adminLONDON. — Out-of-sorts Chelsea have a golden opportunity to restore battered self-confidence when they face Maccabi Tel Aviv in their opening Champions League Group G soccer match tonight.
The match kicks-off at 8:45pm. The Premier League champions slumped to their fourth defeat in six games when they lost 3-1 at Everton on Saturday. And Branislav Ivanovic has warned Chelsea to snap out of their lethargic start to the season as the spluttering English champions bid to get back on track against Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
Jose Mourinho’s embattled side start their Champions League Group G campaign in dire need of a victory after a traumatising period that has left their Premier League title defence in tatters.
A miserable 3-1 defeat at Everton on Saturday also condemned the Blues to their third defeat in their last four matches and left them languishing 11 points behind leaders Manchester City.
They lost only three in the league in the whole of last season and the current woeful sequence constitutes the club’s worst start to a top tier season since 1986.
Against that depressing backdrop, Chelsea defender Ivanovic tried to strike a positive tone when he claimed the team’s performances haven’t been as bad as the results suggest.
But even the Serbia international acknowledges they have made costly mistakes that must be eradicated if they are to get back in the title race and mount a strong challenge for the Champions League.
“We need one big win to come back to our way,” Ivanovic said. “We are not playing as badly as the results are showing but we have to wake up.
“I think at the moment we are being punished for all our mistakes.
“The only way we can change is to work hard and be ready for the next game, so it is like a final and we have to play like a final.”
Manager Mourinho said he was under no pressure after the match against Everton but, according to media reports, he swore at Everton counterpart Roberto Martinez after being made to wait for his post-match news conference.
Earlier, Mourinho admitted the poor run of results were the worst of his career but added he was the man to lead Chelsea out of their hole.
The Portuguese has also fallen out with club doctor Eva Carneiro and had another public spat with old adversary Arsene Wenger after losing to his Arsenal side in the Community Shield season curtain-raiser at Wembley.
The Londoners will again be without injured keeper Thibaut Courtois who was outstanding when they won the Premier League last season.
Maccabi are back in the competition for the first time since 2004-05 after coming through the qualifying rounds, thanks almost entirely to forward Eran Zahavi who has scored 12 goals in total this season.
Although 2012 European champions Chelsea and Maccabi have never met, visiting coach Slavisa Jokanovic and defender Tal Ben Haim know all about the Stamford Bridge club. — AFP.
Online Reporter