Chelsea crash out after Inter win in Champions League

Posted Wednesday, March 17, 2010 by theguardian.com

Chelsea crash out after Inter win in Champions League
Samuel Eto'o celebrates scoring Inter's goal against Chelsea in the Champions League Last-16 tie at Stamford Bridge.

José Mourinho returned to make one last mark on Chelsea's history. It is, to be precise, an ugly blot in the annals of the club. Internazionale ensured that they would be eliminated from the Champions League as early as the last 16 for the first time since 2006. The Portuguese has probably done even more profound harm to his old employers.

Chelsea disintegrated and Didier Drogba was sent off in the 87th minute when the referee, Wolfgang Stark, ruled that the Ivorian had stamped deliberately on Thiago Motta. There are greater issues than that to absorb the losers. The manager, Carlo Ancelotti, must sense some players are succumbing to wear and tear while othersare not cut out for this level. He might even have flinched when the visiting fans sang "Bye bye Carletto" at full-time.

When Premier League sensibilities are laid aside, there should be gladness that Inter performed with such focus. Europe's leading tournament badly needs to be enhanced again by the accomplishment once taken for granted and dreaded in Serie A sides. Fiorentina, let it be recalled, had already edged out Liverpool in the group phase.

Mourinho was victorious in every aspect. His system, with three forwards supported by the excellent Wesley Sneijder had Chelsea in distress. Inter also got back in numbers to deny the Stamford Bridge side any rhythm. With a 2-1 lead from San Siro, they did not even look as if they felt another goal was essential.

Just to make sure, they scored in any case. Sneijder released Samuel Eto'o 12 minutes from the end and the striker went clear of Branislav Ivanovic to shoot precisely beyond the right hand of the goalkeeper, Ross Turnbull. The Dutchman who devised that opportunity had an imagination and touch denied just about everyone else on the pitch, particularly those in Chelsea colours.

With Ancelotti's side still well placed in the Premier League, desolation ought not to engulf the club. It is more likely that a gnawing anxiety will be felt over the urgency of rebuilding for seasons ahead.

The side barely constituted a nuisance to Inter. Mourinho's position at Stamford Bridge had become untenable in the early autumn of 2007 because his pragmatic and almost world-weary style was no longer acceptable to the owner, Roman Abramovich. He is unlikely to have undergone a profound change of heart since then but is too shrewd not to know when boldness will pay dividends.

Mourinho observed afterwards that the selection of Ivanovic and Yuri Zhirkov, who are makeshift full-backs because of injuries to others, made it certain that Inter would put the emphasis on attack.That adventurousness brought about stalemate in the first half. Chelsea were not sufficiently imaginative and Inter were initially patient. Even then Maicon, the Brazil right-back, was at ease and could get involved in the kind of build-up that saw him link with Eto'o after 33 minutes, with Michael Ballack having to cover Diego Milito as the ball was pulled back into the centre.

Ancelotti, despite having many of Mourinho's men still in the squad, is supposed to show that his outlook is fundamentally more enterprising. However, he is also charged with putting paid to visitors of this calibre. Following this defeat the scale of that task will be wholly apparent to the Chelsea manager.

There will be broad awareness now that neither the panache nor the durability exists to deal with this kind of ordeal. It will suit Mourinho's vanity to know that unflattering comparisons will be made with his spell at Chelsea. That tenure was far more than a period of well-executed tedium.

After all, victories tend to require risk and imagination at some point. At his peak with Chelsea, Mourinho had Arjen Robben and Damien Duff to devastate the opposition and delight the crowd. His timing was good, too, since those were the days when the Chelsea enterprise enraptured Abramovich and inspired him to unleash his wealth spectacularly.

Nowadays such means are not apparent even at Inter but Mourinho's summer dealings did bring more style to the Serie A club. When the side was removed by English opposition at this juncture in each of the previous two seasons, they did not score a goal against Liverpool or Manchester United. The determination to break with that sterility has now prevailed and the evolution had been visible in Inter's first-leg win. And it was Mourinho's scheme to put the opposition on edge with his trio of attackers at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea had trouble achieving fluency, particularly when there was so much difficulty in making an impact on the flanks. There was a messiness even to the complaints. Heated appeals broke out at set pieces when, for example, Walter Samuel had his arms round Drogba. Those are offences, yet it is rare for a referee to grant a penalty when it is tough for him to know who initiated this commonplace grappling.

All the same, everyone will be entirely clear that Chelsea never had a firm grip of Inter.