Malouda slams Chelsea for showing Inter too much respect
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MATCH REPORT: CHELSEA 0 INTER 1 (AGG: 1-3)
Posted on: Tue 16 Mar 2010Samuel Eto'o scored the game's only goal with time already ticking away from Chelsea, who saw Didier Drogba sent off after clashing with Thiago Motta inside the final five minutes.
It was a frustrating evening at Stamford Bridge, as despite dominating much of the possession.
It means another year of frustration in Europe, but things could have been different had first-half penalty shouts from Drogba and Branislav Ivanovic and Malouda been answered.
With the tie delicately poised from the first leg in Milan three weeks earlier, a 1-0 Chelsea win would have been enough for progression, but an Inter goal would mean Chelsea needed three.
Fit again Yury Zhirkov replacing the unregistered Paulo Ferreira was the only change made by Carlo Ancelotti to the starting 11 that beat West Ham on Saturday, but Mourinho's side represented a sturdier barrier to break down, and were also likelier to offer a testing examination of third choice goalkeeper Ross Turnbull.
The Portuguese made just one change himself from the side that prevailed in Lombardy, Goran Pandev replacing Dejan Stankovic, suggesting a shift to 4-3-3 as demonstrated in the closing stages of that first meeting.
Inter kicked off attacking the Matthew Harding end, but the first drama of the evening came in front of the Shed, Florent Malouda blocked off by a static Lucio on the edge of the Inter box. Nothing was given by referee Wolfgang Stark of Germany. The mind couldn't help but wander back to May last year, when numerous appeals were turned away as Barcelona went through at Chelsea's expense.
Michael Ballack, one of the main protagonists on that evening last spring, was the first to gain a sight of goal, flashing a low drive past Julio Cesar's right-hand post, close enough to temporarily hush a boisterous home support.
On 16 minutes Drogba lined up a 35-yard free-kick after Lucio had raised his foot on Malouda, his shot straight into the wall, and then 10 minutes later the same player was denied by Maicon as he shot from inside the area.
The Nerazzurri were limiting Chelsea's forward play effectively, denying the Blues space and time in midfield and not allowing the full-backs sufficient room in which to attack on the flanks, Maicon particularly impressive against Zhirkov.
On the front foot the Brazilian picked out an unmarked Eto'o just after the half-hour, the Cameroonian forward in a state of shock as the ball reached him, heading into the ground and over the bar as Branislav Ivanovic tried to make ground after john Terry was beaten.
In the Inter area Ivanovic was felled by a Motta tug, but again no whistle. There was however when Alex tripped Eto'o just over 30 yards out, making it Wesley Sneijder's turn to send a powerful drive directly into a defensive wall.
Five minutes before the break Malouda did superbly to wriggle inside the Inter area and create space to shoot on his favoured left side, yet from nowhere emerged a sliding Lucio to divert the shot away. Within a minute Nicolas Anelka also found space as Drogba found him inside the area, but Cesar was quick to smother the chance.
At the resultant corner Walter Samuel had both arms wrapped around Drogba as both men went to ground, but again there was no penalty awarded. Mourinho himself was always a fan of conspiracies, Ancelotti and Ray Wilkins looked like they were starting to wonder.
Half-time came and went without changes, the first action of the second half being a yellow card for Motta after a block on Malouda. Again Drogba lined up the dead ball, and this time his shot did find its way through, but was far too tame to trouble Cesar.
Inter were still threatening on the counter, and again Eto'o could have put his side in front on the night, but allowed Zhirkov to backtrack and remove the threat.
Malouda's low shot was turned around the post by Cesar on 51 minutes, before Stark issued three yellow cards in as many minutes, to Malouda, Lucio and finally Drogba.
Zhirkov showed his defensive worth again just before the hour as he challenged Goran Pandev, who had been put through by Sneijder, and then Turnbull had to be alert to hold Diego Milito's close range shot.
With time just beginning to ebb away, Ancelotti made his first substitution, Joe Cole for Ballack in an unmistakably attacking switch. In the other technical area Mourinho began to grow animated, urging his full-backs to concentrate on defence rather than attack.
Milito dragged a golden opportunity wide on 65 minutes after Sneijder had caught the Chelsea sub flat-footed, stealing in and chipping the ball beyond a Chelsea defence wrongly looking to play offside, and then Motta headed the Dutchman's free-kick over the bar when well placed.
Inter looked to have grasped control of the tie. With 20 minutes left what more could Chelsea offer?
Ancelotti made another sub, Zhirkov was withdrawn, Malouda moved to left-back and Salomon Kalou introduced as another attacking option. Mourinho countered by replacing Pandev with Stankovic, the Serb dropping into central midfield.
Kalou's first contribution was to cut inside a challenge and fire wide from 30 yards. Wasteful it may have been, but it at least offered hope.
That hope was quickly diminished with 13 minutes remaining, when another accurate Sneijder through ball, this time from his own half, was seized upon by Eto'o. One of the best strikers in the world, he rarely misses twice and so it proved as he guided the ball past Turnbull and into the bottom corner, the nearest defender Ivanovic unable to make up enough ground.
Two goals were needed just to force extra time. Alex was moved up front as a focal point, but before he could have any impact Chelsea lost Drogba to a red card, after the Ivorian tangled with Thiago Motta in the Inter area. Replays suggested very little had gone on, though he may have trodden on the midfielder's leg.
By now Inter were in the ascendancy, and Eto'o could have doubled the lead in injury time, only for Turnbull to produce a superb save to keep the deficit to one.
So another European dream ends in disappointment with question marks over the officiating, the focus now must be on domestic success. Ancelotti's job is to pick his men up in time for the weekend, when valuable Premier League points are at stake at Blackburn.
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i watched the match. yes, referee was seriously biased against chelsea.
chelsea player pulled down in inter penalty box, no penalty; yet give inter free kick? not once but few times too?!
but then chelsea did not play well. not aggressive enough. i think ancelotti's strategy is lousy. does not play fast attacking football more like start stop.
and of chelsea players, only 3 are scoring threats: drogba, lampard, malouda. seriously, the other strikers anelka, kalou, cole all suck. for a EPL contender, i think it is seriously lacking, esp when their best 3 goal scorers also are not as consistent as rooney.
and needless to say chelsea defence also got more and more problems. partly because of injuries: mikel << essien, zhirkov << ashley cole
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i did not watch the match but from recent BPL matches its pretty obvious chelsea are fast going downhill.
quite a few players are getting old. mikel has no attacking sense. malouda is lousy. ballack can only pass square. lampard is over the hill. terry is distracted. ferriera is medicore.
is ancelotti good enough for the BPL? no denying he is good in italy. but then BPL and italian league are very different.
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Chelsea was doing fine until Ballack was substituted for Joe Cole, It was a bad substitution made by Ancelloti. Most of Chelsea players are aging, not as fast as 5 years back when Mourinho was their manager. Ancelloti should rest some of the key players against west ham so that they have enough rest to prepare fot the match against Inter.
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chelsea broke the trend, english teams should normally be able to win.
but well, this is football.
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I'm the enemy and I won! Revenge for Jose Mourinho, shame for Didier Drogba as Inter Milan KO Chelsea
And you said you wouldn't celebrate! Jose Mourinho reacts to Inter Milan's winning goal on the touchline
Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea in triumph last night and sent Carlo Ancelotti and his team crashing out of the Champions League.
Samuel Eto'o scored the only goal of a stormy game at Stamford Bridge to give Inter Milan a 3-1 aggregate win, but there were echoes of Chelsea's ugly demise at the hands of Barcelona last year.
Didier Drogba was sent off in the closing minutes after clashing with Thiago Motta and John Terry was seen to shout obscenities at the fourth official as he left the pitch at the end.
Mourinho said of Chelsea: 'This is a team that lost a semi-final with a goal that was not a goal, lost a semi-final on penalties, lost a final on penalties, lost a semi-final in a game they should win 3-0 with three penalties. This is the history of this club and these players. It is a history of frustration.
'Tonight, they felt immediately that Inter were the best team and this brings frustration to great players. These are my players, my people but today I was the enemy and the enemy won.
'I celebrated a lot in the dressing room. It was a big victory for my team. I love Chelsea, I love this stadium, I love these people but I am a professional.
Sent off: Didier Drogba (centre) had a torrid time against Inter's robust defence
'Who knows, in the future I may coach another English team and I will come here again as an opponent.' Mourinho revealed he had texted Terry on the eve of the game to say 'someone would be sad'.
Chelsea's players complained bitterly about two penalties not given in the first half, about Drogba's red card and a stamp by Dejan Stankovic on Alex which was missed by referee Wolfgang Stark.
But Inter deserved their win and Ancelotti was dignified in defeat. He said: 'We were never fully in control. Inter put us under a lot of pressure, won the ball a lot in midfield and were dangerous on the break, so there were only short periods when we were in control.
'I want to say best wishes to Inter because I have nothing against Mourinho or against Inter.'
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich walked alone across the pitch to the dressing room after the game as Inter fans sang Mourinho's name.
Winner: Eto'o (left) celebrates after scoring past Chelsea keeper Turnbull
Abramovich sacked Mourinho two-and-a-half years ago and brought Ancelotti to the club to win the European Cup.
Ancelotti added: 'I've worked for a long time in this environment and I know exactly what the expectations are. It's normal that a manager is going to come under pressure if he loses a few matches. My regret is we didn't play as well this evening as we did in the first leg.'
Mourinho added: 'Roman is a very intelligent man. He is not the same man today he was when he first came into football. I am sure he accepts the situation with class because he knows Inter were the best team.'
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WOOHOO............another English team bites the dust..................hopefully Arsenal vs Man U in QF.............
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i wonder if RA regretted sacking mourinho.
hiddink is the only one left to break mourinho's record set at chelsea.
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To be fair, lots of Inter players were lucky to be on the pitch. Samuel rugby tackle on Drogba was simply awful. I dunno how the referee can miss that incident.
Kudos to Mourinho, whom so far, i've never seen him eat his own words.
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Liverpool can win inter
Chelsea cannot
Skeali Arsenal VS Inter Milan =.= -
Mourinho really own Ancelotti at the bridge with his formation. but then Mourinho was chelsea ex manager, who knows what kind of formation and choice of players (all except anelka and ivanovich) were all signed by him, so he kind of know what formation ancelotti would be employing. moreover cech was out injured, so he knew it was a good chance to win as cech has bailed chelsea out many a times and who the hell was ross turnbull anyway?
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Nothing surprising about this result.
Everyone was backing inter at asianbookie forum.
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Originally posted by gunner77:
Nothing surprising about this result.
Everyone was backing inter at asianbookie forum.
but what was surprising is that Inter dominated chelsea at their own den. i thouhgt chelsea would go all out to attack. probably ancelotti was taken aback by Mourinho's tactics and formation of attacking strategy. chelsea was lucky to lose 1-0.
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Who gives a damn about chelsea?
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cheque book time,Mr Roman...
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Originally posted by gunner77:
Who gives a damn about chelsea?
ya true, but the manner of their defeat is really...........no eyes see
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I was more surprise about the other result last night
Sevilla 1-2 CSKA
i thought sevilla stand a good chance of being the underdog this year.
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yea, alot of people expected mourinho to park the bus and play a defensive formation, but he sent out 3 strikers..and for some reason it seems like chelsea will never get penalties in europe.
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Originally posted by innosaint:Replays suggested very little had gone on, though he may have trodden on the midfielder's leg.
But the Ivory Coast international believes referee Wolfgang Stark made the wrong call following his clash with Thiago Motta.
Drogba said: "It's really difficult to take. Yes, I stepped on his calf but I don't think I deserved to be sent off.
"I guess these things happen and the only thing that matters is that we are out of the competition."
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Poor game loh. Wrong game plan that Ancelotti had.
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Originally posted by Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1):
Liverpool can win inter
Chelsea cannot
Skeali Arsenal VS Inter Milan =.=
Man U also lahx. -
If I am not wrong, I think the whole Inter starting 11 were not Italians... lol...
Personally, I think Chelsea had the better players but Lotti lost to Mourinho in the tactics and motivational part... The Inter players looked like they had purpose and kept running but Chelsea's just wasn't working last night... strange...
And also I thought Inter could have easily given a penalty away too but it didn't happen...
And the biggest mourinho trade mark last night... The Inter players touch a bit and they fall and roll around or hold their legs or cover their faces in pain to waste time...
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Florent Malouda slams Chelsea for showing Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan too much respect
Frustration: Malouda (right) could find no way through the Inter defence
Chelsea winger Florent Malouda believes his team-mates gave Inter Milan too much repect in their Champions league last-16 tie.
Samuel Eto'o scored the only goal in the second leg at Stamford Bridge to send the Italians, managed by ex-Blues boss Jose Mourinho, through to Friday's quarter-final draw.
Frenchman Malouda said: 'It was a difficult night for us and we are all disappointed. We had to be stronger than that to go through but we have to give credit to Inter and wish them luck.
'They are a good team and Italian champions so they deserve our respect – but I think we gave them too much.
Unite: Chelsea boss Ancelotti
'We failed so we have to analyse it with a cool head and think about that for the future.
'We have played semi-finals and finals over the past year and I still believe we can achieve things with this team. We have to concentrate now on the competitions we are left in.
'Now it’s over we have to think about the League. The best way to bounce back is to win the Championship.
'We have quality but we have to show it. It’s going to be difficult but we’re lucky because we’re still in a good position in the League and the FA Cup.
'We have to think about the way we reacted after the defeat to Barcelona last season and do the same because it can still be a wonderful season.
'We have to stay positive. We have to stay strong and we are all behind the manager.
'We didn’t use the potential of this squad but that’s life.'
Chelsea's misery was componded with Didier Drogba's red card for stamping on Thiago Motta but the Ivory Coast striker admitted the best team won.
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Originally posted by zocoss:
Florent Malouda slams Chelsea for showing Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan too much respect
Frustration: Malouda (right) could find no way through the Inter defence
Chelsea winger Florent Malouda believes his team-mates gave Inter Milan too much repect in their Champions league last-16 tie.
Samuel Eto'o scored the only goal in the second leg at Stamford Bridge to send the Italians, managed by ex-Blues boss Jose Mourinho, through to Friday's quarter-final draw.
Frenchman Malouda said: 'It was a difficult night for us and we are all disappointed. We had to be stronger than that to go through but we have to give credit to Inter and wish them luck.
'They are a good team and Italian champions so they deserve our respect – but I think we gave them too much.
Unite: Chelsea boss Ancelotti
'We failed so we have to analyse it with a cool head and think about that for the future.
'We have played semi-finals and finals over the past year and I still believe we can achieve things with this team. We have to concentrate now on the competitions we are left in.
'Now it’s over we have to think about the League. The best way to bounce back is to win the Championship.
'We have quality but we have to show it. It’s going to be difficult but we’re lucky because we’re still in a good position in the League and the FA Cup.
'We have to think about the way we reacted after the defeat to Barcelona last season and do the same because it can still be a wonderful season.
'We have to stay positive. We have to stay strong and we are all behind the manager.
'We didn’t use the potential of this squad but that’s life.'
Chelsea's misery was componded with Didier Drogba's red card for stamping on Thiago Motta but the Ivory Coast striker admitted the best team won.
To Malouda : gt meh, i thot drogba stomp on one ppl