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FT: The whistle is blown on this crazy, crazy game. It ends 2-2, and we really need Lille to beat Ajax.
95min: End-to-end stuff, first Pulisic receives in the penalty area, then Rodrigo has a shot just miss the top corner, James fizzes a superb cross in but no one can get onto it, and then Rodrigo somehow misses with the goal at his mercy from a few yards out.
92min: Pulisic advanced down the left and switches to James, but his cross is caught by Cilessen.
90min: Batshuayi shoots, it takes a wicked deflection and surely catches Cilessen diving in the opposite direction? Think again, of course it’s saved by the last atom of his trailing leg. Suppose it’s only fair.
87min: Gabriel is booked for cynically fouling Mount.
83min: Azpilicueta dives to deflect a volleyed attempt from Gameiro, luckily for us it cannons back off the striker.
82min: If that’s not a fluke, I don’t know what is. Wass has scored from a cross, he can hardly believe it himself. 2-2.
80min: Mason Mount comes on for Willian, that’s our final change.
78min: Jose Gaya cuts behind Reece James and crosses for Gameiro, who tries to curl the ball into the top corner but it’s off target. Meanwhile, Carlos Soler has been replaced by Lee Kang-In.
77min: Mateo Kovacic tries his luck with a half-volley from well outside the area. It goes far and wide, but at least he’s exuding confidence..?
73min: Kante is hilariously booked for the cleanest challenge you’ll see all day. Booked.
72min: Emerson replaces Jorginho, which is Chelsea’s second sub of the game. It’s a 3-4-3.. or is that a 5-2-3, rather?
68min: Batshuayi is set free in behind, he squares it to Willian in tons of space but Chelsea’s number 10 can’t put the ball in the back of the net.
67min: Gomez and Rodrigo combine, with one knocking down a long-ball for the other to shoot from distance. It goes over. Gameiro has replaced Costa for the hosts.
65min: KEPA SAVES! Justice has been served. Magnificent save, as he dives to the bottom-right and denies Parejo.
63min: The referee calls for a penalty after Jorginho seems to have brought down Jose Gaya. It goes to VAR and the call remains. Very questionable call.
60min: I suppose stranger things have happened, but Valencia have been awarded a free-kick after Gabriel fouled Kante near their penalty area. It helps to stay on the ground for an awfully long time, maybe.
57min: Parejo plays a ball in behind the defence, there’s an awkward gap between Christensen, Kepa and the rest of the defensive line. Christensen’s interception is half-hearted and falls to Rodrigo with Kepa some way off his line, luckily the striker misses the target.
56min: Ferran Torres heads over from a free-kick by Parejo.
52min: GOAL GOAL GOAL, IT’S GIVEN BY VAR AND CHELSEA ARE IN THE LEAD! CHRISTIAN PULISIC! ONE-TWO.
50min: Pulisic seems to have bundled the ball in following a knock-down of a cross by Zouma, but it’s ruled off. Either he’s offside or someone’s been pushed in the process. VAR check ensues.
50min: Batshuayi has his first shot against his former (loan) club, the ball is parried out for a corner.
48min: Pulisic breaks on the counter and switches to Willian, who awkwardly pulls the ball back for Reece James. James leaves Rodrigo for dead with a Cryuff turn and gets fouled in the process. The free-kick is a good delivery but intercepted by a Valencia defender.
46min: Valencia kick things off. Meanwhile, Michy Batshuayi has replaced Tammy Abraham.
HT: An entertaining half if nothing else, even though Chelsea were too easily carved apart on occasions. Action at both ends of the pitch and on another day, this could’ve easily gone into the break at 2-3 or 2-2. Tammy Abraham’s injury is a real downer.
45min: Chelsea venture into the penalty area yet again but the attack ends in a blocked attempt from Pulisic. Abraham gets his head on the following corner but picks up a knock in the process. He’s unlikely to continue, following a period of treatment.
43min: Nearly a second for Kovacic! Pulisic goes charging into the penalty area and plays a reverse-ball to Kovacic who finds himself in space but Cilessen is there to prevent him from scoring this time.
41min: GOAL GOAL GOAL GOAL GOOOOOOLAZO MATEO KOVACIC! HE FIRES IT IN FROM DISTANCE, IT’S LOW, PRECISE AND OUT OF CILESSEN’S REACH. ONE-ONE.
40min: A cross from Soler finds Rodrigo, who managed to find an elusive pocket of space and turn it in from close range. 1-0 Valencia.
38min: SO CLOSE FROM ABRAHAM! The no.9 forces a super-save from Cillessen, after finding space to shoot in the box following James’ cross and Kanté’s pass.
37min: Chelsea are still in the game! After a good stretch without much to account for on the offensive side of things, the Blues threaten Cillessen with Willian and Abraham. Kanté also gives a try, but his shot goes wide.
32min: Wass gets a yellow card after a nonsensical tackle on Kovacic.
30min: What a save from Kepa! The hosts recover the ball and engage in a quick attack, and Maxi Gómez gets yet another chance to score after being set up by Dani Parejo. But the Chelsea keeper does the right play to deny the Uruguayan what could have been the opening goal for Valencia!
25min: Kurt Zouma and Valencia’s Gabriel Paulista clash heads in our box, and the former Arsenal player gets the worst end of the deal. Thankfully it was nothing too serious for either defender, as they return to the pitch shortly after the incident.
23min: Yet another dangerous play from Valencia. Carlos Soler gets a pass in the box and he is free to make a headed attempt at our goal. Kepa defends it with ease.
22min: Referee Zwayer seems quite keen on stopping play for minor fouls. Weird.
19min: That was dangerously close. Valencia striker Rodrigo finds an opening on our left flank and sends a low cross to Chelsea’s box, which almost gets punished by Maxi Gómez, who steps over the ball instead of shooting at Kepa.
14min: Reece and Tammy, what a pair! The young right-back gets yet another sugared cross to Valencia’s box targeting our towering centre-forward, who almost manages to get to the ball and make goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen work.
11min: Looks like Valencia will keep on trying the one-route pass/counterattack plan to hurt Chelsea, while we have been way more comfortable in building up plays via possession. That does not mean we will not try the killer pass, with Pulisic nearly getting at the end of a marvellous pass from Jorginho to set him up for a goal.
8min: Valencia are now trying to give us some heat with set-pieces and crosses to the box. Not much build-up in their attempts to get shots against Kepa.
6min: Chelsea are playing as if they are at the Bridge, whereas Valencia look like visitors. However Jorginho gets a yellow card to kill a potentially dangerous Valencia counterattack in our defensive third.
2min: That was quick! Shortly after kickoff, interplay between our players on the left (Kovacic, Pulisic, Azpilicueta) gets Chelsea their first corner of the game. The set-piece did not result in anything; but Reece James’ pinpoint cross to Willian in the box almost did!
KICKOFF: And we’re off! Chelsea in blue, Valencia in white at the Mestalla, with the visitors getting us underway.
Spain beckons, as does the opportunity of sealing progression to the next phase of the UEFA Champions League. Win here and it’s smooth sailing, fail to do so and things could be precariously poised on the final gameday. Let’s go, Blues!
Chelsea starting line-up (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga | James, Zouma, Christensen, Azpilicueta (c) | Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic | Willian, Abraham, Pulisic
Substitutes from: Caballero, Tomori, Batshuayi, Emerson, Mount, Pedro, Giroud
Valencia starting line-up (4-4-2): Cilessen | Costa, Garay, Gabriel, Gaya | Torres, Parejo, Wass, Soler | Gomez, Rodrigo
Substitutes from: Jaume, Correia, Mangala, Lee, Coquelin, Gameiro, Vallejo
Date / Time: Wednesday, November 27, 2019, 17:55 GMT; 12:55pm EST; 11:25pm IST
Venue: Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain
Referee: Felix Zwayer
Forecast: Not snowing
On TV: BT Sport 3 (UK); TNT, TUDN, UniMás (USA); Sony TEN 2 (India); SuperSport 5 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: BT Sport Live (UK); WatchTNT, B/R Live, TUDN en Vivo (USA); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes.