Chelsea Football Club News

• Nickname:Blues
• Founded:1905
• Manager:Roberto Di Matteo

• Ground:Stamford Bridge
• Capacity:42,440

Carvalho woe for Blues

29 Apr 2007 - 08:12:05

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Chelsea's preparations for next week's Champions League meeting with Liverpool have been dealt a blow after Ricardo Carvalho was ruled out of the semi-final second leg with a knee injury.

Carvalho limped off following a heavy tackle from Bolton's Kevin Davies during the first half of Chelsea's 2-2 Premiership home draw with Bolton on Saturday and afterwards Blues boss Jose Mourinho revealed the Portugal international will not be fit to face the Reds.

Mourinho watched his side slip five points behind Manchester United in the race for the Premiership title before offering a downcast assessment of his side's European chances.

Chelsea lead 1-0 following the first leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

"It's bad. It's his knee," he said. "He's been our best defender the whole season. It's as simple as that.

"We lost in Liverpool in the Premiership (2-0 in January) without him."

Mourinho could opt to play Michael Essien at centre-half against Liverpool should he decide to leave Khalid Boulahrouz on the bench again.

However, that decision could well hinge on the availability of Michael Ballack, who sat out the first leg and Saturday's costly Premiership draw with Bolton with an ankle problem.