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"Oh dear" is the phrase that springs to mind. Talk about throw it away!

Shit happens...at least they scored an away goal

Just need a 2-0 home victory to progress

Real Madrid beat them 4-2 so its not all over just yet

cheers
B....OZ

appears that Ranieri had a mental block in the second half with his substitutions. he should have settled for 1-1 instead of going all out for victory. Makelele's histrionics in the second half were the most sickening i've seen to get an opponent sent off!!

As a Chelsea fan and a strong supporter of the "keep Ranieri campaign" I have to admit CR got it very wrong last night.

The substitution at half time of Veron for Gronkjaer was wrong. Not only was Veron lacking fitness and match practice, Gronks was the only player providing any width, and he and Bridge worked the left hand side well.

This substitution also nulified Lampard's contribution to the game. In the first half he was easily the best player on the pitch, but with no wide player to distribute the ball to, a "playmaker" alongside him and effectively a very narrow midfield 3, he disappeared in the second half.

I have yet to be convinced of Makelele's worth to the team, and I was greatly angered at his playacting last night. In Ranieri we have a manager morally above reproach... humble in victory and magnanimous in defeat... we don't need cheats in our side. When he got the yellow card I was happy that would mean him missing the return leg as, notwithsatnding injuries, we might see a midfield made up of Gronkjaer, Lampard, Parker and Duff... pace on the wings and two hard working central midfielders who can both track back and tackle as well as pass, make forward runs and score goals.

The second substitution was not the worst of the three... bringing on an extra striker when the opposition were down to ten men at least showed that Chelsea were aiming to win the game.

Unfortunately there seemed to be a colossal lack of communication as no-one seemed to know what they were meant to be doing. I could perhaps inderstand the reasoning of taking off Melchiot to avoid risking him getting a second yellow card.

However, replacing Parker with Huth beggared belief (not that Huth did much wrong)... a back four made up of 3 fairly slow central defenders!!!

All credit must go to Monaco and Didier Deschamps. At half time it seemed Chelsea could (and should) go on to win the game. However Monaco started the second half with passion and speed, while Chelsea still looked like they were having their half time cup of tea. Even when down to 10 men, they never looked like losing, and Chelsea's own sleepiness helped to show why Morientes is such a dangerous player.

Can we still get through? Well, anything is possible, but I think this defeat on top of the last three results means Chelsea will have to dig deep not only to get through to the final, but to keep 2nd place in the EPL ahead of United.

I think Chelsea might do it in the second leg, but I wont be placing any bets on that. I do fancy Man United to come 2nd in the Championship though, although whoever comes 3rd shouldnt have too much to worry about when playing a Champions League qualifier next season.
Joe Cole must be totally pissed off watching Veron walk straight ahead of him into the team. Joe Cole for Man Utd? That could be a good move for club and player.

True, Chelsea lost shape last night - which is a shame considering the suprising overall cohesion they've shown during the season. Even I, a Liverpool supporter (stop laughing at the back) think Ranieri has done brilliantly and is stupidly being made to look a patsy in the impatient hunt for glory. I understand that regardless of how Chelsea finish off now they've pretty much packed his bags for him - terrible stuff.

BTW - O'Leary? Oh really?

Forza Monaco !!!

Shoot the dog as george michael said ;o)

oh well, one good thing could come out of it, Chelsea could buy Morientes in the summer!

The Last Word wrote:

> True, Chelsea lost shape last night - which is a shame
> considering the suprising overall cohesion they've shown during
> the season. Even I, a Liverpool supporter (stop laughing at the
> back) think Ranieri has done brilliantly and is stupidly being
> made to look a patsy in the impatient hunt for glory. I
> understand that regardless of how Chelsea finish off now
> they've pretty much packed his bags for him - terrible stuff.
>
> BTW - O'Leary? Oh really?
>

I know CR keeps saying he doesn't feel under pressure and that working under PK and RA is nothing compared to working under Snr. Gill at Atletico Madrid.... however, I think the way CR lost the plot last night is indicative of what's happened to him this season and the likelihood that winning the CL was his last chance of staying at Stamford Bridge.

I saw the stuff on teletext last night about O'Leary... after Sven, Capello, Hitzfeld, Mourinho and others, suddenly the press are now talking about Steve McLaren and D O'L being head hunted! Who's next... Gerard Houllier?? (Sorry, couldn't resist it!!)

Hmmm, what about Ranieri for Liverpool?