BlueLion.

Tough call between Cech, Bosingwa and Sturridge but I felt Sturridge was excellent. A quote from my match report: You can read the full match report here -

Bayer Leverkusen 2 Chelsea 1 Chelsea's hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League took a massive blow as Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to record a stunning 2-1 victory over the West London outfit. Andre Villas-Boas' side succumbed to their fourth defeat in seven matches and their first in Europe this term, as Manuel Friedrich emphatically looped a header beyond Petr Cech in stoppage time after substitute Eren Derdiyok had nodded the hosts back into contention with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining. Didier Drogba had earlier put Chelsea ahead just minutes after the half-time interval with a classy finish; showing superb composure to hold off and subsequently turn two defenders before retaining his balance to fire in off the base of Leverkusen stopper Leno's right-hand upright for just the Ivorian's second strike of the season - yet it was another incident involving the Blues striker this encounter pivoted upon. After Drogba's 47th-minute opener, Chelsea had quickly surged through the gears and but for some wayward finishing, should have been able to extend their lead before Derdiyok restored parity with his first touch of the game; a clever header back across the face of goal after an accidental dummy from the Swiss international had left the Chelsea defence woefully exposed at the rear. Despite that set-back, the Blues continued to hold the initiative and looked to have earned the perfect opportunity to restore their lead when Drogba was brutally hacked down inside the penalty area. But despite replays demonstrating that the Chelsea forward had clearly been first to the ball before being felled illegally just outside the six-yard box, the referee waved play on and the Blues were left to rue more wretched officiating in this competition as a last-minute sickener was delivered via the forehead of the German defender. It is not the first time that penalty decisions have been the undoing of Chelsea's Champions League endeavours, and the lack of a decision in this crunch game ensures that the Blues must now beat Valencia at Stamford Bridge in early December. After an entirely forgettable first half - Michael Ballack's header against the crossbar the only highlight of a relatively insipid and uninspiring forty-five minutes - the Blues came out for the second period full of renewed vigour and Drogba's precise finish looked to have given them the foothold for progression to the next round of the competition for the ninth consecutive season. Such was the confidence of Villas-Boas' outfit that they almost hit the hosts with both barrels; the only thing denying Frank Lampard his eighth goal of the season being a relatively poor finish as he could only head straight at the Leverkusen goalkeeper. Promisingly, however, the Blues' attacking plays had suddenly sparked into life, with the imaginative, incisive passing that had provided the cornerstone to the side's early-season achievements returning. The chemistry was flowing and the Blues were looking more like their usual dangerous selves. Branislav Ivanovic was the next to test his luck, but in what was becoming all too-familiar an outcome, the finishing was letting down a torrent of Chelsea attacks as the Serbian only sought to pick out the gloves of the young Leverkusen custodian, who was enjoying a confident display between the posts. With the hour mark approaching, Ballack - the former Chelsea star, playing in his 100th European Cup tie - suddenly stepped to the fore and but for a brace of excellent saves from Petr Cech, the former Germany international might have had a token goal to cap off his century of appearances at the highest level of the club game. First, his inventive albeit cumbersome attempt at an overhead kick was tipped over by his Czech counterpart before a sublime point-blank save from the Chelsea stopper maintained the Blues' slender advantage. The private battle between the two masked men was proving to be an iconic side-story, and Cech had to be alert to deny Leverkusen substitute Schurrle, though like Lampard earlier in the half, he ought to have done better than to direct the ball into the grateful palms of the man in the Chelsea goal. Immediately at the other end as the game began to spark into a more evenly-contested encounter, only a piece of good goalkeeping from Leno prevented Sturridge from doubling the lead after surging through down the right. That effort from the young Englishman was the result of a lightning counter, but it was a case study in anti-climax as the finish failed to match the speed and skill with which Sturridge had been able to accelerate across 80 yards of turf before supplying a finish that should, and could, have been a more clinical one. It had been a night of guilt-edged chances being wasted - Drogba having early blazed over after rounding the goalkeeper from Sturridge's clever through ball in one of the few bright moments before half-time - but there was to be no such charity from the home side as Derdiyok capitalised on a portion of good fortune. Failing to bring the ball under control, Derdiyok will be grateful to winger-cum-full-back Sidney Sam, who had gambled on the loose ball. With space to maraud into, it was the simplest of tasks for his team-mate to nod into an unguarded net despite the presence of three Chelsea defenders. That stroke of good luck seemed to do little to stem the flow of the Chelsea tide, however, but contrasting fortunes inside the penalty area saw Didier Drogba denied a stonewall penalty. You will see few worse decisions in Europe's premier club competition this season - but UEFA referees are well-trained in the denial of blatant penalties when Chelsea are involved; the Blues' last successful spot kick in the competition coming from Drogba's right boot in a 4-1 win over Spartak Moscow in early November 2010. All that was left was for insult to be added to injury; for salt to be rubbed into a gaping wound. Such a punchline was delivered by the head of Manuel Friedrich, who bulleted home the most sumptuous of headers to leave Villas-Boas smarting, Chelsea dumbstruck and their hopes of Champions League progression hanging by a thin thread. The equation is simple - fail to beat Valencia, and it is Europa League football come February. As to how Chelsea went on to lose a game in which they were cruising and playing with confidence is something of a mystery, though not entirely surprising. The Blues have a woeful record away from home in the competition of late - losing eight of their last twelve group stage matches away from Stamford Bridge. The signs were there; it is classic Chelsea to implode after suffering a refereeing injustice. Ultimately, it was Viktor Kassai's mind-numbing decision not to award a penalty that cost this Chelsea side - but equal to the blame was lackadaisical marking at the death from Gonzalo Castro's outswinging corner. It would appear the Blues' defensive woes have no end at this moment. This defeat is a bitter one to swallow, and not purely for its repercussions. Chelsea played well - in Daniel Sturridge they had the best player on the pitch; a livewire and constant attacking threat. His through-ball for Drogba's opener was perfectly-weighted and executed with aplomb, and but for a more composed finish after a sublime surge down the right wing, the young Englishman - at the heart of all that was good about a promising Blues performance - would have had a goal to cap a memorable night where he announced himself to European football. But instead of focussing on the young man's brilliance, Sturridge's contribution will be forgotten underneath endless newspaper headlines stating the obvious; that Andre Villas-Boas is under pressure. But surely that is the currency of football management? When has a manager not been under pressure? When had he not fretted that defeat may cost him a league championship, result in relegation, or lose him his job? Similarly, when has a coach been so comfortable in his job that he can afford for negligence and complacency? With the manager's job comes great responsibility - and the allure of the Chelsea job will no doubt have been laced by pressure to succeed and achieve; for surely that is the drug that all coaches crave? Chelsea are a club in transition, and change does not come lightly, nor does it come with speed. Villas-Boas is working with a group of players he is barely accustomed to, a group of players that are comprised of a mixture of youthful potential and aged experience that is on its very, very last legs. Whether it is phasing out the old guard or introducing new talent to the paying patrons at Stamford Bridge, this is a process that will be long, arduous, and consist of many more disappointments such as tonight. Whilst all is not lost, patience is the stance we must adopt. Concern may creep in and perhaps even become prevalent should the Blues fail to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend, and should Chelsea miss out of the knockout rounds of the Champions League it will be both a mental and financial blow to the club and its aspirations for the foreseeable future. In the meanwhile, we should hope and pray that inspirational materialises out of somewhere to beat away the dark cloud that is looming over SW6. This is a game Chelsea ought to have won. Instead the incessant head-banging, the needless criticisms of a young manager learning his trade and the condemnation of a team that three weeks ago were world-beaters has already begun. Football supporters are a fickle breed, afterall. Fickle, and embarrassing. Especially those that expect, expect, expect. Perspective is a gift few who have enjoyed success are able to boast. At least there is one definite consistency in football; UEFA-appointed referees are absolutely atrocious. So let the plastics have their spell in the limelight and let them come crawling aplenty from underneath the woodwork. They may be here to stay for a while - things will definitely get worse before they begin to improve - but ultimately, this work-in-progress will be of a sufficient standard. This season, the Blues have proved they still have 'it' - whether 'it' seems to be a fully-firing front three of Fernando Torres, Juan Mata and the aforesaid Daniel Sturridge remains to be seen - and they remain in contention for trophies this season even if the doubters are predicting relegation, administration, liquidation and for pigs to fly. But with patience comes great reward. Roman Abramovich lost his patience with Jose Mourinho. He did the same with Luiz Felipe Scolari, and with double-winning Carlo Ancelotti, too. One hopes that the €13 million he spent on acquiring Villas-Boas' services is enough to see the job through. Time after time, this much needed period of transition has been postponed, instead the short-term being prioritised. Chelsea do have a bright future, but like Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson arrived, that bright future must first emerge out of relative mediocrity and be subjected what will turn out to be a waiting game. Change doesn’t happen overnight - patience is a virtue, and patience is the key. Let’s be frank; would Chelsea ever do it in any other fashion than the hard way? Keep the faith. Leverkusen (4-2-3-1): Leno; Schwaab (Schürrle 56), Friedrich, Toprak, Kadlec (Derdiyok 70); Bender, Rolfes ©; Castro, Ballack, Sam; Kiessling (Oczipka 81). Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, D Luiz (Alex 68), Terry ©, Bosingwa; Ramires, Meireles (Mikel 79), Lampard; Sturridge, Drogba, Mata (Malouda 64). The TalkChelsea Man of the Match award goes to #23 DANIEL STURRIDGE

We win, or draw 0-0, and we go through. Any other result and its a cold Thursday evening in Sofia.

Amen to that. I don't feel embarrassed to be a supporter of the club tonight - I do feel embarrassed by the performance and also that I have to sift through such thoughtless nonsense each time we don't win.

Some of you are utterly pathetic. Very unlucky tonight, can't criticise the performance but I can criticise the referee. Another frustrating night.

In the 4 matches Raul Meireles has played 90 minutes Chelsea are undefeated this season (3 wins, 1 draw) and have outscored opponents 13-3.

The defence has been tampered with too much this season. Look at the 09/10 season; besides for injury it was always Ivan - Alex/Carvalho - Terry - Cole. There has been too much fiddling around at centre-half this season, you can't mess around there too much. No wonder why we're not as solid as we were, you learn to play with certain players and get comfortable. It is especially important for the defence and goalkeeper.

Can we? Will their replacements be playing for free?

Fucking hell. Nothing we can do unless people are willing to help then, I wouldn't mind paying £10 a month, £20 at a push, but even if you did the same we'd still need another 2-4 people to contribute.

Looks good, but I'd rather us play with a goalkeeper to be honest. Fair point, I would concur that AVB has proved himself to be tactically naive at times, but it is absolutely down to the players as far as I am concerned. AVB will learn from his mistakes; he is still a young man and let us not forget that Ancelotti - and even Mourinho - made wrong decisions tactically and failed to correctly prepare for matches in the early (and later) days of their respective regimes. My point is that it seems to be the same set of players who let Ancelotti down are once again making things difficult for Andre. We have an extremely temperamental squad. Bar Mata and Sturridge, this is the exact same squad that both imploded this time last season and then put together an incredible run of results between February and April. Unfortunately the players we have seem to be either too inconsistent or too lackadaisical to perform to the highest standards.

@FrancoZola, it's because we're running on limited capacity at the minute to try and improve the site traffic. Jimlad, I'm presuming that's £60 a month?

Funny how people are turning on AVB after the players have let him down, a very similar story to King Carlo it would appear.

AVB's promising something different so I fully expect to see Ramires in goal and Hilario on the left wing.

What's the price increase for a dedicated server Jimbo?

He won't be sacked, Roman wouldn't have spent the best part of £11 million on signing a manager to sack him five months down the line.

This was never going to be an easy match, and you'd be naive to think otherwise. We don't need to win, but it makes the final group game a lot easier. The rule of thumb in the UCL Group Stages is 11 points gets you through; meaning win your home matches and get a couple of draws away from home, and you're laughing. A draw would not be a bad result at all, but a win would relieve a lot of the pressure, especially if we can make it two on the bounce against Wolves on Saturday. Whatever happens, we cannot afford to lose.

12 games in and 12 points behind, a trend that will only continue I am afraid! Of course things will improve once again, we're simply in the rocky patch we have every November. However I said at the start of the season we'd finish top four and have decent runs in the cups... not seen anything to change my mind yet.

Gary Neville's comment was both brilliant and appropriate. Luiz has no discipline at all.

At the start of the season we all agreed a top 4 finish, decent UCL run and a Carling Cup or FA Cup would constitute a good season. What's changed? Nothing.

If I was Josh, I would go. Not on loan, but request a transfer. He is rotting at Chelsea. It would be a crime to ruin this boy, but that is exactly what is happening. For the sake of what will be an incredible career he needs to move on.

The league was never an opportunity for trophies, this reaffirms exactly what I said at the start of the season. Our only hope is for domestic silverware in the cup competitions.

Never really ever agreed with what you say. But I couldn't have put it better myself. As it stands, we're shit and we know we are. We're not even in transitional mode at the minute, that won't begin until the deadwood (Terry included) is axed from the squad.

If he wasn't such a good leader he'd be on the bench. Well past his sell-by date as a defender now.

More knee-jerk reactions I see. I point to the quote in my signature, and I'll be back in a few days when you've all calmed down. Not at all surprised with the result, and again this was one of those games. Didn't deserve to lose but a victory was hardly warranted from that first half performance especially. Terry is now a liability, Alex and Luiz should be our centre-back pairing.