Ancelotti takes the long view at Chelsea

Chelsea will hope to continue their trend of starting a UEFA Champions League season well when they play host to FC Porto in Group D. The London club have kicked off with three points five times in seven campaigns so far, inflicting a 4-0 defeat on FC Girondins de Bordeaux at Stamford Bridge a year ago.

Quotes
Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea manager
We know Porto well; they have good quality, their forwards are very quick and we must pay attention. Porto like to play football so tomorrow we will see a very good game. Chelsea have got to the semi-final five times in six years and it's not easy to achieve those results. To win is not easy because the Champions League is a very important competition. We have a very strong team with fantastic players and a fantastic mental attitude. We can win but we have to think match by match. I don't think there's a psychological problem [with winning the Champions League]; Chelsea have been close to winning and haven't but, I repeat, there's a real possibility we can do very well this season. The first objective should be to reach the final, not to win. We want to get there; it's not easy, but I think we have a possibility to do this.

Jesualdo Ferreira, Porto coach
Losing players is a cycle every team goes through. Last year was different but for the last two years we have been working very hard to get where we want to be. We have spent the last two months preparing and incorporating new players to be ready for this game. This team is ready and I'm sure we can achieve different things. Ever since the draw was made we've known Chelsea are one of the strongest sides in the English league. They are very mature and experienced and have been playing together for a long time. This is our most difficult game of the group phase. I don't know why we can't beat English teams [having failed to win in 12 attempts in England]; I hope this will change under my management, but I don't have an explanation. I can't say why and hopefully the situation will change soon.

Key stats
• The clubs have met in two recent UEFA Champions League campaigns, in the 2006/07 first knockout round and in the group stage two seasons earlier. That was former coach José Mourinho's first season with Chelsea, having left Porto after guiding them to their 2004 UEFA Champions League triumph.

• Chelsea won the first 2004/05 meeting 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, with Didier Drogba and John Terry on the scoresheet but Porto got their revenge in the reverse, winning 2-1. In 2006/07 Chelsea drew 1-1 away in the first knockout round with Raul Meireles giving Porto the lead. Michael Ballack then scored the decisive goal in a 2-1 home win after Ricardo Quaresma had fired Porto ahead.

• Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea's fourth manager since the departure of Mourinho, is attempting to become only the second man after Ottmar Hitzfeld to lift the UEFA Champions League trophy with different clubs after guiding AC Milan to the title in 2003 and 2007.

• Five Chelsea players have previously turned out for Porto: Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira (joined in summer 2004), Henrique Hilário (July 2006), José Bosingwa and Deco (summer 2008).

Team news
• Chelsea
Out: Joe Cole (knee), Paulo Ferreira (knee), Yuri Zhirkov (knee), Alex (groin), Deco (calf)
Suspended: José Bosingwa and Didier Drogba begin two and three-match bans respectively
Misses next match if booked: none

• Porto
Out: none
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: none

Weekend results
12/09/09 Stoke City FC 1-2 Chelsea
(Faye 32; Drogba 45, Malouda 90)

12/09/09 Porto 4-1 Leixões SC
(Varela 20, Hulk 23pen, Rolando 33, Falcao 42; Pouga 76)

Did you know?
Chelsea are on an 18-match unbeaten run in the competition at Stamford Bridge dating back to February 2006 when FC Barcelona triumphed 2-1 in the first knockout round first leg.