Chelsea have it all to do if they are to make it to the semi-finals of the Champions League as they travel to Spain to meet Valencia. The Spanish side have the advantage after their 1-1 draw in London thanks to that wonder strike by David Silva.
We know how important away goals are and, while I do not expect them to sit back at the Mestalla, I believe they have a big advantage. Chelsea have to score on Tuesday if they are to stay alive in this competition. They are more than capable of doing that but players like Ballack and Shevchenko will have to play their best matches for Chelsea if they are to manage it.
Chelsea were poor again in the first 45 of their Premiership match against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday but they still managed to grind out the victory by lifting their game in the second half.
They have been doing this a lot in recent matches and that was again the case in the first leg on Wednesday. Valencia had the better of the first half but found themselves under a great deal of pressure after the interval.
They were still good on the break with players like Vicente and Joaquin to the fore as they forced Chelsea to retreat. Vicente will not be fit for the match in Spain and that is pretty good news for Chelsea.
They should have been in a winning position once they equalised but resorted to hitting long balls forward to Drogba in the second half. With the quality in their team, I was very disappointed to see them do that but they had decided that they could not play through the likes of Albelda, Albiol and Ayala.
Drogba was caught offside many times in the second half once they decided to go long and apart from a couple of scares, they did not look like getting the second goal.
Valencia are in the perfect position going into the match but Chelsea have been in these situations before and will not be too nervous about the job in hand.
The Mestalla is a great stadium; it is right in the centre of the city and always has an incredible atmosphere. The first job for Chelsea will be to silence the crowd who are very loud and it is a very intimidating place to play.
The Spanish side may have Morientes back in their eleven which would be a huge boost with Vicente now missing on the left wing. The presence of the former Liverpool and Madrid striker would allow Silva to revert to the left wing and would give David Villa the perfect partner up front.
Valencia are not the sort of side to sit on their advantage and that will suit Chelsea who can also hit opponents on the break.
I believe Chelsea have a good chance of turning this around but they need all their ‘big’ players to play well above the performance level they managed in the first leg.
If you forced me to call it now, I would have to go for Valencia, but only just.
