BlueLion.

I fucking hate football

Chelsea's lead at the top of the Premier League table was cut as Burnley's 1-1 draw was overshadowed by a diabolical display by referee Martin Atkinson. After Branislav Ivanovic had given the hosts a deserved lead early into proceedings, the Blues were then denied a stonewall penalty by Atkinson with half-time looming. The referee then showed Nemanja Matic a straight red card for his aggressive reaction to an absolute horror-tackle by Ashley Barnes, allowing the Clarets the foothold from which they fought back to level the match. Atkinson failed to offer any sort of punishment to Barnes for his potential leg-breaker, and then applied the coup de grace when he failed to add to the four indicated added minutes after Ben Mee - the scorer of Burnley's equalising goal - had gone down injured for over ninety seconds in stoppage time. Whilst Burnley deserve credit for their resolve and a gutsy performance that may well have warranted a point, José Mourinho's belief that there is a "campaign" against his side will only be strengthened by this latest refereeing debacle. A win for Manchester City this evening will cut the Blues' lead to five points at the top of the table, but the Citizens would surely have headed into that game trailing by a margin of ten had Atkinson not bottled at least one blatant penalty award. After Ivanovic had finished from close range following Eden Hazard's world class dribble and cross, the Blues may well have had a penalty when the Serb then had a shot blocked by the arm of Michael Kightly. And an even better shout for a spot-kick soon followed when Diego Costa was bundled over carelessly in the penalty area by Jason Shackell on the verge of half-time; with Atkinson refusing to point to the spot to the dismay and sheer disbelief of the capacity Stamford Bridge crowd. After the break Chelsea continued to play within themselves but exert a degree of relative control, with Diego Costa twice being a stud's length away from raking crosses from Ivanovic and Filipe Luis, but Mourinho's men - clearly suffering something of a European hangover following Wednesday's trip to Paris - were hardly at their free-flowing best. Matic then saw red as he reacted aggressively to an absolutely disgusting "challenge" from Barnes that is sure to earn the Burnley man a prolonged ban - but that will offer little consolation to Mourinho who then saw his side concede what could be a defining goal in the title race. Thibaut Courtois made a miraculous save to deny Barnes' dipping volley, but he was powerless to prevent Mee converting from Kieran Trippier's corner kick to earn the away side a vital point in their bid to escape relegation. To add insult to injury, Kightly, already in the book following a succession of poorly-timed tackles, then escaped what may have been a second yellow for a deliberate trip on Ivanovic, but as both sides went for it in the final throes of the game it was ultimately the away side that might have stolen all three points when Danny Ings slid a shot just wide of Courtois' goal. Matic will now miss the Blues' next three games, including next weekend's Capital One Cup final against Tottenham, but he may well have been out for the rest of the season. The Serbian was truly lucky not to suffer a broken leg and ultimately, though his reaction cannot ever be condoned, even the most ardent of Burnley supporter could surely not deny that Barnes was lucky to not also be dismissed. The next time Chelsea are in Premier League action - away to West Ham a week on Wednesday - they may well find themselves a mere two points clear at the top of the table with City facing Liverpool at Anfield whilst the Blues attend to cup final duties.

Because we're ALL racists, aren't we?

Don't be ridiculous. Every club has its moronic fans. Liverpool fans mock Munich; United fans mock Hillsborough in return. We sing about gas chambers and Hitler, but all it takes is one moronic incident such as this. There are times when I've been embarrassed to be a Chelsea fan, but I have to say this is not one. Those racists do not represent me or 99.99% of our fanbase. I'm not a racist, I'm not a xenophobe. Those five or six "men" do not represent me or my views. The way the press have reacted is like saying that all Muslims are terrorists; that all Germans are Nazis; that all Americans are bigots; like all Brits are xenophobic. It simply isn't true. It is smaller than a "small majority" but high-horse riders like Stan Collymoron start spouting their vitriolic bile and the left-wing PC brigade that the BBC has become make out as if Chelsea have declared World War 3. Pathetic overreaction. Reprimand the disgusting fools responsible and lets move on.

Knew it

Do something along those lines (30-33 points out of 39) and we have it in the bag.

Kane will win YPotY hands down, Aguero will win PotY because the FA hate us.

But that's what we said about Cahill

As far as I'm concerned we're a CB short anyway. We only really have JT, Cahill and Kurt. Cahill isn't good enough and should be replaced, but he's English and we need him to meet homegrown quotas. I like Howedes and rate him highly as a very consistent, solid-if-not-spectacular centre-half, though.

Does it matter? We're not playing that style of football any more. If we were, we've got dozens of long-range shooters. And I'm not sure about those stats, Oscar alone has scored at least three goals from outside the box this season from my own recollection.

A little disrespectful to Wolfsburg who have taken positive strides forward after a season or three in the wilderness, but I see his point. The important thing is he'll be playing. I commend his ambition and desire just to play football games, but I'm disappointed it won't be for us. Best of luck to him.

Embarrassing.

I'm guessing from this thread we lost 5-0?

It isn't in big games that Chelsea struggle. We can't beat the small fry, and I'm happy for him to score 30 goals a season even if its "only" against the Leicesters and Burnleys of this world. Let the other players do their thing in the big games. It was stupid for Mourinho to play him tonight consider a; we were playing on the counter and b; he hasn't kicked a football competitively in weeks.

Very good performance tonight, but I have to say I expected him to make all of those saves. That's how much confidence I have in him. Matuidi header - arguably should catch it but he parried it well away from danger. Ibrahimovic first header - very unorthodox to kind of slap it away, but it got the job done. Cavani first header - arguably going to hit the post but you can't afford to take the risk. Did well to read the situation, especially as there was no defender on the post. Cavani second header/goal - no chance with it, headed down into the ground and all the time in the world to pick his spot. He has every right to be disgusted with his defence. Ibrahimovic one-on-one - again he should make the save and he did, and got the stroke of luck he deserved with JT/Dave's block. Luiz header - I don't actually think he touched it despite the referee giving a corner. But if he did, again its a save he should make. Ibrahimovic second header - he did well as it was headed into the ground, but again I had no doubts he'd make the save. I have no gripes over his performance, the one annoyance is the slap from Ibra's early header rather than making a catch or at least a traditional parry. He still looks a little edgy but his cross collection and dominance of his box was back to his usual standard. I wouldn't call this a particularly brilliant performance because this is what I expect from the second best goalkeeper in the world.

I thought he played okay in truth. Okay he lost Cavani for the goal but the whole defence fell asleep, hence why no-one turned around screaming and forming an inquest. The whole defence went to sleep, you can't pinpoint Cahill. Other than that he barely put a foot wrong.

Ill/returning from injury/playing in a position he's barely played in all season. Cut him some slack.

Merci mon amis.

Branislav Ivanovic's header earned Chelsea a draw in the Parc des Princes to give the Blues a slender advantage in their UEFA Champions League tie with Paris St-Germain. The Serbian defender rose well to divert Gary Cahill's astute near post flick beyond Salvatore Sirigu ten minutes before half-time, only for Edinson Cavani to restore parity shortly after the interval with a header of his own. Chelsea, clearly set up to avoid defeat, began to drop deep and the hosts soon began to dominate possession, creating a number of decent opportunities that were wasted through a combination of poor finishing and an inspired performance by Blues goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian, under pressure following Petr Cech's heroics against Everton six days ago, made an excellent early save from Blaise Matuidi's close range header and then repeated the trick in stoppage time as he palmed away another headed attempt from Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic had earlier already produced a fine reaction stop from the Belgian goalkeeper, and alongside goalscorer Cavani he posed a significant threat to the Blues' unbeaten start to their Champions League campaign. There was no doubting that Chelsea, the top scorers in the group stages of this year's competition, would create opportunities, but this was a tight, tense and tactical affair where both teams afforded one another a visible degree of respect in a cagey opening period - those two early headed chances for the hosts aside. At the opposite end, Sirigu was virtually unemployed as the hapless Diego Costa demonstrated a lack of match fitness following his three-game domestic ban for an alleged stamp on Emre Can, and it always seemed as if the Blues were always that one incisive pass away from finding their isolated forward every time they drove forward on the counter attack. Two headers in the space of as many minutes epitomised this game of fine margins as Courtois, at one end, pushed aside a threatening Cavani effort that may have headed inside the near post but for the Belgian's intervention, whilst at the other Ivanovic added another fine headed goal to his European repertoire as he diverted Cahill's sumptuous flick into the top corner. That strike, crafted by the Chelsea defence, saw John Terry react first to a cleared corner. His poorly-hit cross was flicked on at the near post with great improvisation by Cahill, and Ivanovic rose well to plant a header into the roof of the net for a crucial away goal. But whilst the Blues' defence excelled in the offensive third of the pitch, they left a lot to be desired just ten minutes into second half when a completely unmarked Cavani was given free rein to effortlessly draw PSG level; netting from Matuidi's excellent delivery from out wide. Courtois then again foiled Ibrahimovic at close quarters, with a combination of Terry and Cesar Azpilicueta rescuing José Mourinho's men from Ezequiel Lavezzi's follow-up strike as Chelsea struggled for a foothold in the tie. Cesc Fabregas, absent for the last handful of matches and now nursing a cold, was struggling to cope with the pace of the dynamic PSG attack, and the French champions began to exploit the spaces in behind Ramires and Nemanja Matic. David Luiz, a big money signing for the French club from Chelsea last summer, netted an own goal in this fixture last season, and came close to earning his new side the lead when his header narrowly went over - but the greatest opportunity fell to Cavani who failed to capitalise on his own fleet-footedness inside the box when, after beating two defenders, he poked wide of Courtois' goal. There was one last opportunity for Courtois to impose himself on the game, making another fine save in stoppage time to parry away Ibrahimovic's header as he handed his team a microscopic advantage heading into the second leg in three week's time. This sub-par and introverted Chelsea performance, reminiscent of a poor showing in the first leg of their recent Capital One Cup semi-final with Liverpool, saw the Blues simply show far too much respect to a poor PSG side that, for all of its quality individuals, has struggled in Ligue Un this season; most recently surrendering a two-goal lead against lowly Caen last weekend. Whether by luck or by design, Chelsea will return to London with a positive result - one infinitely better than last season's second-half capitulation - but a far better performance with a greater degree of urgency will be of paramount importance if the Blues are to progress.

Unlike your previous post, the second part of this reply I can agree with.

Would that even be legal though? The club prohibits all resale of match tickets - selling them for a small profit for our "services" would piss them off even more IMO.

The lack of John Terry appreciation in this thread troubles me.

Too eloquent. I could slap you for how horrifically historically incorrect the second part of this statement is, but as Guillaume is my second-favourite English monarch I'll allow this to slide.

We need somewhere to showcase the fact our now-shitty, tiny little island nation founded the greatest empire in world history! We Brits don't have much to shout about these days. Our Prime Minister is all for the privileged elite and doesn't care for the peasantry, i.e. the middle and working classes; we're shit at all the sports we invented; the political system has caused such disillusionment that Scotland wants to fuck off and become an independent country (but still use our currency, health service, etc.); our education system is in sheer decline and we're literally having to pay people to go to university because nobody can afford it; fat bastards living off the state on benefits earn get paid more in a week than honest people can earn in a month, which sums up the horrific entitlement culture that is rife across parts of the nation; our weather is fucking shit; and we're the most apologetic race of people on the planet - a typical Englishman would probably apologise to you after you hit him with a brick (although conversely there are quite a few places in England where if you did that, said Englishman would get back up and beat you to death with a bigger brick. British, and especially English people, are almost afraid to celebrate their Britishness. You don't see St. George's Day even mentioned on the national news in case the Cross offends anyone because of its Crusades connotations. The only time we get to express any sort of national pride is in once-in-a-generation events like when we hosted the best damned Olympics since when the fucking Ancient Greeks did it, other than that we're ever such a chirpy nation. So excuse the nostalgia! [/rant] I'll get a lot of shit for this post but it sums up the frustrations of the working class youth these days, which I'd associate myself with.

If it wasn't Cech, and if Cech himself wasn't so close to the record, there would be next to no rotation, of course.