Chelsea needed a decent game today if they wanted to keep piling on the fixtures, and after conceding at the stroke of halftime, they'd need at least three goals to advance. Luckily, they looked pretty dangerous throughout today's match, and managed to convert just enough chances to advance. Here's a few thoughts I have in the immediate aftermath of this one:
- I was not a fan of this lineup when I saw it at all. Given that Demba Ba is cup tied, this is about as strong an 11 as we could have put out there. I know there is a trophy at stake in this competition, but it's clearly of far less importance than securing a top four finish to both the fans and the club. If we look like crap on Sunday and drop points to West Ham, I'm going to lose it.
- What's the brilliant logic behind swapping John Terry and David Luiz all of a sudden? It's not like Terry has played for over a decade in the same position with great success or anything. Oh wait...he has.
- When Eden Hazard left that brilliant dummy in the buildup to the third Chelsea goal, my reaction was "DON'T LEAVE IT FOR TORRES!!!" followed by laughter. It's actually reached that point.
- Speaking of Fernando, I love the blank jersey he was forced to wear for a bit after he was denied a clear penalty. From now on, he should be forced to wear a blank one until he earns one with his name on it. He earned it in the second half today, but after that penalty, he gets the blank one on Sunday anyway.
- John Obi Mikel is cursed. How did he not score today?
- With the win, the fixture congestion issue isn't going to clear up at any point in the near future. There is good news though, as more fixtures mean more chances of Frank Lampard scoring enough to become Chelsea's all-time leader.
- The final draws for both the Champions League and the Europa League will take place tomorrow morning. Coverage starts at 12 CET, and we'll have a thread up to discuss it as it happens.