Champions League Draw: CHELSEA

So, yesterday saw the riveting spectacle that is the Champions League draw. The whole thing would take me 5 minutes tops but they manage to drag it out forever. Anyway, as we now know after all that fuss, the upshot is we’ve been drawn in Group E with Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen and RC Genk.

So let’s have a look at what we’ve got:

Valencia

An immediate return to the Mestalla for Mata then, Valencia’s best player last season as it turns out, so there’s a bonus for us. Mind you, since they’ve replaced him with Sergio Canales on loan from Real Madrid, we shouldn’t get too excited because our defence could struggle to keep him quiet.  Valencia finished third in what was a two-horse race for La Liga last season but again, we can’t exactly judge them on that considering it was Real Madrid and Barcelona they were competing with.  They’ve qualified for 4 of the last 6 Champions League’s, so it goes without saying we’ll get a game off them.

Bayer Leverkusen

Another return in this one, this time for our former midfielder Michael Ballack. Talking of midfield, it seems that’s probably their strongest area which might not be brilliant news given ours hasn’t looked up to much so far. They don’t have the experience of other sides in Europe but finished second in the Bundesliga last season and I have a feeling we shouldn’t be taking them lightly.

R C Genk

Oddly enough, although there aren’t any ‘returning’ players in this one, we did sign their keeper, Thibaut Courtois, in the summer. However, since we promptly packed him off to Atletico Madrid, it’ll save on a third reunion. Again, not exactly full of European experience having not been at the group stage for nine years but whilst they won’t win the group, the rest of us need to be careful they don’t start pinching points.

Full draw