Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Matchday 4 sees the return of Roma and Chelsea squaring off and if their clash at Stamford Bridge is anything to go by then we should hopefully be in for a cracker. West London played host to a titanic clash between the two sides which ended in a six goal thriller.
That 3-3 draw would be illuminated by the second half volley by Edin Dzeko which had even the most ardent Chelsea fan purring in appreciation. The former Manchester City forward let the ball drop over his left shoulder but never took his eye of the ball as he hit a sumptuous volley past Thibaut Courtois to the delight of the traveling fans.
It would prove to be the first of two goals for the Bosnian international that night as his header looked like it had completed a magical comeback from 2-0 down. With the game turned on its head and Roma now 3-2 ahead it looked as if they were was going to be something of a smash and grab by the Romans.
Unfortunately it was not meant to be as Eden Hazard’s strike meant these two clubs had to make do with a share of the points as Antonio Conte‘s men find themselves top of Group C with seven points from the first nine available and two points clear of Roma in second.
Chelsea are perhaps one win away from already booking their place in the Round of 16, although it would require Atletico Madrid slipping up at home to Qarabag tonight also. But with Diego Simeone’s men only on two points from their opening three matches it has to be a question of when and not if Chelsea move onto the knockouts.
The pressure will arguably be more on Roma as if Atletico Madrid as expected pick up a win against Qarabag then the two sides will be level on points with two matches to go, therefore you could argue that is not really a win or bust situation for the Blues.
They have recently been on their travels with a weekend jolly to the South Coast seeing them go to Bournemouth and pick up all three points thanks to an Eden Hazard second half strike. The scoreline may well have looked a slender one but to be fair Chelsea were never really troubled bar a late flurry from Eddie Howe’s men.
It is a win that sees them close the gap to Tottenham in the Premier League to just a point but they still find themselves nine points behind Manchester City, the question is whether or not you can see Pep Guardiola’s men dropping that many points this season.
There may not be an official line coming out of Stamford Bridge in regards to waving the white flag in Premier League terms but there may well be the belief that the focus could well be winning a first Champions League since 2012.
There’s just 12 matches left to play in any potential Champions League campaign this season and it may well make the most sense to travel down that path and put more eggs in the European basket, they won’t want to admit that the title race has already been given up but success in this competition would certainly soften the blow.
I think Roma will not make it easy especially if their first meeting is anything to go on, therefore I can see this matching the outcome of a fortnight ago. Perhaps not so many goals but a well earned point for Chelsea as they stay top of the group.
