Drogba among the best, says Ancelotti

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted he would not swap Didier Drogba for any other striker after watching the Ivory Coast international fire the Blues into the last 16 of the Champions League.

Drogba missed Chelsea's opening three Group D games due to suspension following following his foul-mouthed confrontation with Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after last season's semi-final against Barcelona.

He returned with a bang last night, netting both of his side's goals in a 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid.

The 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.

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.

After the game, Ancelotti heaped praise on Drogba and although he stopped short of saying the 31-year-old was the best striker in the world, he admitted he would not trade the former Marseille man for anyone else.

'I don't know (if he is the best). For sure, I want to keep him. I don't want to change him with any other striker,' said Ancelotti.

'Didier is an important player for us. We have a lot of important players but he is doing very well and we are happy. I'm very happy with his behaviour, and I hope he continues like this.'

Drogba, who has struck nine league goals already this season and is second only to Fernando Torres in the Premier League scoring charts, was asked afterwards if he was in the form of his life, and he told Sky Sports: 'I think so. A few years ago I was playing with the same confidence. It's always easier when you are playing injury-free.

'I've played many Champions League games before but it's good to be on the pitch - I always say I am happy to be on the pitch and playing.'

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.

Aguero's equaliser came in stoppage-time and meant Chelsea lost their 100% record in Group D, although they were still able to celebrate early qualification for the knockout stages.

'I think we could have done better with the wall and maybe avoided the free-kick,' Drogba added.

'It's frustrating to concede a goal like this after the efforts we produced - but it was a good game.'

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.

Drogba admitted: 'I think we were also thinking about Manchester United tonight but we did everything we had to do today.

'Now we can focus on Sunday because it's very important to beat them (United) at home. 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.