Source: Telegraph
Guus Hiddink restores Chelsea's feelgood factor with Champions League progress
In Turin on Tuesday night, in a hostile environment and with a poor referee, Chelsea overcome problematic circumstances to reach their sixth Champions League quarter-final, drawing 2-2 on the night and winning 3-2 on aggregate. [LNB]Juve's fans unfurled banners proclaiming the Obama chant 'Yes, We Can.' It is a phrase that could – and should – be adopted by Chelsea's fans. [LNB] Related ArticlesJuventus 2 Chelsea 2: Agg: 2-3[LNB]Juventus v Chelsea: Man marking[LNB]Drogba stops sulking - and scores[LNB]Hiddink in plea for cameras[LNB]Once again Chelsea recovered from a poor start to rescue the situation; Hiddink is proving to be a talisman, a Jose Mourinho in Dutch clogs. [LNB]In the city where the original Italian Job was filmed, England won 1-0 against the Italians. Games two and three take place tonight, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and the Olympic Stadium, Rome, where Manchester United and Arsenal, respectively, attempt to make it a hat-trick of Anglo-Triumphs. [LNB]So many times in his short tenure has Hiddink preached salvation at half-time; Panorama should pay to film 'fly-on-the-wall' documentaries at half time when Chelsea are in town. [LNB]In the city that houses the Turin Shroud, Hiddink did it again. [LNB]Chelsea were poor in the first half, had a legitimate goal ignored in the 44th minute then claimed the first 43 seconds later, through Michael Essien. [LNB]'Playing here at Juventus is not the easiest task,' said Hiddink. 'We started rather sloppily, lost too many duals, and they could give some easy passes into our defence. [LNB]'There we did not mark well and we were 1-0 down.' Then tellingly he added: There was a reaction from the team that was ok. We knew at 1-0 down, or even at 2-0 down, that we must not panic. [LNB]'We could score at any moment, which we did. We reacted after the 1-0 and scored just before half-time. Second half, we controlled, not dominated, a little more. We didn't play the stupid long ball. We must have a spare man given that they were playing with two strikers – Ashley Cole on our left side – and we started playing with these passes more. That was better to see. There was a strange situation with the penalty. [LNB]'I didn't see it, but I was told the hand was going up to the ball and so it might be a penalty. We have to be fair and recognise that. Before that, I don't know whether that Drogba free-kick was a goal, but I'd like to see the images. But the team kept on playing, reacted and we made that beautiful goal through Belletti and Drogba. Then it was over.' [LNB]But Chelsea's season is far from over thanks to their very own Golden Guus….. [LNB]
