Chelsea against Bayern Munich

Bayern couldn't organise a booze-up in brewery at the moment....maybe they are lulling Chelsea into a false sense of security so they can surprise the Blues with two away goals in quick succession.

The homeside make another change and Tiago comes on to replace the more attack minded Joe Cole.

Drogba has worked his posterior off this match and really deserves that goal. Chelsea are in dreamland at 4-1.

Chelsea have a corner. Bayern can't scramble the ball clear. Kahn makes a point-blank save from Gudjohnsen but Drogba pounces to smash the ball home from three yards out. GOAL!!!

Hargreaves delivers a measured cross from the left. Gallas contorts his body to flick the ball away from Guerrero at the far post.

Scholl's first ball into the box is infinately superior to anything Ze Roberto delivered. Terry is still able to head it clear as there was a distinct lack of black shirts in the box.

Chelsea hoist another high ball up towards Drogba. This time the striker takes it down, spins past his defender and then shoots over the bar. It looked like his shirts was being pulled but the ref waves away the penalty claims.

Bayern make a change. Wasteful winger Ze Roberto is replaced by Scholl.

Munich have hardly provided an attacking threat this half. Ballack needs to impose himself on the match.

...the England international brings the ball down on his chest, spins and fires a shot past Kahn into the far corner. GOAL!!!

Drogba wins another towering header. Duff picks up the crumbs and the ball squirms out to Lampard...

Ze Roberto's shot takes a huge deflection and Cech races off his line to pluck the looping ball out of the air.

Duff races down the left, cuts inside and stings the palms of Bayern goalkeeper Kahn with a powerful shot.

Chelsea make a change to their rearguard. Johnson goes off - no doubt thinking about his earlier error - and Huth comes on.

Guerrero holds the ball up well for Bayern and brings his team-mates into play. The Bundesliga side can't find a way through the Blues defence.

Schweinsteiger gets booked, harshly, for a push on Lampard.

Bayern will be fuming. They must have worked on preventing Lampard space on the edge of the box all week and yet he still pops up with a goal from his favourite area.

Drogba wins header on the edge of the box, the ball drops in the D to Lampard, who despatches the ball with a trademark volley into the bottom corner. GOAL!!!

Joe Cole goes down in spectacular fashion after taking a boot in the crown jewels and it's another freekick. Drogba shoots straight down Kahn's throat.

Ballack produces an Oscar winning dive under a tackle from Carvalho. The ref obviously isn't a fan of his acting and only awards a throw.

Chelsea win a freekick. Makelele gets booked for protesting that the wall wasn't ten yards back and after all that the chance is wasted.

A believe the phrase is: 'a vital away goal'.

Ballack does take it but smashes his shot into the wall, Ze Roberto latches onto the rebound and draws a good save for Cech, Schweinsteiger pounces and finishes from a tight angle. GOAL!!!

Ballack attempts to spark something for Bayern as Gallas takes out Schweinsteiger on the edge of the box....I suggest that Ballack takes it this time.

Johnson and Gallas are marauding down each flank from defence at the moment. Chelsea are really going for it at the start of this second-half.

Lampard spots Drogba's forward run and delivers a pinpoint pass. The striker can't get the ball out from under his feet and Kovac makes a good tackle.

Gudjohnsen fakes a shot on the edge of the box and slips the ball to Duff, who sees his shot partially saved by Kahn and then cleared off the line by Lucio.

Bayern replace Salihamidzic with Bastian Schweinsteiger as Chelsea get the second-half underway.

Chelsea lead 1-0 at the break, thanks to Joe Cole's deflected strike, and all in all Chelsea will be happy with a first-half that saw only one good goalscoring chance for Bayern.

That's the end of the half, and I'm left wondering if Mourinho has pre-taped a series of motivational videos for every possible scenario at the break. Well he is renound for being thorough.

Bayern put the pressure on Makelele again. This time the pressure is deemed illegal and Chelsea can clear their lines from the resulting freekick.

Anyway, back at Stamford Bridge there is plenty of effort but not much product.

Cech badly slices his clearence...I think I am contracted to say 'so he is human' at this point. You know, the kind of thing you hear every time Zidane plays a wayward pass.

Owen makes good progress down the right flank. His cross finds Guerrero in the box but the young striker's first touch is poor and Chelsea smother the attack.

Lampard whips in a freekick to the far post, Kahn and Terry collide as they both challenge for the ball. The keeper is awarded a freekick.

Frings charges into the back of Lampard as he leaps for a header and gets booked for a foul on the Chelsea midfielder.

Ze Roberto ties himself in a knot and then somehow wins a freekick. Lucio gets himself out of a tight spot with some fancy footwork for a centre-back.

Kahn races off his line to pounce on a throughball. Cole takes a tumble in the box but the linesman has flagged for offside.

Gudjohnsen plays the ball back across the box for Lampard, who shoots with his body in a typically twisted shape and watches his effort flash past the post.

...Ze Roberto hits a left foot shot over the wall and over the bar. What a waste of a good build up.

Ballack dances on the edge of the area, draws a foul from Carvalho, who gets booked, and Bayern have a freekick in a dangerous position....

Cole drives at Ze Roberto and Lizarazu with the new found confidence that 10 successive starts gives you....unfortunately the end product is that of the old Cole.

Well it's not exactly a riproarer but there is enough to keep my keyboard employed.

Hargeaves hits a hopeful ball into the box, Johnson makes a hash of his chestdown and Ze Roberto shoots inches wide of the far post. A let off for the young defender there.

Gallas hits a long-range shot, a la Luis Garcia, that has Kahn scampering but drifts wide of the goalkeeper's righthand post.

Cole creates space for himself with a cheeky flick and then races forward. Drogba overhits his pass and Kahn collects.

Gudjohnsen latches onto a Drogba knockdown. Kovac recovers in time to block the Chelsea striker before he can test Kahn in the Bayern goal.

Lampard brings down Ballack and Bayern will have a chance to test Cech from the freekick. Hargreaves takes and Cech collects low to his left.

Salihamidzic is harassing the Chelsea defence, this time he combines with Hargreaves but neither player can fire off a shot.

Frings breaks down the left and crosses for Salihamidzic. The forward chests it down to his strike partner to shoot but the ref deems that Salihamidzic used his hand and blows for a foul.

Ballack wins a throw deep in Blues territory. Lizarazu launches it into the box, but straight at the first defender. What a complete waste!

It's a fairly even contest at the moment, neither team is being particularly incisive with the ball.

Makelele tracks back to win possession and then chips the ball forward to Drogba. The Frenchman's pass is just too high for his intended target.

Bayern win a corner. Carvalho heads away Ze Roberto's delivery.

Gallas gallops into the box, knocks down a clearence with his hand and then shoots over the bar.

Makelele runs into trouble but the pintsized battler falls over and wins a foul off Frings...it was never a foul, just desperation on Makelele's part.

Bayern are pressing high up the pitch and Chelsea are in danger of getting caught in possession. Ze Roberto overlaps down the left and then gives the ball away.

Lizarazu, who has slightly tamed his wild locks, is needlessly fouled by Drogba. The Chelsea striker recieves a yellow card.

Despite that effort from the Germans Mourinho will be sitting fairly comfortably at his BBQ or whatever it is he is at....

Bayern offer an attack when Lampard loses possession to Hargreaves. Guerrero shapes to shoot but Terry slides across to block the shot. A reminder of what Bayern can do.

Chelsea keep the pressure on with a corner. Terry gets a header at goal and Kahn punches over the bar from between Gallas and Gudjohnsen.

An ugly goal, but an important one and Stamford Bridge sings with one voice.

Joe Cole hits a speculative long-shot that deflects off Drogba (stood in an offside position), then Lucio and trickles past Kahn, who was wrong footed by the double deflection. GOAL!!!

Guerrero, a stand in for injured striker Roy Makaay, is something of a novice but will be hoping to have the impact Liverpool's improvised strike force had against Juve last night.

Ze Roberto delivers a good cross but Drogba is back defending in his own box. Kahn gets an early touch as Chelsea break.

Salihamidzic looks for England's Hargreaves down the flank. Ballack wins a corner off Duff.

Bayern get the game underway against the reletive new kids on the European block.

The ref is a man mountain by the way, UEFA have opted for the biggest bloke they can find after the Frisk affair.

The Stamford Bridge crowd sounds in fine voice tonight...lets see if they can keep it up.

The teams are out on the pitch for the line-up, handshakes and all the pre-match nonsense.

Roy Makaay does not start for Bayern, a big blow to the German team following the loss of Claudio Pizarro.

Can Bayern succeed where Barca failed and stop the runaway juggernaut that is Chelsea? Probably not, but with Jose banned from the touchline and Arjen Robben out, now's as good a time as any to try. There is a rumour knocking about that Jose's 'quiet place' for following the game tonight is at his PC reading Soccernet's award winning live commentary. Join us and him (possibly) from 7.45 for what promises to be a quality encounter.

Schweinsteiger gets booked, harshly, for a push on Lampard.

Bayern will be fuming. They must have worked on preventing Lampard space on the edge of the box all week and yet he still pops up with a goal from his favourite area.

Drogba wins header on the edge of the box, the ball drops in the D to Lampard, who despatches the ball with a trademark volley into the bottom corner. GOAL!!!

Joe Cole goes down in spectacular fashion after taking a boot in the crown jewels and it's another freekick. Drogba shoots straight down Kahn's throat.

Ballack produces an Oscar winning dive under a tackle from Carvalho. The ref obviously isn't a fan of his acting and only awards a throw.

Chelsea win a freekick. Makelele gets booked for protesting that the wall wasn't ten yards back and after all that the chance is wasted.

A believe the phrase is: 'a vital away goal'.

Ballack does take it but smashes his shot into the wall, Ze Roberto latches onto the rebound and draws a good save for Cech, Schweinsteiger pounces and finishes from a tight angle. GOAL!!!

Ballack attempts to spark something for Bayern as Gallas takes out Schweinsteiger on the edge of the box....I suggest that Ballack takes it this time.

Johnson and Gallas are marauding down each flank from defence at the moment. Chelsea are really going for it at the start of this second-half.

Lampard spots Drogba's forward run and delivers a pinpoint pass. The striker can't get the ball out from under his feet and Kovac makes a good tackle.

Gudjohnsen fakes a shot on the edge of the box and slips the ball to Duff, who sees his shot partially saved by Kahn and then cleared off the line by Lucio.

Bayern replace Salihamidzic with Bastian Schweinsteiger as Chelsea get the second-half underway.

Chelsea lead 1-0 at the break, thanks to Joe Cole's deflected strike, and all in all Chelsea will be happy with a first-half that saw only one good goalscoring chance for Bayern.

That's the end of the half, and I'm left wondering if Mourinho has pre-taped a series of motivational videos for every possible scenario at the break. Well he is renound for being thorough.

Bayern put the pressure on Makelele again. This time the pressure is deemed illegal and Chelsea can clear their lines from the resulting freekick.

Anyway, back at Stamford Bridge there is plenty of effort but not much product.

Cech badly slices his clearence...I think I am contracted to say 'so he is human' at this point. You know, the kind of thing you hear every time Zidane plays a wayward pass.

Owen makes good progress down the right flank. His cross finds Guerrero in the box but the young striker's first touch is poor and Chelsea smother the attack.

Lampard whips in a freekick to the far post, Kahn and Terry collide as they both challenge for the ball. The keeper is awarded a freekick.

Frings charges into the back of Lampard as he leaps for a header and gets booked for a foul on the Chelsea midfielder.

Ze Roberto ties himself in a knot and then somehow wins a freekick. Lucio gets himself out of a tight spot with some fancy footwork for a centre-back.

Kahn races off his line to pounce on a throughball. Cole takes a tumble in the box but the linesman has flagged for offside.

Gudjohnsen plays the ball back across the box for Lampard, who shoots with his body in a typically twisted shape and watches his effort flash past the post.

...Ze Roberto hits a left foot shot over the wall and over the bar. What a waste of a good build up.

Ballack dances on the edge of the area, draws a foul from Carvalho, who gets booked, and Bayern have a freekick in a dangerous position....

Cole drives at Ze Roberto and Lizarazu with the new found confidence that 10 successive starts gives you....unfortunately the end product is that of the old Cole.

Well it's not exactly a riproarer but there is enough to keep my keyboard employed.

Hargeaves hits a hopeful ball into the box, Johnson makes a hash of his chestdown and Ze Roberto shoots inches wide of the far post. A let off for the young defender there.

Gallas hits a long-range shot, a la Luis Garcia, that has Kahn scampering but drifts wide of the goalkeeper's righthand post.

Cole creates space for himself with a cheeky flick and then races forward. Drogba overhits his pass and Kahn collects.

Gudjohnsen latches onto a Drogba knockdown. Kovac recovers in time to block the Chelsea striker before he can test Kahn in the Bayern goal.

Lampard brings down Ballack and Bayern will have a chance to test Cech from the freekick. Hargreaves takes and Cech collects low to his left.

Salihamidzic is harassing the Chelsea defence, this time he combines with Hargreaves but neither player can fire off a shot.

Frings breaks down the left and crosses for Salihamidzic. The forward chests it down to his strike partner to shoot but the ref deems that Salihamidzic used his hand and blows for a foul.

Ballack wins a throw deep in Blues territory. Lizarazu launches it into the box, but straight at the first defender. What a complete waste!

It's a fairly even contest at the moment, neither team is being particularly incisive with the ball.

Makelele tracks back to win possession and then chips the ball forward to Drogba. The Frenchman's pass is just too high for his intended target.

Bayern win a corner. Carvalho heads away Ze Roberto's delivery.

Gallas gallops into the box, knocks down a clearence with his hand and then shoots over the bar.

Makelele runs into trouble but the pintsized battler falls over and wins a foul off Frings...it was never a foul, just desperation on Makelele's part.

Bayern are pressing high up the pitch and Chelsea are in danger of getting caught in possession. Ze Roberto overlaps down the left and then gives the ball away.

Lizarazu, who has slightly tamed his wild locks, is needlessly fouled by Drogba. The Chelsea striker recieves a yellow card.

Despite that effort from the Germans Mourinho will be sitting fairly comfortably at his BBQ or whatever it is he is at....

Bayern offer an attack when Lampard loses possession to Hargreaves. Guerrero shapes to shoot but Terry slides across to block the shot. A reminder of what Bayern can do.

Chelsea keep the pressure on with a corner. Terry gets a header at goal and Kahn punches over the bar from between Gallas and Gudjohnsen.

An ugly goal, but an important one and Stamford Bridge sings with one voice.

Joe Cole hits a speculative long-shot that deflects off Drogba (stood in an offside position), then Lucio and trickles past Kahn, who was wrong footed by the double deflection. GOAL!!!

Guerrero, a stand in for injured striker Roy Makaay, is something of a novice but will be hoping to have the impact Liverpool's improvised strike force had against Juve last night.

Ze Roberto delivers a good cross but Drogba is back defending in his own box. Kahn gets an early touch as Chelsea break.

Salihamidzic looks for England's Hargreaves down the flank. Ballack wins a corner off Duff.

Bayern get the game underway against the reletive new kids on the European block.

The ref is a man mountain by the way, UEFA have opted for the biggest bloke they can find after the Frisk affair.

The Stamford Bridge crowd sounds in fine voice tonight...lets see if they can keep it up.

The teams are out on the pitch for the line-up, handshakes and all the pre-match nonsense.

Roy Makaay does not start for Bayern, a big blow to the German team following the loss of Claudio Pizarro.

Can Bayern succeed where Barca failed and stop the runaway juggernaut that is Chelsea? Probably not, but with Jose banned from the touchline and Arjen Robben out, now's as good a time as any to try. There is a rumour knocking about that Jose's 'quiet place' for following the game tonight is at his PC reading Soccernet's award winning live commentary. Join us and him (possibly) from 7.45 for what promises to be a quality encounter.