Closed Benfica 0-1 Chelsea

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

I want to preface my comments by saying that I haven't read any news headlines, haven't read any of the game-day thread, and haven't read any post game discussion in this thread. I just want to make comments based on my observations without being influenced one way or the other. If I end up way off base on anything I apologize in advance. Now that I got that out of the way......

Congrats to Chelsea for a well-earned victory in a tough environment. RDM has gigantic balls to come out with the starting 11 he did and I'm happy that it played out well for him. The boys were disciplined, well organized, and played a perfect Champions League away game. Luiz, my man, was fantastic. Torres did well, Kalou deserves a big high 5. Ashley Cole was immense, and Ramires was a man possessed out there. To be honest, I thought Chelsea gave Benfica a little too much respect and could've pushed the game a bit more but I guess the strategy was to keep a clean sheet and nick an away goal, and who am I to argue with that.

I have to say something about Mr. Gary Neville. As a Benfica fan he made me want to throw up in my mouth many times throughout the game. I don't know who got to him, but he was riding Chelsea's ball-sack all game long and was the most biased commentator I have heard in ages. For a former Man U player to be so pro-Chelsea was shocking to begin with but some of his observations were so over the top it was ridiculous. Also, some of the little facts and stats that were thrown out by these clowns trying to "inform" the viewer about Benfica were just plain wrong and they lost any credibility among anyone who actually knows anything about Benfica. There's no harm in saying that they are unfamiliar with the Portuguese side, but to read garbage about the team to try and prove they know something is an insult.

Regarding Benfica, I thought we deserved a better result and we didn't get any credit whatsoever from the commentary. We created a lot of chances and pinned Chelsea back for long periods in the second half. We had a ball cleared off the line, a blatant JT penalty denied, and had no bounces go our way. I thought Chelsea were very very smart to exploit our extremely weak link at LB. Normally Garay is there to help useless Emerson but he's been injured for a couple of weeks and his replacement Jardel is simply not good enough against stronger competition. Gaitan showed glimpses of brilliance and I maintain that he would be amazing in a Chelsea shirt.

Like I said before, I don't know what comments are out there, but I hope people are not very quick to write Benfica off. We were far from our best and played very timid and nervous in the first half. The real Benfica came out in the second half and could have easily popped one in. Next week will be a completely different game from both sides. Chelsea will be more open and attacking (I think) and Benfica will have less pressure playing away from home with nothing to lose. This tie is only halfway and I hope nobody is counting their chickens. You guys only caught a glimpse of what Benfica are capable of and the second leg is wide open.

I mean no disrespect with this post, I'm writing it from the point of view of a Benfica fan hoping to give you guys a different perspective. That doesn't make me any less of a Chelsea fan, I still love the blues, and I still hope the best team wins. If that's Chelsea I'll be extremely proud and will continue cheering them with everything in me!

The JT Handball was NEVER a Penalty, how on earth was he supposed to get his Arm out of the way, plus he had his arms by his side, not in an un-nautral position. Also you say you could have popped in a goal or two, well with my count Chelsea could have had 4-5 goals. Either way you look at it we outclassed Benfica, good going Forward and excellent resilience in Defense. I think we were always going to win at the Bridge, it was just this away tie that was a bit worrying, and now that we've knicked an away goal we will be very hard to beat at the Bridge. You could almost say we've got this in the Bag.

[communicate 2,703]

The JT Handball was NEVER a Penalty, how on earth was he supposed to get his Arm out of the way, plus he had his arms by his side, not in an un-nautral position. Also you say you could have popped in a goal or two, well with my count Chelsea could have had 4-5 goals. Either way you look at it we outclassed Benfica, good going Forward and excellent resilience in Defense. I think we were always going to win at the Bridge, it was just this away tie that was a bit worrying, and now that we've knicked an away goal we will be very hard to beat at the Bridge. You could almost say we've got this in the Bag.

Actually JT handball could be given as a penalty albeit a harsh one because his hand was not down.

[Blue Armour 4,168]

The JT Handball was NEVER a Penalty, how on earth was he supposed to get his Arm out of the way, plus he had his arms by his side, not in an un-nautral position. Also you say you could have popped in a goal or two, well with my count Chelsea could have had 4-5 goals. Either way you look at it we outclassed Benfica, good going Forward and excellent resilience in Defense. I think we were always going to win at the Bridge, it was just this away tie that was a bit worrying, and now that we've knicked an away goal we will be very hard to beat at the Bridge. You could almost say we've got this in the Bag.

Simple. His arm was never supposed to be in the way. That's why we see Ivanovic and Luiz tie their hands behind their backs when blocking a shot or cross. That being said, it was a 50-50 and would have been harsh were it given

[robdog 2,084]

Liverpool won it back in 2005, perhaps we can do the same this season.

Please resist the urge to compare CFC to l'puke. I know your boy Lucas is on l'puke, but do me that one favor...obrigado

[Madmax 9,219]

I see some experts here are not satisfied with an away win in a QF tie against a team of Benfica's quality. Yes the buildup play wasn't pretty (in fact it was dire-bordering-on-non existent in the second half) but the team was sent out there with a plan, which they've adhered to and evidently got an excellent result. Perhaps it is too bitter a pill to swallow for these guys that the caretaker manager played his cards exceedingly well, especially after putting out a team they were hard pressed to agree with. If it were Mourinho in the dug out rather than the caretaker, it would be hailed as tactical genius.

I like triangles in midfield and crisp, precise, penetrating passing as much as the next guy but excuse me if the season so far and observing this bunch of players at close quarters has led me to feel quite thrilled whenever they're able to pull off results like the one yesterday. I'll savour the moment while you bitter fellas stew over inconsequential details. Cheers.

[Swedish House Mafia 508]

Prior to the match, Benfica had scored in their last 65 home games.

[kingofchelseadom 41]

Ah yes, love it when CFC wins these type of contests. 1-0 scrappy encounter away. Yummy. Tastes good.

[The Rising Sun 696]

feel so happy for Kalou !!!

a nice win for the blues ... Torres getting sharper and sharper by the day.

good play from Luiz and some really crucial saves from Cech even though they might be regarded as regular ones!

Hope we don't squander this precious away goal at SB

edit : almost forgot was also happy to see PF play ... and i think he did really well !

Haha.... The Funny and greatly Ironic part about this is that he will probably be on the bench for the next game.

He has to start from square one every game and try and build momentum .... and he probably knows he is sitting on the bench against Aston Villa.

Wierd Conundrum our club is under ATM.

[The Rising Sun 696]

double post.

[The Rising Sun 696]

Torres has had 3 good games in a row now, but he had a similar run early in the season and then promptly went on a 20 match streak of utter wank. For me, the jury's still out on him.

That was when AVB was the manager and the entire team looked like they wanted to retire..... This time around there is more dynamism,optimism and the players are more of a team.....

Most importantly, you gotta respect Di matteo for the way he has managed to give every player enough playing time, rather than AVB who dished out the same players every week.... NOw every players knows he will get his chance and works for it....

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

Pretty drab match, but I'm satisfied with our win and the clean sheet and how organized we were.

Anyway, what happened to Jeff?

[Jase 43,479]

Just 2 votes for Ferreira?!

[Strike 6,965]

weird isn't it....avb got a lot of stick for a rotating policy but now rdm is being hailed.....maybe because rdm has the fixture congestion reason up his sleeve

also drogba and torres seem to be alternating every other game....so are sturridge and kalou, cahill-luiz, essien-mikel, meireles-lampard....

is it a case of over-rotation? or keeping everybody fresh

[Jase 43,479]

weird isn't it....avb got a lot of stick for a rotating policy but now rdm is being hailed.....maybe because rdm has the fixture congestion reason up his sleeve

also drogba and torres seem to be alternating every other game....so are sturridge and kalou, cahill-luiz, essien-mikel, meireles-lampard....

is it a case of over-rotation? or keeping everybody fresh

One reason for that is because RDM's team selection worked whereas AVB's didn't but the main difference IMO is the approach that AVB and RDM took. The former was too gung-ho, attack minded and seem to keen to play attacking football without taking the opposition's strength into mind that it left the team exposed as seen against Napoli. On the other hand, RDM was more pramagtic in his approach and had a proper game plan to grind out results. Not entertaining but at least we looked more solid and less vulnerable under RDM.

[Strike 6,965]

One reason for that is because RDM's team selection worked whereas AVB's didn't but the main difference IMO is the approach that AVB and RDM took. The former was too gung-ho, attack minded and seem to keen to play attacking football that it left the team exposed as seen against Napoli. On the other hand, RDM was more pramagtic in his approach and had a proper game plan to grind out results.

yep And i hear eddie newton has been a big help tactically

[Au blues 29]

One reason for that is because RDM's team selection worked whereas AVB's didn't but the main difference IMO is the approach that AVB and RDM took. The former was too gung-ho, attack minded and seem to keen to play attacking football that it left the team exposed as seen against Napoli. On the other hand, RDM was more pramagtic in his approach and had a proper game plan to grind out results.

Fair point but I think that RDM has actually balanced his sides v the teams he has played against! Used the cattle at his disposal relevant to the game.I think tbh that AVB At times was on the FIFA play station versus what's on the line today!

[Jase 43,479]

yep And i hear eddie newton has been a big help tactically

Really? Well, it's always good to have an assistant who can help out with that.

Fair point but I think that RDM has actually balanced his sides v the teams he has played against! Used the cattle at his disposal relevant to the game.I think tbh that AVB At times was on the FIFA play station versus what's on the line today!

Yeah. RDM basically played more to the strength of the players we've got than AVB. He tried to implement his style of play but ultimately failed because our players are not suited to it.

[sololamaglia 27]

Hi blues! I couldn't watch the game so I just came to congrats for the victory! It's always tough to win at Da Luz....