Chelsea's Didier Drogba: I'm playing best football of my career

04 November 2009 08:44
Drogba missed Chelsea's opening three Group D games due to suspension following his foul-mouthed confrontation with Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after last season's semi-final against Barcelona. [LNB]He returned with a bang last night, netting both of his side's goals in a 2-2 draw with in Spain. [LNB]Chelsea not good enough despite Didier Drogba goal, says John TerryDidier Drogba scores winner to send Chelsea into knock-out stages of Champions LeagueThe first, which came in the 82nd minute and cancelled out Sergio Aguero's earlier strike for Atletico, was a towering header from Florent Malouda's cross, while his second six minutes later saw him latch onto a through-ball, escape the attentions of both Atletico centre-backs, and slot in at the second attempt after seeing his initial effort saved by Sergio Asenjo. [LNB]Drogba might even have been celebrating a hat-trick but his powerful free kick just after half-time had been turned onto the post by the diving Asenjo. [LNB]'I think I'm playing the best football of my career,' said the Ivorian. [LNB]Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti led the tributes to Drogba after the match, saying: "I don't know (if he is the best in the world). For sure, I want to keep him. I don't want to change him with any other striker.[LNB] "Didier is an important player for us. We have a lot of important players but he is doing very well and we are happy. [LNB] "I'm very happy with his behaviour, and I hope he continues like this." [LNB]Despite Drogba's two-goal showing, Chelsea were unable to hold for the win as Aguero collected his second superb goal of the game to salvage a draw for Atletico, the young Argentinian curling home a superb free kick to go with his earlier volley into the top corner. [LNB]Aguero's equaliser came in stoppage-time and meant Chelsea lost their 100 per cent record in Group D, although they were still able to celebrate early qualification for the knockout stages. [LNB] "I think we could have done better with the wall and maybe avoided the free kick," Drogba added. [LNB] "It's frustrating to concede a goal like this after the efforts we produced but it was a good game." [LNB]Next up for Chelsea is this weekend's mouthwatering showdown against Manchester United, where the top two sides in the Premier League go toe-to-toe at Stamford Bridge. [LNB]Drogba admitted: "I think we were also thinking about Manchester United tonight but we did everything we had to do today. [LNB] "Now we can focus on Sunday because it's very important to beat them (United) at home. [LNB] "We have to show different qualities and be better than today. Today was far from a good performance, we played well but were not good enough to win." [LNB]

Source: Telegraph