A comprehensive 3-0 defeat at Juventus a fortnight ago left Chelsea’s title defence hanging by a thread and the Blues’ destiny out of their hands, as a draw between Group E frontrunners Shakhtar Donetsk and Juventus in Ukraine would consign Rafa Benitez’s side to the Europa League.
The pressure is already mounting on Benitez after an inauspicious start as Chelsea manager, with the team yet to record a victory under the Spaniard’s tutelage and the fans quickly losing patience.
“We have to improve on the pitch and the fans will be happy,” said Benitez. “The positive thing is that Shakhtar have a lot of good players and would want to finish top of the group to avoid one of the big names in Europe, so I think they will try to win.”
Victory for Juventus would see them clinch top spot, however, Shakhtar would still claim second should both sides finish level on 10 points as the Ukrainians have a better head-to-head advantage.
Meanwhile, Manchester United have qualified as winners of Group H, with Alex Ferguson likely to field another youthful side against CFR Cluj but one that may feature Nemanja Vidic, who had been sidelined since mid-September after undergoing knee surgery.
“He has started training, which is good news,” said Ferguson. “He would be short of match practice but I wouldn’t be averse to playing him.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2012.
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