After short win over Wigan, Ancelotti focuses in Champions League

Chelsea's 1-0 win over Wigan was not a good game for Carlo Ancelotti's squad and the coach is aware of the lack of good football in his team. The next rival, Manchester United, will not be as easy as Wigan, and Ancelotti already warned his players: "We must improve to advance".

Manchester United's number in Champions League are far superior compared with Chelsea, but Ancelotti is convinced that among his players there is enough talent to make history at the Old Trafford.

"We are not converting goals. That's why we suffered so much against Wigan. But that's normal in football. If we are at our 100%, we can beat United" said the coach.

Ancelotti aims to win Premier League and FA Cup

Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti is not happy with Chelsea elimination in the Champions League, but he knows that there are still posibilities to celebrate this season: the Premier League and FA Cup.

Indeed, the Blues are only two points off the pace at the top of the Premier and are through to the final four in the prestigious FA Cup. Said that, Ancelotti is convinced that his footballers can win both titles.

The coach said that Chelsea's destiny "is in our own hands. If we win every match, we can do the double. That's our aim."

Chelsea eliminated from the Champions League by Inter Milan

It was Drogba vs. Eto'o. It was Mourinho against Chelsea. In the end, Inter Milan got a 1 - 0 win over the Blues and kick them out of the Champions League. However, the qualification, achieved by a 3-1 aggregate score after the Italian team had won the first leg, 2-1, was not that satisfying for Jose Mourinho. He was manager of a legendary squad of Chelsea and this was his first time facing his old home.

"Today I was the enemy, and today the enemy won," the Portuguese coach expressed.

Cameroon star Samuel Eto'o netted in the 78th minute to destroy the Blues' 21-game home unbeaten streak in the UEFA Champions League.

Inter booked a place in the next stage. And in Stamford Bridge, we will have to wait for the next season of the Champions League to see Chelsea finally winning the long expected crown of Europe.

Felipe Scolari: we must win over Bordeaux to continue in the Champions League

Chelsea Portuguese boss Luis Felipe Scolari underlined the importance of beating Bordeaux on Wednesday to seal their seventh straight appearance in the Champions League knockout stages with a game to spare.

The charismatic Brazilian proffesor knows last season's beaten finalists came unstuck in their last away game at italian AS Roma when they were thumped 3-1 and is not taking the French outsiders lightly.

"We really need to qualify either tomorrow or against Cluj and reach the second round," he told a press conference here Tuesday.

"As we know, we had a chance against Roma and now we have a second chance. Myself and the players cannot wait for more chances and tomorrow (Wednesday) is the day."

The 60-year-old played down the defeat in Italy and says the group is still wide open with just a one point lead on Roma and Bordeaux with Cluj still in the hunt three points adrift.

"The clash against Roma was a time when they were in crisis and it was a game that if they lost they were out of the competition. They played better than us 100 per cent.

"Look, what I know about French Bordeaux is that they have very good players and the result in the first match was not a normal result.

"I know they are in fifth or sixth in France and they didn't start the competition very well but they have played well since and we respect this team and more. They have six points and we have only seven so there is no difference."

In fact, the Girondins have been hit by the late withdrawal of first choice goalkeeper Ulrich Rame who failed to recover from a hamstring injury which means the gloves will be handed to 25-year-old Matthieu Valverde.

We must mention that Bordeaux are coming off back to back victories over Romanian newcomers CFR Cluj which has lifted them back into contention for a spot in the final 16 but have never beaten English opposition at home in European play.

They were beaten by powerful Manchester United 2-1 in the 1999-2000 Champions League group phase and also lost 1-0 to Liverpool in the 2006-07 pool stage as well.

Their only point at home in European action came way back in the first round of the 1997-98 UEFA Cup first round when they battled Aston Villa to a 1-1 stalemate.

Scolari also made it clear his squad are not thinking about Sunday's showdown with Arsenal in a top of the table Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge and says qualification is crucial and not especially winning the group.

"Myself and the players will not think about Arsenal FC until after the game tomorrow. If we start thinking about Arsenal, we might lose tomorrow.

"In fact, if we have the second leg in the Champions League at home in the next round that it's great but there are two things.

"In the past teams have won the second leg away from home and other times the home team has won but there is not a big difference. The most important thing is to qualify."

In-form French forward Nicolas Anelka hopes to carry his hot touch in the Premier League onto the European stage where he has been misfiring so far in the competition.

"I may be need a bit of luck but the important thing is that we get the win and that the team pick up the three points or at least a draw," said the French forward.

"I know that the match tomorrow will be a lot different from the first match at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea won 4-0) and we are expecting a very tough encounter."

Close to heaven: Chelsea reach the Champions League Final with a 3 - 2 win over Liverpool

Historical night for every blue fan, player, board member and supporters around the world. After many years of struggling, Chelsea reached the Champions League Final for the first time in history.

What's more, it will be the first European Cup final between two English clubs, and beating Manchester United to win the title will make it even more special.

Owner Roman Abramovich wasn't at Stamford Bridge to see his expensively assembled team beat Liverpool 3-2 in extra time to advance to the final on May 21, but United manager Alex Ferguson was.

Manchester United and Chelsea are also neck-and-neck in the Premier League. The Blues beat the Red Devils 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to draw level on points with United, which leads on goal difference with two encounters to go.

"An all-English final. I think everyone's looking forward to it," Chelsea leader John Terry said. "They have been very good in the league. Also we matched them the other week and managed to defeat them here. All in all, they're playing very well. I think we're at the top of our game so in three weeks time it's going to be a very tough game."

It's important to notice that even though it's the first time two English teams have made it to the final, there are no English coaches.

The last Englishman to lead a team to a European Cup triumph was Liverpool's Joe Fagan in 1984. That was at a time when English coaches did well in the competition with seven triumphs in eight seasons, including victories from Liverpool's Bob Paisley (three), Nottingham Forest's Brian Clough (two), Aston Villa's Tony Barton and Fagan between 1977 and '84.

Manchester United has had the veteran Ferguson in charge for 22 years, and the Scot has led the Red Devils to nine Premier League triumphs and five FA Cups and is now chasing his second Champions League title to go with the one he won in 1999.

As for Avram Grant, he is the former coach of Israel who has led Chelsea to its first Champions League final after the man he replaced, Jose Mourinho, failed three times. Mourinho moved to Stamford Bridge in June 2004, a month after leading FC Porto to a triumph in the competition.

And although he won two league titles in a row, Chelsea's first in half a century, portuguese Mourinho couldn't capture a European success and the club replaced him in September. Now, the fact that two English teams are playing each other thousands of miles away in Moscow for a major prize is good timing.

Now talking about the semifinal match, we can say it was one of the most exciting games of the year. Didier Drogba scored the first goal that seemed to assure their ticket to the final. But Fernando Torres kept the emotion alive up to the 90th minute.

In the extra time, the referee downed a goal scored by Kalou, but just two minutes later a penalty shot was converted by Frank Lampard. His celebration is now inprinted in the memory of every blue fan.

Drogba appeared again to score the third one, to unleash the emotion of every Chelsea supporter. Babel scored a goal for Liverpool, but that was not enough to save his team.

Now Chelsea will face Manchester United knowing all about Cristiano Ronaldo's dribbling and shooting skills and how to stop him from adding to his 38 league and cup goals this season. It also has to break open the solid defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

Because it played Chelsea on Saturday, Manchester United is aware of the dangers posed by Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Michael Ballack and the defensive strengths of Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.

Ferguson's team has a 65-41 record against Chelsea with 44 draws. But the last time they met in a final, Chelsea edged Man. United 1-0 in last season's FA Cup at Wembley.

Carvalho confident in Chelsea title chances

Talented defender Ricardo Carvalho has issued a defiant message to Liverpool and Manchester United before a decisive week for the London club by declaring that belief remains strong at Stamford Bridge that they can earn the Premier League and Champions League titles.

In fact, Chelsea's 1-0 win over Everton on Thursday closed the gap on Premier League leaders United to two points. It ensures that Sir Alex Ferguson's team will travel to Blackburn for their game in hand today aware that anything but three will allow the Blues to claim a share of top spot by defeating them at Stamford Bridge Stadium on April 26.

Before that, Chelsea play the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against the poweful Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday, and Portuguese defender Carvalho insists that Avram Grant's squad are fully capable of ending the week with two victories.

As we said, Carvalho expressed: "It was a very important win at Everton, especially after the draw against Wigan. We knew we couldn't make a mistake, that we had to win.

"I'm sure that the title is still possible. Blackburn away is always a difficult game, so hopefully United can drop points. It's going to be difficult and it depends on United, but let's see. We have to win all our encounters, but we will never give up. We hope they can lose points and we can keep winning."

The memory of two defeats in three seasons against the terrible Liverpool at the same stage of the Champions League has galvanised the Chelsea footballers. Carvalho added: "We lost on penalties the last time and in the previous semi-final to a goal that nobody saw cross the line. It was really hard to take" Carvalho admitted.