fc københavn winger jesper grønkjær says it is "something special" to face his old club chelsea fc but admits the danish champions are up against it in tuesday's home first leg.
jesper grønkjær was sat in a cafe on holiday when a phone call informed him that fc københavn had been matched with his old club chelsea fc in the uefa champions league round of 16 – and the winger is under no illusion about the challenge his team face.
fck became the first danish side to reach the knockout phase when they beat panathinaikos fc 3-1 in their last group fixture, and tuesday's home first leg will be their first competitive match since that december success due to their domestic winter break. grønkjær, a chelsea player between 2000 and 2004 and still fondly remembered at stamford bridge, had mixed feelings when the draw was made.
"i knew that chelsea were among the teams that we could draw and it would be something special to play against them again, to go back to the bridge – but i have to admit that it's not the best draw," the 33-year-old said.
"chelsea were probably the team we did not want to play against because they play very physically. obviously their squad is full of fantastic players and they play slightly the same way we do. so it's going to be a hard, physical game but luckily for us we're playing at home first. in our stadium, with the crowd behind us, we can get a result."
that said, grønkjær is not taking comfort from chelsea's recent mixed results. "we all know that they have had a dip in form but they still have a good team," he said. "what we also know is that [roman] abramovich really wants to win the champions league and as they've been drawn against us, the odds are that you think they've got an easy draw."
but the former danish international, who joined fck in 2006 and has helped them to three league titles in the last four years, points to his own team's impressive group performances, where they finished above fc rubin kazan and panathinaikos as well as holding fc barcelona in copenhagen. "we know at home we can get good results in front of an enthusiastic crowd," grønkjær said.
"we've done well at home, we've also shown now that away from home we can also get results. but we know we're playing against a higher level of opposition now. it's going to be hard for us, we have had the winter break and haven't played any important games since the panathinaikos game on 7 december – chelsea have probably played 15."
still, the game has brought back memories of grønkjær's time in west london. "it was a dream come true going to england – as a danish player, like all scandinavian boys, we all watched the premier league on saturdays in denmark so everyone wants to go to the premier league," he said.
"already at that time [chelsea] were known for bringing in a lot of international players and were, if not the first, then one of the first who brought in so many players from the continent. it was a nice feeling but at that time i was younger, did not think about it that much. i had not experienced a lot but i'm a different person now you can say. it was a great time."
nicolas anelka maintained his fine uefa champions league form, his sixth and seventh goals of the season earning chelsea a first-leg cushion.
nicolas anelka went a long way to dispelling the cloud of doubt that has enveloped chelsea fc of late with both goals at fc københavn as the visitors racked up a healthy first-leg cushion.
left with the uefa champions league as their only realistic target this term following their weekend fa cup exit, the london club set about the task with admirable focus. january signing fernando torres was inevitably under the microscope once again in the danish capital, but it was strike partner anelka who profited most from carlo ancelotti's 4-4-2 formation, slotting in on 17 minutes before leaving his side in firm control with another assured finish after the break.
true to their pre-match promise chelsea made a busy and determined start at the parken stadion, as florent malouda and frank lampard fired off-target before a miscued ramires effort left torres in possession close to goal on the right. in a prime position to open his chelsea account, the former liverpool fc striker failed to pounce, allowing johan wiland to dive at his feet and clear.
the hosts gradually felt their way into the game after that but just as they seemed to be competing on equal terms, chelsea made the breakthrough. jesper grønkjær was guilty of a misplaced pass near the halfway line and the erstwhile blues winger could only watch in horror as anelka raced down the right and blasted low into the net.
an increasingly lively torres then teased his way past mathias zanka jørgensen and forced wiland to save with his legs, before failing to get a full touch after being played in behind the fck defence. he, anelka and malouda were all making inroads and their opponents barely registered as an attacking force: set pieces seemed their surest route to an equaliser in the first half.
even those were proving to be rare occurrences and that prompted ståle solbakken to introduce an extra midfielder in the form of martin vingaard after the interval. on for césar santin, the denmark international made an immediate impact, requiring petr Čech to perform a first save from just outside the area and then snatching at a chance to lob the chelsea no1.
if those opportunities gave the parken stadion faithful hope, it was quickly snuffed out again as anelka doubled his tally, rifling crisply into the far corner after being picked out by a superb lampard pass. torres soon looked set to join him on the scoresheet too, twisting and turning on the edge of the area only to be thwarted by wiland at full stretch.
fck's night deteriorated further when right-back zdeněk pospěch collected a yellow card that will keep him out of the 16 march decider, but they were at least spared a third goal when oscar wendt cleared a goal-bound effort from torres. at the other end Čech's comfortable handling from late vingaard, claudemir and dame n'doye attempts was a microcosm of his side's dominant display.
yardımcı hakemler: sander van roekel (ned), berry simons (ned)
4. hakem: richard liesveld (ned)
çizgi hakemleri: danny desmond makkelie (ned), ed janssen (ned)
københavn: johan wiland (gk), zdeněk pospěch, claudemir, william kvist (c), jesper grønkjær (dk. 87 kenneth zohore), césar santin (dk. 46 martin vingaard), dame n'doye, mikael antonsson, oscar wendt (dk. 75 pierre bengtsson), mathias zanka jørgensen, christián bolaños
yedekler: kim christensen (gk), thomas kristensen, jos hooiveld, thomas delaney
teknik direktör: ståle solbakken (nor)
chelsea: petr Čech (gk), branislav ivanović, ashley cole, michael essien, ramires, frank lampard, fernando torres (dk. 90+2 salomon kalou), florent malouda (dk. 85 yuri zhirkov), josé bosingwa, john terry (c), nicolas anelka (dk. 73 didier drogba)
yedekler: ross turnbull (gk), john obi mikel, paulo ferreira, joshua mceachran
teknik dirketör: carlo ancelotti (ita)
goller: dk. 17 nicolas anelka (0-1) dk. 54 nicolas anelka (0-2)
sarı akrtlar: dk. 7 mathias zanka jørgensen, dk. 70 zdeněk pospěch (københavn) dk. 35 fernando torres, dk. 85 florent malouda, dk. 86 john terry (c) (chelsea)
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