Closed Sporting Lisbon v Chelsea

[TheChelseaDane 48]

Whoever's playing tonight, I'm sure that Mourinho will play who he thinks right for this match. After Mou told the press that Costa barely trains with the squad, it would of course be nice to see him get a rest so he can be fully integrated in the squad as well. But the man is scoring and scoring, so if Mou sees him fit enough for this match - he should play! Personally I would have loved to see Remy in the starting XI, but that's only because I feel he deserves it, and that the last thing I want to see is a forced injury on Costa.

I understand Mou keeping with Thibaut also. The kid hasn't got the greatest start in the prem with conceding a handful of goals. BUT, he is our 1'st keeper, and more important of all; our future. Playing Petr now, in a game like this could get Thibaut shaky, which is the last thing we need.

[ChelseaFC12 134]

We need to start our strongest line up, and try to win the game as early as possible.

The fcuk? We've lost Lamps and Cole! They were both huge players in terms of experience. That's why Jose brought Drogba in Chelsea again because he'll provide much needed experience plus inspiration to the team who relatively very young. He's a very big presence in the dressing room.

Plus I wouldn't be surprised if Drogba is the reason and helped Costa settled in the league so easily. Oh and it's not like Torres was any better than him.

[Special Juan 27,103]

So, Costa starting tomorrow, great news even though Remy must be a tad disapointed. Understandable that Mou is playing Costa, since the game is a must win.

Can't not play Costa for me, he flying right now and a game changer all on his own......Haven't said that about a striker for Chelsea in a while.

[Granny Smith 19]

Greetings from Alvalade!

Today is the day! You should expect a very difficult game, with Sporting again in CL we want to win every game at home, you also should expect a great ambient from Sporting fans.

Besides the game, I hope you enjoy Lisbon, it's a nice city with good places to know, like Sintra, Belem, Baixa Chiado, etc... I also hope you feel welcome, we are opponents only in the field!

Later I'll be there, and before the game I expect to drink some beers with you!

Sporting in Portugal,

Chelsea in England!

Go Blues! :blue scalf:

[boshman 1,073]

I would like to see it, him and Matic could provide defensive stabilty and allow Cesc to play further up. I think with our leaky defense it would be worth a shot. He played really well vs Bolton.

Bolton at home in the 3rd round of the League Cup is a little different to Sporting away in an important CL game, mate. Jose is a cautious manager as it is, he won't risk playing someone with no CL experience in this game. Oscar will play over Ake.

This is a big game tonight. Grab the 3 points tonight and with the two Maribor games coming up we should take 6 points from that on paper. 10 from 4 with one home game to play. We should be there. Have to take the 3 tonight though first and it won't be easy. Strongest possible line up for me.

Tibo

Iva, Cahill, JT, Dave

Matic, Cesc,

Willian, Oscar, Hazard

Costa (I would have picked Remy and saved Diego for Sunday but Jose has already said he will start )

[Hostedenis 556]

Greetings from Alvalade!

Today is the day! You should expect a very difficult game, with Sporting again in CL we want to win every game at home, you also should expect a great ambient from Sporting fans.

Besides the game, I hope you enjoy Lisbon, it's a nice city with good places to know, like Sintra, Belem, Baixa Chiado, etc... I also hope you feel welcome, we are opponents only in the field!

Later I'll be there, and before the game I expect to drink some beers with you!

Sporting in Portugal,

Chelsea in England!

Go Blues! :blue scalf:

What a great post by a supporter of the other team. We are opponents on the field only, exactly! I would love to be there but I can't, but if I were going I would definitely look you up and buy you a beer!

[cfcFOREVER 0]

Hi everyone! I'm a lifelong passionate Chelsea fan and former Season Ticket Holder at the Bridge. I'm a brand new member of this Forum. I'm off to Lisbon on holiday, arriving this Wednesday (1st October). Although I unfortunately won't be there for tonight's match against Sporting Portugal (what a pity!), I'd like to know if anyone knows of any places where there may still be some fellow Blues fans congregating in Lisbon city Centre that I could meet and have a drink with ? I assume some will already have returned to the UK on the morning flights, but I have a whole afternoon to 'kill' before my mate arrives on a later flight. I assume there's the usual Irish bars/English pubs in the city. Some Forum users may even have attended the Benfica CL Quarter Final in Lisbon in 2012 so may well know some good places to go. Below are 2 Irish bars I looked up in Central Lisbon with very central locations ... (of course, often popular with foreign football fans!):

* Hennessy's Irish Pub (Cais do Sodre 12)

* Galloping Hogan's (near Terreiro do Paco Metro Station)

I also assume some fans will gather in Lisbon's 3 main squares: Praça Restauradores, Rossio & Comércio.

Many thanks for any help anybody can provide me! Up the Blues!

[Granny Smith 19]

I don't know if there's gonna be many Chelsea fans tomorrow in Lisbon, but I believe if they gather somewhere it's gonna be in "Rossio".

I'm off work today at 4:30PM and I'm thinking about going there (Rossio) to have some beers. If there's anyone here about going to please, say something!

[TheChelseaDane 48]

Can't not play Costa for me, he flying right now and a game changer all on his own......Haven't said that about a striker for Chelsea in a while.

Hell, if Costa could play 90 minutes every time, I would be thrilled - Having that in mind, there are clearly some issues with his physical presence. As I wrote earlier, the last thing we want is a forced injury upon him due to too much playtime. But, we must assume that he is fit for fight, and Mou knows what he is doing..

[AndersonBLUE 819]

He doesn't want him totally absent from Champions League games in case we make it further in the competition (where we will definitely need him). It's not like the domestic cup where you can play virtually a B team untill the final.

[nono 791]

Excited to watch the game against Sporting Lesbian.

[LAM09 6,551]

The fcuk? We've lost Lamps and Cole! They were both huge players in terms of experience. That's why Jose brought Drogba in Chelsea again because he'll provide much needed experience plus inspiration to the team who relatively very young. He's a very big presence in the dressing room.

Plus I wouldn't be surprised if Drogba is the reason and helped Costa settled in the league so easily. Oh and it's not like Torres was any better than him.

I have no idea why you are quoting my post.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Can't wait.

[iceboy 992]

Dp

[lionsden 4,689]

I know it's a must win match but I still feel Jose shouldn't take the risk of starting Costa. Remy, contrary to some opinion on here is a good technical striker that's reliable enough to start against Sporting. An when on form can be very deadly indeed, so we should have started with him instead and keep Costa on ice for the arsenal game.

[thekid9 418]

what a pointless comment from a kid. We lost veteran leadership, Drogba makes perfect sense because he is a big personality in the dressing room. He is CHELSEA! He knows what it means to win at this club! That's why he's back... Meanwhile Torres is still running around like a headless chicken in Milan. GTFO, Drogba's a legend! his presence alone is more than enough.

Ok cool, we signed a personality....great, they score lots of goals man!

and what is your INCESSANT need to bring up Torres when I never farming mentioned him? :l you do it everytime....he's your fall guy! get some new material.

but since you mentioned him...pretty sure he got Man of the match in his first game and scored a cracking header! guessing you just chose not to notice that though!

what has DD done since he came back........Oh yeah..."run about like a headless chicken" about sums it up.

Legend yes...but should NEVER have come back.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Ok cool, we signed a personality....great, they score lots of goals man!

and what is your INCESSANT need to bring up Torres when I never farming mentioned him? :l you do it everytime....he's your fall guy! get some new material.

but since you mentioned him...pretty sure he got Man of the match in his first game and scored a cracking header! guessing you just chose not to notice that though!

what has DD done since he came back........Oh yeah..."run about like a headless chicken" about sums it up.

Legend yes...but should NEVER have come back.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/11130420/Didier-Drogba-has-job-for-life-at-Chelsea-when-he-finishes-playing-days-claims-Jose-Mourinho.html

Read that. Educate yourself.

You also forgot to mention El Nino's missed sitter at the weekend... Oh ya he still does that every other match too!

[thekid9 418]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/11130420/Didier-Drogba-has-job-for-life-at-Chelsea-when-he-finishes-playing-days-claims-Jose-Mourinho.html

Read that. Educate yourself.

You also forgot to mention El Nino's missed sitter at the weekend... Oh ya he still does that every other match too!

Yeah and scored a cracker.....Drogba is one of the reasons we didn't score against Schalke,he hasn't got the pace to get in behind and missed a sitter! we all know had costa or Remy started we would have won! they came on when it was too late, but created about 3/4 more shots than DD did the whole game.

He's just not got the pace to play in a Chelsea team now...It's changed days and styles since he last played well for us.

He may be a great Legend to have for experience,personality etc...but as a player...I'd much rather have a young talent