Today’s match between Napoli and Chelsea will definitely go down as a classic. Coming into the match, Napoli had a 3-1 aggregate over Chelsea. Thanks to the hulk like strength of Didier Drogba and impregnable defense of David Luiz, Chelsea FC overcame Napoli in a 4-1 victory at the Stamford Bridge. They definitely deserve to go through after watching their performance today. After firing manager André Villas-Bollas and having the assistant manager, Roberto Di Matteo, fill the absence, Di Matteo appears to be coaching a new squad. He is now 3 for 3 while interim-managing the English club. Today also saw Real Madrid advance to the quarter finals in the UEFA Champions League with their 4-1 home win over CSKA Moskva (Moskow). The quarterfinal fixtures should be up later tonight. I’m really looking forward to the showdown in Munich.
Where is Fernando Torres? The Spanish striker has not scored a goal in twenty games. The 78 million dollar man clearly isn’t cutting it for Chelsea FC. Yesterday, Torres didn’t even play in yesterday’s loss against Napoli in the Champions League. Sadly, Fernando “El Niño” Torres is in a serious slump while Chelsea remains in 5th place in the English Premier League and in an unfavorable position in the Champions League.
Didier Drogba has returned to Chelsea from his stint at the African Cup of Nations but this didn’t seem to matter much yesterday. The 3-1 loss against Napoli was tough to watch as a Chelsea FC fan, especially when Chelsea allowed 3 unanswered goals. More so, the kid was benched. I’m sure this run of bad luck will end and Fernando will come up on top once gain. As for now, the 2010 Spanish World Cup winner is down and out and showing little to no confidence. At 27, Chelsea acquired Torres from Liverpool for $78 million with the hope of having him fill the footsteps of the aging Didier Drogba. Unfortunately, the reality is quite the opposite. “El Niño,” Spanish for “the kid,” Torres has not lived up to the expectations and is now being benched because he simply cannot find a way to score.
What will happen to Chelsea seems to be the definitive question. Will Torres kick his slump and start scoring goals? Or what about this: will Didier Drogba end up in Madrid? Current Real Madrid manager and former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has made it apparent that he would like to reunite with the Chelsea striker. Mourinho is convinced that Drogba, who turns 34 next month, will be a huge success for Real Madrid despite his age. If he does go to Madrid, I can’t imagine his tenure there being longer than a season or two. Drogba is one tough player to say the least. He is also in impeccable shape and is one of the strongest football players around, but it’s no secret that he’s nearing retirement. Just imagine Drogba and Ronaldo on the same squad.
As for the foreseeable future, Chelsea definitely has their hands full. Chelsea’s next EPL match is at home against Bolton and will have a rematch against Napoli at Stamford Bridge on March 14. Let’s hope things get better for Chelsea and “the kid.”
