The final three spots in the second round of the Champions League will be filled after this week’s final round of group matches, with Chelsea unexpectedly among those still trying to qualify.
With 13 clubs already through to the next round, a haul of just one point from two matches has left Chelsea vying with AS Roma and Bordeaux for one of Group A’s top two spots.
The Blues are under pressure because of their curious home form this season, with a first Premier League loss in four years at Stamford Bridge swiftly followed by a second.
But Chelsea has at least managed to win both its home matches in the Champions League and hosts FCR Cluj on Tuesday, hoping the Romanian club’s inability to advance itself makes it an easy opponent.
”I think teams have come and put 10 players behind the ball and made it very difficult,” assistant coach Ray Wilkins said.
”At times we haven’t worked hard enough to prise it open but give credit to teams as well, they’ve worked out a plan to play against us and it’s up to us to go against that and we’ll get it back on track.”
Chelsea’s shaky home form
Chelsea’s Champions League form has been almost the total reverse of that in the Premier League, where its perfect away record has compensated for shaky home form to leave it second in the standings.
The Blues won 2-0 at Bolton on Saturday, with Nicolas Anelka again set to start up front after scoring his 15th goal of the season.
Bordeaux needs victory at a Roma team that needs only a draw to be sure.
Roma has rallied from a dismal start to the season with four straight Serie A wins, the last of which was secured Saturday by forward Jeremy Menez’s first club goal for a 1-0 win over last-place Chievo Verona.
”He has a lot of skill and quality, and instincts of a great player,” Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said.
”I knew he had talent, but I didn’t think he’d be this decisive this quickly.”
Roma is the only Italian team unsure of its status in the competition, with Inter Milan and Juventus already sure to advance.
But although Inter has won six straight in Serie A and top of Group B, coach Jose Mourinho will be hoping his team can produce a strong performance at Werder Bremen on Tuesday to finally mark the club out as a genuine contender.
The Nerazzurri needed a late equaliser to draw 3-3 with Anorthosis Famagusta and were beat 1-0 by Panathinaikos in their last outings.
The Greek team needs only to draw with visiting Anorthosis to join Inter in the next round ahead of the Cypriot side.
Keeping focus
”In Europe, the team hasn’t always remained focused, except for the first game,” Mourinho said. ”I’m expecting a reaction in the second round, so I can see what Inter is really worth outside Italy.”
Forward Julio Ricardo Cruz will miss the game with a leg muscle problem, but Mourinho has Adriano, Ricardo Quaresma, Mario Balotelli and Amantino Mancini in the squad to join Zlatan Ibrahimovic in attack.
Bremen fell to its fifth defeat of the season at Karlsruhe on Saturday and showed its frustration at the end of the match, when Claudio Pizarro was sent off for hitting an opponent.
”The way we played, we have no future,” said defender Per Mertesacker, clearly not expecting a positive result against Inter.
Also on Tuesday, in-form Barcelona hosts Shakhtar Donetsk with first place in Group C already secure, while last-place FC Basel hosts also-qualified Sporting Lisbon.
Group D qualifiers Atletico Madrid and Liverpool are at Marseille and PSV Eindhoven respectively.
By the time the other four groups play on Wednesday, all the second-round spots will have been decided.
Group E is settled, but for which of Manchester United and Villarreal finish top, with Aalborg already assured of third place and a Uefa Cup spot ahead of its visit to the defending champions.
Last-place Celtic hosts Villarreal.
Group H is similar, with Belarus’ Bate Borisov definitely set to finish last no matter what it does at Juventus, which will finish top if it avoids defeat.
Second-place Real Madrid hosts Zenit St. Petersburg.
Fenerbahce has to win at Dynamo Kiev if it is to stay in European competition, albeit in the Uefa Cup, while Arsenal will top Group G if it avoids defeat at FC Porto.
Lyon and four-time European champion Bayern Munich go head-to-head in France to decide which of them will finish as Group F winner, while Fiorentina needs only to stay unbeaten at Steaua Bucharest to secure a place in the second-tier Uefa Cup. — Sapa-AP