didier drogba had a single season with olympique de marseille yet his impact was such that the chelsea fc man expects a "fantastic moment" at his old stamping ground on matchday 6.
didier drogba spent only 12 months at olympique de marseille but the impact of his stay was such that the chelsea fc striker is anticipating a "fantastic moment" when he revisits the stade vélodrome on matchday 6.
the ivory coast international scored 18 ligue 1 goals, plus another 11 in europe, for marseille in 2003/04 after arriving from ea guingamp – duly earning cult status with their fans. "it's going to be a fantastic moment," he said of his return. "it's funny because i only played one year in marseille but the feeling between the fans, the city, and me is unbelievable. i gave everything and they gave it back to me as well. they still love me and it's nice when i go there."
om coach didier deschamps is also expecting a special reunion: "it will be very moving. didier had just one year in marseille but he's very attached to marseille. i think he will come back here before the end of his career, he really wants that.
"the crowd love him for what he has done and he remains a great striker. the crowd is thankful for what he has done because even if didier has been at chelsea for six years now, he was always honest and always said marseille was his club at heart."
drogba's om tally included five goals in the uefa champions league and six more in their subsequent run to the uefa cup final – not bad for his first season of european football. he remembers in particular the night when his double downed newcastle united in the uefa cup semi-final. "the stadium was amazing. it was like la bombonera [ca boca juniors' ground] in argentina."
drogba was already 26 when he joined chelsea in july 2004 yet feels he has improved notably as a footballer in the six years since. "i think i've changed, because now i'm able to repeat [performance levels], like every three days. i'm more of a competitor. before i needed maybe five, six chances to score a goal, now the ratio has come down, which means i've improved," explained the 32-year-old, who hit a career-high 29 league goals last term. "i think i can score more goals, and also maybe create more assists. sometimes it's difficult to score so you need to help the team as much as you can. creating assists is a big part of it."
drogba, who also played for le mans uc 72 in france, could not have come closer to winning the uefa champions league. witness three semi-final defeats and the 2008 final loss to manchester united fc, when he was sent off. has it become an obsession to triumph with chelsea?
"i've said before that to win the champions league is very important, but at the same time i know there are big players who haven't won it. of course, because i am a competitor, i will do everything to win it. this is a competition i used to watch when i was younger – i used to watch and be happy to see players like nicolas anelka, for example, lifting the cup. so yes, that is something i want but it is not easy to win it."
chelsea are the only side in this season's group stage with five straight victories – a feat they have managed without frank lampard. drogba is looking forward to the imminent recovery of the midfielder, sidelined since august by a groin problem.
"what makes him special – he is just a very good professional and he is clever, very clever," said drogba of lampard's importance to the londoners. "you can feel his frustration, he wants to play, he wants to help the team. and really he is the kind of player you can count on, because every season he will be there." much like drogba himself.
şampiyonlar ligi f grubu'nda fransa temsilcisi marsilya'nın konuğu ingiliz devi chelsea'ydi. marsilya, brandao'nın attığı golle rakibini 1-0 mağlup etmeyi başardı.
velodrome stadyumu'nda oynanan maça kontollu başlayan iki takım da gol pozisyonu üretmekte zorlandı ve ilk yarı golsüz beraberlikle sonuçlandı.
ikinci yarının başlamasıyla birlikte marsilya, rakip kaleye gol bulmak için yüklendi. ancak beklenen gol maçın son dakikalarında brandao'nun ayağından geldi. maçın sonlarına doğru gelen bu golden sonra başka gol olmayınca maç 1-0 marsilya'nın üstünlüğü ile sona erdi. marsilya topladığı 12 puanla, chelsea'nin ardından adını bir üst tura yazdıran ikinci takım oldu.
brandão scored an 81st-minute winner as the home side gained revenge for their 2-0 defeat on matchday 2.
olympique de marseille concluded their group f campaign in ideal fashion by claiming a fourth consecutive uefa champions league victory courtesy of brandão's late strike against chelsea fc.
with first and second places already determined, the french and english titleholders were afforded a rare pressure-free night, but it was the hosts – spurred on by a large, boisterous crowd – who displayed more urgency. indeed, didier deschamps' men were unfortunate not to take a first-half lead, mathieu valbuena striking the crossbar and gabriel heinze heading in from a fractionally offside position. they got their reward nine minutes from time, though, brandão stroking home taye taiwo's deflected shot to leave om three points behind chelsea.
the mediterranean outfit conceded twice in the opening half-hour of the 2-0 loss at stamford bridge yet looked to have learned their lesson as they made a fast start here. benoît cheyrou had already sent a dipping volley narrowly wide when valbuena twice went close in the 11th minute, first curling a delicious shot over petr Čech and against the crossbar, then powering a diving header wide of the near post.
carlo ancelotti's charges were struggling to gain a foothold as loïc rémy and brandão missed the target from promising positions as the hosts continued to squander chances. only in the 21st minute, when michael essien tried his luck from long range, did the blues muster their first attempt on target. didier drogba was unusually subdued, although the former marseille striker might have marked his return with a goal after being set up by salomon kalou, stabbing his shot over from inside the box.
with the visitors belatedly getting to grips with the excellent valbuena, marseille began to lose their fluidity in open play. the menace remained at set pieces, however, heinze nodding in cheyrou's 35th minute free-kick only for the effort to be chalked off. the pace slowed in the second period and only after the introductions of lucho gonzález and andré ayew after the hour did om stir back to life.
ayew was a whisker away from scoring with his first touch, the ghanaian just failing to connect with taiwo's cross-shot. the nigerian left-back tried his luck again nine minutes from time, cutting inside and shooting with his right foot. when the ball deflected kindly off ramires, brandão calmly stroked in the winner with his left foot.
1. chelsea fc...6...5...0...1...14...4...10...15 2. olympique de marseille...6...4...0...2...12...3...9...12 3. fc spartak moskva...6...3...0...3...7...10...-3...9 4. mšk Žilina...6...0...0...6...3...19...-16...0
yardımcı hakemler: nikolai golubev (rus), tikhon kalugin (rus)
4. hakem: aleksei nikolaev (rus)
çizgi hakemleri: maksim layushkin (rus), sergey karasev (rus)
marseille: steve mandanda (gk) (c), taye taiwo, benoît cheyrou, brandão, loïc rémy, charles kaboré, leyti n'diaye (dk. 86 jordan ayew), fabrice abriel (dk. 63 lucho gonzález), gabriel heinze, souleymane diawara, mathieu valbuena (dk. 63 andré ayew)
yedekler: elinton andrade (gk), édouard cissé, jean-philippe sabo
teknik direktör: didier deschamps (fra)
chelsea: petr Čech (gk), branislav ivanović, michael essien , ramires, didier drogba (dk. 62 daniel sturridge), florent malouda, josé bosingwa (dk. 79 patrick van aanholt), paulo ferreira, salomon kalou, john terry (c) (dk. 72 jeffrey bruma), joshua mceachran
yedekler: ross turnbull (gk), john obi mikel, gaël kakuta, jacopo sala
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