find an equalizer past the persistent Latics defense.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is confident that January signing Gary Cahill is prepared to justify the responsibility handed to him tonight in the absence of the injured David Luiz.

Brazilian center-half Luiz picked up a knock in this weekend's FA Cup clash against the Spurs but England international Cahill came off the bench to ensure that the Blues concede no more than once in their 5-1 win over the Spurs.

Barcelona won't be taking any chances when Chelsea come visiting at the Stamford Bridge tomorrow for their return leg of their semi final Champions League fixture.

The Catalan giants who lost for the first at home this season to Real Madrid over the weekend, will be like wounded lions against a confident Chelsea side who carry a slender 1 goal advantage into tomorrow's match

"We have to congratulate Madrid for their win and the title that they have also won tonight," Guardiola said.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has hailed his side's performance last night as one of the finest he has ever seen and believes that the Blues' unbreakable spirit triumphed over Barcelona's beautiful football.

The Blues dramatically surrendered their 1-0 first-leg advantage within eight first-half minutes as Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta struck either side of John Terry's infamous sending off.

Branislav Ivanovic's very first reaction to a reporter's revelation about his suspension from the UEFA Champions League final next month has already spread like wildfire but after composing himself, the Chelsea defender has delivered a highly emotional response the incident.

Ivanovic, one of Chelsea's most consistent performers this season, exceeded his yellow-card limit with a booking late in the first half of last night's 2-2 draw away to FC Barcelona.

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has hit out at UEFA's current ruling on yellow cards, which does not protect players from missing the Champions League final when issued a costly booking.

In the UEFA European Championship, a yellow-card amnesty rule allows a player's booking record to be refreshed after the quarter-final stage and starting with the FIFA World Cup 2010, players are protected from missing the final if they exceed their booking limit in the semi-finals.

As Bayern Munich prepare for an intense second leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal away to Real Madrid, star midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has warned his teammates to avoid getting yellow cards that would jeopardize their involvement in a potential final appearance at the Allianz Arena.

I'm not one to attempt to spoil the fun lord knows there's all sorts of that to be had from now until the final on 19 May. But I felt like I had to post this. Reasoning after the jump:

This makes for heartbreaking viewing. I mean, I nearly teared up.

But by posting the video, I thought this thread could somewhat serve as a way to honor Bane for the contribution he's given this club not just on Tuesday, not just this season, but throughout his career.

While the rest of Chelsea was celebrating, Branislav Ivanovic was off in the interviewing area, being reminded that despite his heroics as the club's only pseuo-centerback, he'll miss the final through suspension. He looks like a little boy being reminded that yes, his puppy is still dead.

Does size matter for footballers? According to Tony Karon, it might be - depending on whether you are a Chelsea or Barcelona supporter...
Watch the pre-kickoff handshake between the players of Barcelona and Chelsea ahead of Tuesday's Champions League semifinal showdown and you'd be forgiven for believing the Catalans had sent a youth team to face the big men from London.

Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes was in celebratory mood during his press conference that followed a thrilling 3-1 penalty shoot-out win over Real Madrid and sent the Bavarians into an evenly matched final against Chelsea at home on May 19.

Not many predicted that the Blues and Bayern would successfully pass through their respective semifinal ties against Barcelona and Real to reach the big final at Allianz Arena next month.

Just a day after their heroic triumph over Barcelona in the Champions League semi final and voices of sympathy for Chelsea skipper John Terry can be heard. Fellow team mate Frank Lampard has expressed his desire to let Chelsea captain John Terry have the honour to lift the trophy should they overcome Bayern Munich in the May 19th final.

The big hullabaloo over the Geoff Shreeves-Branislav Ivanovic post-match interview is dying down (Champions League penalties will do that), particularly since it's emerged Geoff was actually doing him a service Ivanovic apparently didn't know he was suspended.

"I didn't expect him to book me for that and I didn't know I was in the danger zone.