Blues plot to breach fortress Old Trafford
Reuters - Tuesday 12 April 2011, 02:00
MANCHESTER - Chelsea need to do
what no team has done this season and beat Manchester United at
Old Trafford on Tuesday if they are to reach the semi-finals of
the Champions League.
The all-English tie is the most delicately balanced of the
four quarter-finals after United won 1-0 in London last week
thanks to a Wayne Rooney strike. But a raft of statistics and
the valuable away goal tip the tie in the home side's favour.
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By contrast, Tuesday's other match looks a mere formality
with Barcelona holding a 5-1 advantage over Shakhtar Donetsk
ahead of their second leg in Ukraine.
Chelsea can take comfort from the fact they were the last
team to win at Old Trafford, a 2-1 victory last April playing a
big part in their triumphant Premier League title surge.
"We have a good memory of that but this is a different
story," manager Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference.
"They (the players) have to truly believe we can win there.
I don't know if they will be able to do this."
Only two sides have recovered from a first-leg home defeat
to win a Champions League knockout tie and if Chelsea become the
third they would find it particularly sweet after losing the
2008 final to United on penalties.