TorontoChelsea

That reaction is ridiculous IMO. There were only 7 possible opponents and 3 of them (Barca, Madrid, and Bayern) would be extremely difficult and 2 more (Dortmund and Juventus) would be very hard as well. Malaga and Galatasaray were the easy draws but they only had a 28.6% chance of getting one of those teams. It's not like there were 7 possible draws and 6 of them were against mediocre teams and they got Barcelona. Arsenal, ManU, and Milan got unlucky in the draw last stage because there were a lot of mediocre teams still around but this is the CL quarter-finals, it should be difficult.

One other issue I forgot to mention is the need for a system change. (from a new manager with his own ideas). We talk about getting new strikers in which we will and we need but the system we play now makes it almost impossible for a striker to succeed. This is the third straight season where we aren't likely to have a striker top 11 or so goals. That's not just Torres. It's Anelka, Drogba, and Ba. Sure, some of this is Torres' awfulness, but some of it is that we play a system where strikers aren't able to succeed. I think for the long-term success of a club, it's important that this changes.

Pivot is an issue but not our only one. To my mind, we have three major issues. One, is the pivot. We lack a deep-lying midfielder, someone who can distribute from the centre of the pitch and also contribute enough defensively to make a difference. We also lack width up front. I like Moses, but I think it's more likely he plays a squad role (which is still very important) than a regular starting XI player in the future. Probably too early to tell, but it's my gut feeling. Hazard, Mata, Oscar, and De Bruyne all like to play/are best suited for attacking central midfield. How can we accommodate four players into what should be two spots (the third should really go to a natural winger). Maybe De Bruyne or Oscar could be made into a central midfielder which would help us in two spots but it's not a given that either would succeed. Our third major problem is a lack of an elite central defender. We've had such great defenders for so long-Terry, Carvalho, Desailly, and Leboeuf dominated our central defence for about 15 years and now we need someone younger than Terry to step up and be that next defensive force or we likely need to buy someone who can be.

Anyone can beat anyone, but we'd be heavily favoured. We are the fifth ranked team in UEFA's coefficient. Kazan is 42nd. I don't think they have a single player who would play regularly for Chelsea. Rondon was a servicable striker in Spain and M'Vila is an overrated headcase. I'm not saying we're going to win, but this is not Spurs or Lazio or even Benfica in terms of talent.

Bayern-Juve looks like the best game. Hard to see Dortmund, Barcelona, and Madrid not getting through.

One of the easiest draws we could get. They are the sixth place team in a crappy league. They had one big win at Athletico but a season's worth of mediocrity is more indicative of their ability than one game. An easy win at home (especially without conceding) would allow Chelsea to rest some players on the way leg and maybe not even subject them to the travel.

Lots of people outside England can go to regular games if you live on continental Europe. Anyway, the expectations of supporters at games is absurd. It's fine to have that screaming at the top of your lungs all the time feeling when you're 15 years old but when you're married with a couple of kids and working 45 hours a week, worried about making ends meet,tired all the time etc...you might like to go to a game with your son, you might like to go to a game with mates as a nice night out. The super-pumped screaming fan all the time stage slows down a lot as real life comes in and you only can get that excited for massive matches. That's why you will always have great atmosphere against Arsenal or Spurs or ManU or in the CL knockout stage, but won't all the time. It's the same with everyone. It's not some massive problem. It's normal.

Well, that makes a massive difference. Ryanair and Easyjet are amazing for cheap European flights. Wish something like that existed for longer ones.

400 Euros from Canada? The flight alone will be more than that and that's not including hotel, food, and tickets. If you wanted to see a couple of gamee (say Spurs and Sunderland at home April 6 and 14th) you're talking about $2,000 just the flight and hotels. You add in food, other transportation, touring, and tickets, and you're talking about $3K for a week and that's without being extravagant .

As @the only place to be put it in another thread, if you don't like the atmosphere, you can always buy tickets and go. It was a cold Thursday night in a crappy tournament against an uninteresting opposition. The tournament was vastly more important for Bucharest who have no hope in hell of ever winning the CL again but for us, we won the best club trophy in the world last year and we're expected to get excited by a glorified Intertoto Cup?

We pervs...It's not like I knew of this site before but it will definitely make for some interesting research. From the same site since she's been talked about a lot on here recently. http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/03/30-things-you-didnt-know-about-mila-kunis/

Favourite porno actress? Don't really have one. I like either the Clara Morgane type (really really hot) or the Sasha Gray type where you know they're just filthy and are going to get a good show. This might interest you pervs... http://www.complex.com/girls/2011/07/the-top-100-hottest-porn-stars/

Lazio is 6th in Seria A and Rubin Kazan is 6th in Russia. Chelsea and Spurs are both better. Benfica is a decent club for sure, but not a top side. We could lose to anyone but there isn't a team we should lose to but that's the nature of the Europa League. Spurs would be the worst for me because it would make us play a very strong lineup because of our rivalry and we'd all hate to lose to them.

Happy to win because of those annoying fans who were on here, but I still hate this tournament. Look at the 8 teams left, which team would be a major accomplishment to beat? The two best teams left in the tournament are Chelsea and Spurs so even if we do well, we're just beating teams we should be beating anyway. I'd rather win it than not, but not if the cost is going to be playing a regular starting XI. Mata easy MOTM to me. Hazard and Cole were excellent as well and Cech and Torres put in good games but...Mata had a goal and 2 assists. We won 3-1 and Mata was involved in every goal. No other player was involved in more than 1 goal and neither Cole nor Hazard were involved in scoring at all and the game is about results.

I chose Modric but not because of his experience in the EPL but because he has shown that he can be an excellent player in it.

Well, we're through but at the cost of almost all our starters playing a full game. It might not matter, but it might.

Oh Fernando...there goes his confidence again.

Penalty!

Ha! Announcer just called Hazard a "Frenchman".

Torres!!!!

Cole is having a great game.

The Captain!!!

Chelsea need 2 more now.

Mata!

http://www.kakibara.com/watch/live/stream/online/free/tv/video/channel/feed/link/broadcast/vivo/gratis/p2p/diretta/1/541771/march-14-2013/chelsea-vs-steaua-bucharest.html