Chelsea V Inter Milan: Champions League Betting

Chelsea V Inter Milan

Tuesday, 16^th March – 19:45 GMT

TV Coverage: Sky Sports 2

First Leg: Inter Milan 2-1 Chelsea

In the battle between Chelsea and their former mentor, Jose Mounrinho, it was the latter who came out of the San Siro clash grinning after Inter Milan put one foot in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 first leg victory. In what was supposed to be a tetchy opening, Inter sprinted out of the blocks, and when Diego Milito of Inter Milan swivelled inside the Chelsea penalty area, there was only going to be one outcome as his low yet firm strike inside the near post sent the home crowd into raptures with the opening goal. It was some poor defending to blame though on Chelsea’s part, with John Terry in particular the guilty party. Inter held onto their lead into the interval, although that shouldn’t of been the case when Salomon Kalou was sent tumbling after a rash tackle from behind by Walter Samuel, although the ref clearly felt, or simply didn’t spot the incident to deem it worthy of a penalty.

The second half continued in the same manner the first ended, with Chelsea pressing for a much needed equaliser, and the Blues got their leveller when Salomon Kalou, whom was one of Chelsea’s better players on the night, tried his luck from outside the box only to see his effort sneak inside the far post, albeit with the aid of some lacklustre goalkeeping. Chelsea’s parity was short lived however as Esteban Cambiasso, a holding midfielder by trade, drilled home his effort from just inside the Chelsea box to restore Inter’s one goal advantage, and that’s how the game finished.

Who will qualify?

Despite edging into an aggregate lead, Inter remain as the underdogs, although the bookies do think they have every chance of making the quarter-final draw as the Italians have been slashed in price from 2.70 right down to 2.20 with StanJames, while Chelsea are a general 1.73 shot.

The clincher for most, and perhaps the bookies, is Kalou’s goal at the San Siro, a vital away goal for Chelsea. However, even if Chelsea did get the dream start at Stamford Bridge, Inter wouldn’t be out of the tie until Chelsea put three past the Italians, which, considering most Italian teams are famous for their resolute defending, could take some doing. An early strike for Inter, however, and it would leave Chelsea reeling and feeling the pressure, so the value in our opinion is with the Italians, although they’ve had a knack of disappointing us on English soil before so perhaps we’re expecting a little too much from Mourinho’s charges.

Chelsea

Outright Odds: 5/1 Boylesports

Their opponents, in a vein bid to gain the upper hand, were given an early fixture on Friday, although it worked against the Italians as Inter Milan lost in Catania 3-1. Chelsea, though, despite playing a day later and having a days less of recuperation, were in winning action as they smashed West Ham United 4-1 at Stamford Bridge, with the crowd already being warmed up to some goalscoring action, something Chelsea need to show their fans a lot more of on Tuesday night if they are to progress into the last-eight of the competition.

Chelsea need to score on Tuesday, that’s a given, and it’s difficult to oppose them at least fulfilling that objective. Their goalscoring form at home this season, both in the Premier League and the Champions League, has been impeccable, with Carlo Ancelotti’s men yet to have a baron 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge this season, whilst they’ve only lost once at home in all competitions. That was recent, however, when the blues lost in a resounding manner to Man City 4-2. Questions were being asked of the players after that miserable defeat and yet they answered them all in an authoritative manner by winning their following two fixtures, both of which were comfortable scoreline’s: Stoke City 2-0, West Ham 4-1. 

To bolster their superior credentials, Chelsea haven’t lost a home encounter in the Champions League in 21 games, subsequently winning 15 of those. That’s a staggering streak for Chelsea and Ancelotti, whom will be facing his former fiercest rivals in Inter Milan after previously being at the helm of AC Milan. Moreover, seven of their eleven goals scored in this competition thus far have come at The Bridge, so Chelsea look immensely strong to at least push Inter’s one goal advantage to the brink on Tuesday.

There are still a few minor concerns where Chelsea are involved, both of which are in defence. Firstly, Chelsea’s defending in recent games hasn’t been satisfactory to say the least, with silly mistakes slipping into their play, although few have cost them up till now. The second point is the absence of both Petr Cech and Hilario in the Chelsea goal, meaning third choice Ross Turnbull, whom played his first ultra competitive game of the season just last Saturday, will start between the sticks for Ancelotti and Chelsea – hardily a confidence booster for wannabe Chelsea backers.

Inter Milan

Outright Odds: 11/1 totesport

While Jose Mourinho should be plotting a plan worthy of sending his Inter Milan through to the quarter’s, he is instead having to encourage his troops after a miserable day at the office last Friday. Just four days before the showdown at Stamford Bridge, Inter were out in Catania aiming to go seven points clear of their nearest rivals, AC Milan, with the point of the Friday fixture being to allow the Inter players a days extra rest.. However, they instead suffered just their third defeat of the campaign and have now lost all momentum after previously going twelve games without defeat in Serie A.

Defeat against such an inferior opponent is arguably the worst warm up for the club ahead of ther biggest clash of the season thus far. Not only will the setback in not picking up any points harm the harmony at the club but it was also the manner in which they lost which stunned us the most. It was fair to say that Inter weren’t at the races on Friday night, with perhaps this very clash with Chelsea at the forefront of their thoughts. However, even so, there were no excuses as to why Inter were sloppy with possession and so rash with their tackles, with temperament clearly an issue within the Inter ranks.

There were a few areas which deeply disturbed us in Friday’s performance, one being Inter’s sheer lack of cool. Once Inter relinquished their narrow 1-0 lead they went to pieces, with Sulley Muntari’s rash challenge inside the Inter penalty box the direct result of an Inter capitulation. However, even before this gift of a penalty, their players were beginning to lose their heads, with rash tackles flying in from all quarters and players persistently arguing with the ref whenever a decision went against them. They looked a side very easy to wind up, and in a game where players simply have to keep their cool, perhaps Inter are exposed to several scenario’s, one being an early strike from Chelsea while the other being some poor referring decisions, as Inter’s players have proven on plenty of occasions this season that they can capitulate when both or one arises.

Inter’s record on the road in the group stages wasn’t particularly great (1-1-1), losing at the Nou Camp to Barcelona in their last away encounter in the Champions League. Moreover, the football God’s are against the Italian’s, with Inter exiting this stage of the competition in their previous three seasons, while their previous two have been at the hands of English opponents in Man Utd & Liverpool. Mourinho will also need to guide his Inter team to their first goal on English soil in six years if they are to grab a vital away goal, although you have to stretch back six years for their last victory in England: A 3-0 win over Arsenal.

Match Verdict: Chelsea to WIN – 1.62 totesport

Chelsea seem to have brushed their recent blips under the carpet after two successive wins under their belts now. Inter, however, were putting in a less-than-convincing display away at Catania on Friday night, falling to just their third defeat of the season. That defeat will have been a bitter blow to Inter’s preperations head of their biggest game of the season so far, but they do travel to London with the lead and in the knowledge that a solid defensive display could take them through. However, Inter rarely do clean sheets when away from home, having yet to keep on in the Champions League this season, so the task is a daunting one when you consider Inter probably have to score at least once to have any realistic hopes of making the quarter’s.

This looks too big an ask if you ask me, although Inter do look more equipped to handle the Chelsea onslaught than in previous season. Even so, Chelsea look so strong and even warmed up for this encounter in immense fashion, smashing four goals past West Ham at the weekend, leaving the Chelsea players in buoyant mood ahead of their Italian opponents arrival. Carlo Ancelotti has a consistent group of players at his disposal, especially when playing in front of a capacity home crowd and we’re expecting the blues of London to come out on top as Inter drop out at the last-sixteen stage for the fourth year running.

Match Odds:

Chelsea – 1.62 totesport

Draw – 4.00 VCbet

Inter Milan – 6.00 Bet365