Lampard reaction ...
Sid Lowe on Kepa ...
Jacob Steinberg was our man at the Mestalla. Here’s his verdict. Enjoy, enjoy ... and thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night, wherever you are.
Frank talking. “We nearly won it, we nearly lost it. To be straight, it’s very difficult to come here. And to a point we were hanging on, but qualification is in our hands, so we have to be happy with that. Certain parts of our performance, I wasn’t so mad on, and I haven’t had to say that too much this season. But we got a point, and have to think about the last game when it comes. We’re giving up a lot of chances and not putting ours away, we have to work on that. But credit to their character and work-rate. It’s hard when it runs away from you.” Meanwhile there’s good news on Tammy Abraham, who has severely bruised his hip ... but has suffered nothing that’ll be long-term.
Updated
Some freshly launched Chelsea-related news ... for your leisure and pleasure.
Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta’s verdict. “You’re never happy when you don’t win. They had a couple of chances, and we did as well. Our focus was to win and qualify for the next round. But we didn’t manage the game well. When we went 2-1 up, we should have created more chances. But they are a good team, and wanted to qualify as well. Our target is to improve, and be close to perfection, and we will work on this. I think it was a good game of football for the fans! I would prefer the three points, but we have in our hands qualification.”
This incarnation of Chelsea are making Kevin Keegan’s famous Newcastle look like Helenio Herrera’s Inter. You could make a fair argument that this game was even more recklessly entertaining than the 4-4 with Ajax. Chelsea were eight minutes (plus stoppages) away from the knockout stage; they could also have been thrashed out of sight. Daniel Parejo missed a penalty, Maxi Gomez spurned a couple of first-half sitters, and Rodrigo passed up a gilt-edged opportunity to win right at the end. Valencia will wonder how they didn’t take the three points, and now they’re up against it a little bit. Then again, Chelsea had plenty of other opportunities to score themselves ... and they’re such good fun to watch. You’ve gotta love Frank’s Freewheelers! [Supporters of other London clubs are permitted to demur.]
FULL TIME: Valencia 2-2 Chelsea
And in the end, after all that, it’s a decent enough result for Chelsea. If they beat Lille at Stamford Bridge in the final game, they’re through, no matter what happens between Ajax and Lille tonight, no matter what happens when Valencia visit Ajax on the final day.
90 min +6: Rodrigo should have settled it! Loads of space for Gaya down the left. He crosses towards Rodrigo, at the far post. He just needs to slam home from six yards, but opts to shift his feet and slices horribly wide! The amount of chances Valencia have missed is absurd.
Updated
90 min +5: Rodrigo skedaddles down the right wing. He cuts infield, turns Zouma this way and that, and curls towards the top left. It’s way off target.
90 min +4: Gomez and Gameiro combine cutely down the inside-left channel. The ball’s laid off to Gaya, on the left-hand corner of the box. Gaya tries to catch out Kepa at his near post, but the keeper isn’t to be grifted.
90 min +3: The first lull of the match. You can’t say the punters in the Mestalla haven’t got bang for their buck this evening.
90 min +2: Pulisic dances in from the left and scoops a pass wide right for James, who fizzes a low cross-cum shot into Cillessen’s hands at the near post.
90 min +1: To be fair, the VAR decision for the Pulisic goal took the best part of three minutes.
90 min: What a save by Cillessen! Batshuayi cuts in from the right and batters a shot towards the bottom left. The ball takes a huge deflection off Gabriel, and looks to be heading into the bottom right, but Cillessen sticks out a strong leg to block! And wait for this ... there will be seven minutes of added time!
88 min: “Why do I have the feeling that this match will not end in a draw?” wonders Mary Waltz, in the rhetorical style.
87 min: Gabriel is booked for standing on Mount’s foot. He doesn’t bother complaining.
86 min: Gameiro is sniffing around again, but Christensen is positioned perfectly to block Gaya’s cross from the left and stop it getting to the striker.
85 min: Wass surely didn’t mean to score with that ball in from the right. But Kepa might think he could have dealt with it better. Meanwhile, Valencia are looking for the winner too. Gameiro has a wild lash at a deep right-wing cross, but can’t connect.
83 min: Chelsea try to bounce back immediately for the second time this evening, and nearly manage it! The ball’s swung into the Valencia box, and Zouma’s header is cleared off the line!
GOAL! Valencia 2-2 Chelsea (Wass 82)
A surreal goal pegs Chelsea back! Wass chases a pass down the right and crosses deep. Kepa opts not to interfere ... and watches in horror as the ball curls over his head, crashes off the left-hand post, and into the top corner! Shades of Paul Konchesky in the 2006 FA Cup final, albeit from the other wing. And apologies to Daniel Wass for comparing him to Paul Konchesky.
Updated
81 min: Valencia shuttle the ball in from the right wing. Suddenly Parejo is in space, just inside the Chelsea box. He slams goalwards, only to be denied by the frame of Azpilicueta, throwing himself horizontally in the John Terry style.
80 min: Mason Mount comes on for Willian.
79 min: Kepa is booked for taking his sweet time over a goal kick.
78 min: Carlos Soler makes way for the 18-year-old South Korean Lee Kang-in.
77 min: Kovacic has a blooter from distance. It’s wild and wide. Valencia go up the other end, Gaya sashaying in from the left before laying off to Gameiro, who really should have done better with his attempted curl towards the top right. It’s miles off target.
75 min: Another Valencia corner. Parejo clips it in from the right. Garay wins a header but that’s an easy claim for Kepa. The Mestalla is pretty quiet right now.
74 min: Before the free kick can be taken, Valencia replace Torres with Coquelin. The set piece eventually proves a complete non-event, despite the hosts loading the Chelsea box.
73 min: Kante is booked for a garden-variety challenge on Gaya, who was making his way down the left.
72 min: Emerson comes on for Jorginho.
70 min: It looks as though Jaume Costa injured himself when taking that shot just before his substitution. He’s currently having his thigh Saran Wrapped, in the thoroughly modern style.
68 min: Kevin Gameiro comes on for Jaume Costa. Chelsea bust Valencia’s offside trap open, but Willian and Batshuayi make a mess of the two-on-one, and it turns out the flag went up late anyway.
Updated
66 min: A bit of pinball in the Chelsea area. Costa has a batter from a position to the right of the D, but it’s off target. How on earth have only three goals been scored here tonight?!
65 min: Valencia miss! After a long period of confusion - has the ref given this or not? - Parejo steps up to take. He slams his penalty towards the bottom left ... but Kepa sticks a strong arm up and out to turn it around the post! That’s a great instinctive save! Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
Updated
63 min: Penalty for Valencia! A ball is slipped down the inside-left channel. Gaya gets in ahead of Jorginho, who brings his opponent down in a tangle of legs.
61 min: Kante tears down the right and whips in low at pace. Pulisic attempts a spectacular volley, but doesn’t quite connect.
Updated
59 min: Incidentally, the Pulisic goal was officially scored on 50 minutes, even though it wasn’t awarded until the 53rd. I didn’t get the memo, but then VAR is making fools of us all.
57 min: Valencia should be level. Christensen sticks out a leg to cut out a long ball down the middle. Kepa was rushing out to clear. The ball breaks to Rodrigo, who chips over the stranded Kepa towards the unguarded net ... but sends his effort sailing over the bar. This scoreline could have been anything. It’s unlikely to end 1-2, the way these defences are playing.
55 min: Azpilicueta is booked for swinging an arm into Costa’s face. It’s hotting up in here.
54 min: Valencia are fuming. They’re claiming that Zouma fouled Gabriel when Kante swung the cross in. But neither the referee nor VAR was interested in that.
GOAL! Valencia 1-2 Chelsea (Pulisic 53)
... he’s onside by one of your VAR armpit hairs! Garay the man this time who will be ruing his decision to shun the Veet.
Updated
52 min: Mind you, another angle is less than conclusive. And ...
51 min: They’re taking their sweet time over this.
50 min: ... Chelsea score! Or get the ball in the net anyway. The ball’s swung into the area from the right. Zouma rises highest and heads down for Pulisic, who prods home from six yards. But the flag’s up for offside. This’ll be going to VAR, and it looks as though Pulisic is clearly offside. Still, let’s see.
Updated
49 min: James takes. Valencia half clear, but Chelsea come straight back at them. James feeds Batshuayi, who turns and shoots. It’s deflected out for a corner on the right. From which ...
48 min: The free kick’s sent wide right to Torres, who immediately runs into trouble. Chelsea break, James zipping down the right. He’s clattered by Rodrigo, and now it’s Chelsea’s turn to have a free kick. They line up on the edge of the box.
47 min: Valencia ping it around for a bit. Kante gets fed up and clips Parejo on the heel. A free kick but not the booking the hosts were after.
We’re off again! The hosts get the second half underway. Michy Batshuayi replaces the stricken Tammy Abraham.
Half-time news. Poor Abraham couldn’t make it back to the dressing room under his own steam. They had to fetch a stretcher. Terrible luck for a player who has really blossomed this season. Hopefully that’s a bang on the hip, an impact injury rather than any internal concern.
Updated
HALF TIME: Valencia 1-1 Chelsea
That’s the end of a highly entertaining first half. Chelsea were the better team for most of it, though Valencia slowly came into the game as it developed. Both sides will feel they’ve let some chances pass them by. Chelsea will be pleased with their performance, although worried about Tammy Abraham, who landed very awkwardly on Garay’s foot as the pair fell, and looked in real agony as he made his way back to the dressing room. God speed.
45 min +3: Actually it looks as though Abraham has taken a knock to his hip, or his stomach. He’s holding his side and grimacing hard. The poor chap looks in an awful lot of pain. He tries to limp off with the assistance of the physio, but shouts in agony as he makes his way down the touchline. We’ll not be seeing him in the second half.
45 min +2: Abraham and Garay fell awkwardly in a tangle, and it looks like the big defender landed accidentally on the striker’s leg. Abraham is rolling around in a lot of pain.
45 min +1: In the first of two added minutes, Chelsea win a corner down the right. Willian takes, and Abraham really should plant a header on target from ten yards, but under pressure from Garay, allows the ball to skim off the top of his head.
45 min: ... Kovacic has another crack at goal! This time he does try a curler towards the top right, but it’s always going wide. London buses, eh.
44 min: Kovacic, having waited so long for his first Chelsea goal, nearly gets a second in three minutes! Pulisic dribbles hard towards the Valencia box. He draws two white shirts and lays off to Kovacic on his left. Kovacic should curl towards the far corner, but instead goes for the near post. Cillessen turns it out for a corner. From which ...
43 min: It’s been a great game. A fair chance we’ve not seen the end of the scoring, either. This is New Chelsea, after all.
GOAL! Valencia 1-1 Chelsea (Kovacic 41)
What a reaction by Chelsea! Valencia only half-clear a left-wing cross. The ball drops to Kovacic, just to the left of the D, with his back to goal. He takes a touch, turns, and fires a heatseeker into the bottom left! It’s his first goal for Chelsea! And what a time to get it.
Updated
GOAL! Valencia 1-0 Chelsea (Soler 40)
This was worryingly simple for Valencia. A long goal kick, and suddenly Rodrigo is in space down the right. He crosses for Soler, who shoots messily straight at Kepa from the penalty spot. Kepa gets a hand on the powerful shot, but can’t keep it out, palming it into the bottom left.
Updated
38 min: And what a save this is, as Abraham improvises with a sidefooted stab to guide a right-wing James cross towards the top right. It’s looping in ... but Cillessen arches his back and tips over wonderfully! That is a sensational save! And nothing comes of the resulting corner.
Updated
37 min: Chances at either end! Kepa plays a piss-poor goal kick straight to Torres, who dribbles back into the Chelsea box from the right. Torres freezes, neither shooting nor crossing, then falls over. Chelsea go up the other end, Willian and James one-twoing down the right. James cuts back for Kante, free on the penalty spot. He leans back and blazes over. What an opportunity!
35 min: Kante steals the ball of Garay in the centre circle, and tears towards the Valencia area. He should probably have a whack when he gets close to the box, but opts instead to lay off to Abraham on his right. The pass is woeful, miles behind his team-mate, and the move putters out.
33 min: Willian performs a couple of stepovers at great pace down the right. He curls in a low ball that’s well claimed by Cillessen, with Pulisic lurking.
32 min: A yellow card for Wass, fully deserved punishment for a cynical bodycheck on Azpilicueta in midfield.
30 min: Gomez misses another sitter! Torres strips the ball from Azpilicueta in the centre circle. Soler rolls a pass wide right for Costa, who finds Gomez at the far post. A simple sidefoot should do it ... but instead he slams it at Kepa, who had made himself impressively big but nevertheless should never have been allowed to make the save. The resulting corner is a complete waste of time.
Updated
28 min: Gabriel returns, with a tight-fitting cap covering the bandages.
27 min: Gabriel will be OK to continue as well ... but only after a bandage is wrapped many times around his bleeding head. He’ll be back on in a minute. Meanwhile Zouma has already won his first defensive header since coming back on, and looks fine.
25 min: A corner for Chelsea out on the right. It leads to nothing ... but Gabriel and Zouma suffer a sickening clash of heads as they compete for a high ball. Zouma took a proper whack in the face there. But after a quick check, and a splash of water, he’s deemed good to continue. That looked like a sore one on the nose.
Updated
23 min: Parejo floats a ball down the inside-left channel. Soler guides a header towards the top left. Kepa catches without fuss. In the centre, Gomez is going nuts; he wanted Soler to set him up for a tap-in with a square ball. Full marks for brazen nerve, given the chance he missed less than five minutes ago.
21 min: Parejo is down, complaining that he’s copped one in the mush from Kovacic. Valencia surround the ref. There was a bit of contact, but it looked accidental enough. The referee isn’t interested.
19 min: Chelsea have been by far the better side. But they should be behind. Rodrigo is sent scampering into acres of space down the inside-right channel, the beneficiary of another exquisite Parejo pass. Chelsea’s defence are caught napping; they’re nowhere. Rodrigo rolls the ball across the face of goal towards Gomez, at the far post, six yards out. Gomes simply has to tap it in ... Kepa’s been drawn out of position ... but he takes a complete fresh-air swipe! That is absurd. Chelsea breathe again.
17 min: James again on the right. This time a low cross causes some slapstick nonsense in the area. A scrappy passage of play set to Symphony for Slide Whistle and Trombone. Eventually Azpilicueta kicks Juame Costa into the air, and a free kick brings an end to the nonsense.
16 min: Valencia are struggling to put anything together going forward. Parejo sprays a gorgeous diagonal pass towards Gaya on the left, and for a minute it looks as though he’ll be racing towards the box. But James is quickly on the scene to shut him down.
14 min: James is causing all manner of problems for Valencia down the right wing. If he’s not threatening to tear clear with his pace, he’s putting the fear of God into them by whip-cracking in some dangerous crosses. This time it’s his crossing that’s the danger; he finds Abraham at the near post. Abraham can’t quite wrap his foot around the ball to get a first-time shot on target; it’s wide right. This is a very impressive start by Chelsea.
Updated
13 min: A free kick for Chelsea out on the left, and a chance to load the box and put more pressure on agitated Valencia. Willian operates the release valve, floating in some easy pickings for Cillessen.
11 min: Jorginho nearly releases Pulisic down the middle with a lovely floated pass that wasn’t a million miles away from his assist for Abraham against Watford. Gabriel blooters clear in a blind panic, and nearly releases Gomez up the other end! But Christensen is alert to the danger and shepherds the striker away from danger, eventually drawing a foul.
9 min: Chelsea look dangerous every time they go forward. Azpilicueta whips a low ball through the Valencia box from the left. James meets it on the right ... and whips it back through the box and out past Azpilicueta for a throw to the hosts. Willian and Abraham were unable to get close to either cross. Those fierce deliveries wouldn’t have taken much turning in.
8 min: The corner’s rolled back down the left flank to Gaya, who hooks in a high one. Kepa plucks that out of the sky with great ease.
7 min: But the volume goes up again quicksmart, as Torres breaks down the right and is bundled over clumsily by Jorginho. That’s the first booking of the evening. The free kick’s swung into the mixer and headed behind his own goal by Zouma. Time for Valencia’s first corner of the night.
Updated
5 min: Valencia look nervous to a man. Cillessen betrays their collective state of mind by shanking a goal kick straight out of play, under no pressure whatsoever. Chelsea have already done a pretty good job of turning the volume down in the Mestalla ... if not quite silencing it yet.
4 min: Chelsea are really up for this. Pulisic drives at them with extreme prejudice, then feeds Willian who drives with equal passion towards the Valencia box. Just as he starts to think about shooting, he loses a little control and ends up clanking a white shirt to the ground. Foul, and a rare chance for Valencia to get a feel of the ball. They’ve hardly touched the thing so far.
2 min: ... nothing occurs. Willian’s delivery is dismal, failing to beat the man on the near post. But Chelsea are soon coming straight back at Valencia, James whipping in a cross from deep on the right. Willian is free at the far post! But he sends his header high and wide from ten yards or so. He probably should have scored; he certainly should have got his header on target. What a chance!
33 seconds: Chelsea are immediately on the front foot, Pulisic and Kovacic taking turns to run at the hosts down the left wing. They win a corner. From which ...
And we’re off! Frank’s Freewheelers get the party started. Another evening of wild and reckless abandon? Yes please! In the meantime, here’s Peter Oh: “A blood-orange sky, a club known for wearing orange, and an Oranje international in the home goal. Talk about chromatic determinism.”
The teams are out! It’s a cloudy evening in Valencia, though still a comparatively balmy 18 degrees. The atmosphere in the Mestalla is, however, red hot, much as you’d expect. Uefa’s official mangling of Zadok the Priest blasts out of the PA. Cesar Azpilicueta will swap that pennant in a minute. And then we’ll be off before you know it!
A pre-match word with Frank Lampard. “It’s much more of a must-not-lose than a must-win,” he tells BT Sport. “There’s a lot on it, but that’s football. We’ve pulled a lot of ground back since the first game against Valencia, and it’s very important we finish off the job. We’ve got two games to do it, but particularly tonight. I’ve got a competitive squad, with plenty of players knocking on the door. It’s no slight on the players who have come out, and I trust the players who are coming in. The strength of Manchester City and Liverpool has been their relentless nature, coming back from any little knock-back. So we need to try to close that gap, and it starts with consistency and reactions. And it’s a great chance for us to show that tonight.” Lampard talks really well, you know. He exudes a calm, cool authority, and doesn’t put too much pressure on his players. A class act. I fully appreciate some supporters of Leeds United may have a drastically different viewpoint regarding this matter.
Updated
On the subject of blood orange ... oh my, what a sunset.
Here’s the pennant Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta will present to his opposite number Daniel Parejo before kick-off. A classy bit of merch. From this photo, we can also confirm that the Blues will be playing in, er, first choice blue. The hosts will be wearing their famous white shirts and black shorts, with a lovely dash of blood orange on the piping.
There are four changes to the Valencia team sent out at Stamford Bridge on matchday one. Jaume Costa, Carlos Soler, Ferran Torres and Maxi Gomez replace Francis Coquelin, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Denis Cheryshev and Kevin Gameiro.
Chelsea make two changes to the side that gave it a good go at Manchester City last weekend. And they’re both at the back. Reece James comes in for Emerson, while Andreas Christensen replaces Fikayo Tomori.
The teams
Valencia: Cillessen, Costa Jaume, Garay, Gabriel, Gaya, Torres, Parejo, Wass, Carlos Soler, Rodrigo, Gomez.
Subs: Domenech Jaume, Correia, Mangala, Gameiro, Vallejo, Lee, Coquelin.
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, James, Christensen, Zouma, Azpilicueta, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Willian, Abraham, Pulisic.
Subs: Pedro, Caballero, Giroud, Mount, Batshuayi, Tomori, Emerson Palmieri.
Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany).
Preamble
It’s tight in Group H, where Ajax, Chelsea and Valencia are all on seven points after four matches. Three famous European giants are pirouetting on the proverbial knife-edge. Should either Chelsea or Valencia win in the Mestalla this evening, they’ll be through to the knockouts, due to a favourable head-to-head record in a potential three-way tie. So close! It’s there for the taking!
There’s only one problem for Frank’s Freewheelers: Valencia did a number on them in matchday one at Stamford Bridge. So should Los Ches beat them tonight, and assuming Ajax see off Lille, they’ll need Valencia to win in Amsterdam on matchday six to give them a chance of qualifying in place of the Dutch. This scenario doesn’t sound quite so promising.
But let’s not tie ourselves up in too many knots. Chelsea didn’t play particularly well when Valencia visited them on the opening day, but still would have snatched a draw had Ross Barkley slotted a late penalty. They’ve since embarked on a run of nine wins in their last 13 games, and won’t be too disheartened after that spirited defeat at Manchester City last weekend. Valencia by comparison have won just five of their last 13 ... and their win at the Bridge was their only historical success against the Blues in seven attempts.
Given the fixture list, which sends Valencia to Ajax and Lille to London on matchday six, a draw would be a decent enough result for Chelsea too. Another 4-4, then, anyone? Eh, why not. It’s on!
Kick off: 5.55pm GMT (6.55pm local in Valencia).
