Feb 26

Squad sheets: Chelsea v Manchester City

When Wayne Meets John has assumed the proportions of a Hollywood blockbuster. Will they or won’t they? And that is just the eye contact. The tale of how two best friends have fallen out over a woman is nothing new but this particular episode holds the nation in thrall. The collateral damage has been destructive and it is in danger of obscuring other issues, chief among them Chelsea’s desire to edge closer to the title and City’s need to improve upon a worrying recent run. Oh, and Carlos Tevez is back from a personal trauma of his own. David Hytner

Venue Stamford Bridge

Tickets Sold out

Last season Chelsea 1 Manchester City 0

Referee M Dean

This season’s matches 19 Y81, R3, 4.42 cards per game

Odds Chelsea1-2 Manchester City 7-1 Draw 7-2

Chelsea

Subs from Turnbull, Deco, J Cole, Ferreira, Kalou, Sturridge, Matic, Alex, Hutchinson, Bruma, Kakuta, Borini

Doubtful Deco (knee)

Injured Bosingwa (knee, 7 Mar), Essien (knee, 7 Mar), Zhirkov (calf, 7 Mar), Cech (calf, 27 Mar), A Cole (ankle, May)

Suspended None

Form guide WLWDWW

Disciplinary record Y37 R2

Leading scorer Drogba 19

Manchester City

Subs from Taylor, Touré, Onuoha, Boyata, Ireland, A Johnson, Vieira, Sylvinho, Ibrahim, Garrido, Santa Cruz

Doubtful Santa Cruz (knee), Tevez (match fitness), Touré (knee)

Injured Ball (foot, 7 Mar), Petrov (knee, 20 Mar), M Johnson (knee, May)

Suspended Adebayor (first of four)

Form guide DDWLWL

Disciplinary record Y36 R2

Leading scorer Tevez 13

Match pointers

• Manchester City have failed to score in their last seven visits to Stamford Bridge – no Premier League team has ever gone eight consecutive games without scoring at an opposition’s ground

• If selected, Joe Cole and John Terry will both be making their 300th Premier League appearance

• Carlos Tevez has scored in his last three Premier League starts against Chelsea – all for different teams (West Ham, Manchester United and City)

• Chelsea’s last three league defeats have all seen them take the lead before going on to lose 2-1

ChelseaManchester CityPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk

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Feb 25

José Mourinho will get hero’s welcome at Chelsea, says Frank Lampard

• Portuguese returns to Stamford Bridge with Internazionale
• ‘I’m sure it will be a major sideshow,’ says Chelsea midfielder

Frank Lampard today said he would not begrudge his former manager José Mourinho the welcome of a homecoming hero when he returns to Stamford Bridge with Internazionale in three weeks’ time.

The Chelsea midfielder hears only cat-calls when he faces his old team West Ham United at Upton Park but the reaction to Mourinho at Stamford Bridge will be rather different for the second leg of the Champions League last-16 fixture. Inter edged the first-leg 2-1 in Milan last night.

“I’m sure it will be a major sideshow and, quite rightly, he [Mourinho] will get a fantastic reception,” said Lampard of the manager who won five trophies during his time in charge of Chelsea from 2004 to 2007.

“It’s a great story. He is the most successful manager in our history and fans will want to pay their respects to him. I’ve seen that warmth when managers go back and when players go back. It’s nice and good to see that sort of respect from both sides. Our fans will give him a great reception but, when the game starts, they will want to win. It’s simple.”

Chelsea’s hopes of progress have not ended in the defeat at San Siro. They can take heart not only from their away goal but the nature of their performance. It has further fired the belief which has built within the squad that this can be a special season under Carlo Ancelotti. His team are top of the Premier League and also into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

“We have always thought we can win the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup as well,” said Mikel John Obi. “Every game we play, we go in to win. In a club like this we have ambition. We want to win everything.

“If you are at Chelsea, this is what you’ve got to believe. If you don’t believe that, you can’t play for this club.”

Lampard was more circumspect: “I think it would be naive to say we were the favourites because Inter could come and score at our place. So I would say it’s 50-50.

“We had a lot of possession in the first leg and we were the stronger team but it might suit them to play on the counter-attack more, that’s their style. It might suit them if we over-attack, so there are a lot of elements to come.”

Mourinho, as ever, will travel with confidence to London. “Once we put our foot in the first second of the game, we are in the quarter-finals,” he said. “Mentally the lead is an advantage.

“I expect to be very well welcomed by the Chelsea fans. They know how much I gave them. If I didn’t give more, it was because I wasn’t able to give more.

“They know I want Inter to be the winner but they also know that, if Inter is not the winner of this tie, then I want Chelsea to go and go and go and succeed.”

José MourinhoChelseaInternazionaleChampions LeagueDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk

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Feb 25

Petr Cech out of Chelsea’s Champions League return with Internazionale

• Goalkeeper tore calf muscle in first-leg defeat at San Siro
• ‘It is better for me if he is out,’ says José Mourinho

Petr Cech will miss the return leg of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 tie against Internazionale, together with a clutch of important Premier League fixtures, after the club ruled him out for three to four weeks with a torn calf muscle.

The goalkeeper suffered the injury in Wednesday night’s first-leg against Inter at San Siro, which Chelsea lost 2-1, and after undergoing scans, he now knows the extent of the damage. If the prognosis is accurate, Cech will miss the league games against Manchester City and West Ham United, the FA Cup quarter-final with Stoke City and the second leg against Inter on 16 March. And he would still be a doubt for the league matches against Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth.

Henrique Hilário, the Portuguese reserve, stands by to deputise. “It’s a huge blow to lose Pete,” Frank Lampard said. “He’s in fantastic form as everyone knows. He’s always been up there with the best in the world and no one wants to lose that. But Hilário has never let us down. Whenever he’s come in, whether it’s for one game here or there, or a run of a few games, he’s always been fantastic. It’s not something we’re worried about. We’ve got Ross Turnbull behind Hilário as well. We have to have faith in them and we’ve got that.”

José Mourinho, the Inter manager, who depended on Cech during his time at Stamford Bridge, is not sorry that the goalkeeper will miss the Champions League second leg. “It would be better for me if he was out, I have to be honest,” Mourinho said. “But Hilário is a stable player. He went to Chelsea exactly for this. Remember he played against Barcelona in the Champions League [in 2006], so it is no problem if Hilário plays.”

ChelseaChampions LeaguePremier LeagueDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk

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