Stuttgart 0 v 1 Chelsea
John Terry: Chelsea deserved Stuttgart victory Chelsea skipper John Terry insists his team deserved to come away from Stuttgart with their 1-0 win. The only goal of the game came when Stuttgart defender Fernando Meira turned Glen Johnson's 12th-minute cross into his own net. Terry told Sky Sports:
"They put pressure on us but we stuck in there. "It was a great ball in (by Johnson).
The manager said all afternoon get wide and whip balls in, they don't like it. We did that and got three or four chances from that. "They had a couple of chances but at the end of the day it's the win for us and we're very pleased. 
"But we've still got to go back to the Bridge and perform just as well to go through. We've got to defend well again and hopefully we will get that win at the Bridge." Manager Claudio Ranieri said: "It wasn't easy after two defeats. It was important for us to score and after 15-20 minutes we started playing and showed our football.
"But of course we were a little anxious and nervous at the beginning. It was important for us to close down the space and not give Stuttgart time to counter-attack and it was important to dominate the tempo of the game." As for his personal situation, Ranieri added: "My players don't believe the newspapers - they know very well I am the manager and we continue to work together. I'm close to the club and the players."

"When he arrived last summer, I told Abramovich: 'If you want, I will leave'," Ranieri admitted. "He answered me, saying: 'I believe in you'. I don't know if he said it out of conviction or necessity because he hadn't been able to find a coach to put in my place. "As far as I know, he hasn't changed ideas.
To build a big Chelsea, there is a lot to do and he gave me the possibility of a free hand. It is me who talks with the people who are building our new headquarters. "When Abramovich comes, he sees the training sessions. Friday afternoon, for example, before the match with Arsenal, he was there.
"He's close to us in a positive way. "After the defeat? Surely, he would have preferred winning, but he liked the match. In fact, he told us he found it absolutely interesting." .

Only success can safeguard Claudio Ranieri's job this season but at least his Chelsea side scraped past Charlton 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to keep their title challenge alive.
It was by no means a convincing win as a badly-depleted Chelsea line-up struggled to prevail in this battle of third against fourth in the Barclaycard Premiership table. But while Adrian Mutu squandered a hat-trick of chances, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink saved Chelsea's blushes with his 99th Premiership goal when he converted a penalty after being brought down by Mark Fish on 27 minutes.
That was enough in a largely uneventful match, in which the most controversial moment came when new signing Scott Parker was unveiled at half-time, albeit not on the pitch but in the executive boxes. That still enraged the Charlton fans, who were aggrieved by the .

Chelsea forward Adrian Mutu earned the backing of boss Claudio Ranieri after the 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic at Stamford Bridge.
The Romanian has netted just three goals in his last 18 games, but Ranieri is content with his player's overall contribution to the side, despite him missing several chances in the victory over the Addicks.
He said: "I want to kill him, it hurts my heart! Everyone wants to kill me and he does that. "But it's okay. The team created a lot of chances to finish the match. Sometimes you score once and sometimes more, but that's football. "I'm very pleased with Mutu's performance as he was a threat."

Ronaldo's agent has moved to play down talk of a summer move to Chelsea by insisting the Real Madrid striker will not make a decision on his future until the end of the season.
The Brazilian superstar has been persistently linked with a blockbusting move to Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich believed to have offered the striker a double-your-money deal. Talk of a move during January was continually evaded, as Ronaldo insisted he was fully focused on helping Real Madrid in their battle to secure silverware on three fronts. However, money appears to be no object to Abramovich and he is believed to have made Ronaldo his number one transfer target for the summer. The fire has been fuelled in Ronaldo's native Brazil by respected journalist
Jorge Kajuru who claimed on his television programme that he has learned of the deal the striker has been offered. Ronaldo's agent Rodrigo Paiva has moved to play down talk of a deal being offered, saying nothing will be decided until the summer.
"Ronaldo will not say anything about this at the moment," said Paiva. "He will only comment at the end of the season. "He is fully concentrated on Real Madrid and is under contract until 2006. "We have to wait, it is not worth answering these kind of questions at the moment." Ronaldo was in London during January undertaking commercial work, which prompted talk of a deal being struck with Abramovich, and it seems that the rumours of a move to Chelsea are refusing to go away.

He said: "I love being called the Tinkerman as I like the nickname. It's also very close to 'thinkerman' - so that's even better! "Now if I work hard, maybe I can change the word. "I'm the Tinkerman but many other managers change tactics during the games and that is good for football
.'' Ranieri has warmed to life in England, adding: "I enjoy the atmosphere a lot, not only at Stamford Bridge but in other stadia. "In Italy, when the cup is on, there are very few fans there. In England, every match is full. "There is another culture here and I like that.'' Asked whether he considered it harder to manage with millions or on a shoestring, he added: "A manager's life is hard. "Everyone wants to win - if you have good players, maybe you have more chances to win. "Of course, it's not easy to buy 10, 11, 12 players and link them together into a squad.
"Expectations are very high but I said from the start that we must build the foundations. "For this reason, I bought not only experienced champions but also young champions. I am looking now but I am also looking at the future. "Maybe I'm not the manager who can close this, but I am sure that I'm working well for Chelsea, not for Claudio Ranieri and that is important for me."

The new chief executive of the London club is credited with developing United's global brand image and taking them into new markets such as the United States and the Far East. Bruce Buck, the chairman of Chelsea's parent company, Chelsea Village, says Kenyon built United into a club worth £400-$600 million.
In addition to achieving success on the field, Buck expects Kenyon to increase the London-based club's value and develop a worldwide marketing strategy and public profile that will surpass United. In a controversial move, Kenyon quit United last autumn to move to Chelsea. He begins the job on Monday.

and now CHELSEA with Blackburn

Blackburn 2 v 3 Chelsea
Flitcforft 3 Gallagher 86 - Lampard 25, 35 Johnson 88

BLACKBURN V CHELSEA - Scott Parker is poised to make his Chelsea debut after injuries and suspension robbed Ranieri of much of his midfield. Juan Sebastian Veron is out for at least two months with his back injury, Emmanuel Petit hurt his knee in the midweek training camp at La Manga and Damien Duff's Achilles problem also rules him out of the meeting with his old club.
Joe Cole serves a two-match suspension dating from his West Ham days while Geremi is on African Nations Cup duty, a tournament which has also been occupying defender Celestine Babayaro. Striker Adrian Mutu has a muscle strain and must prove his fitness while fellow forward Hernan Crespo will only be back in light training after his calf injury. .

AC Milan will step up talks with AS Roma over midfielder Emerson in the coming weeks. The Brazilian international's talks with Roma chief Franco Baldini over a new contract have hit gridlock, with those close to the deal indicating that there's little chance of a positive outcome.
Emerson is asking for a pay-rise, but Roma's cash problems are restricting Baldini's options. Emerson's agent revealed last week that Chelsea were one of several Premiership clubs to have contacted him about the midfielder's availability. However, Tuttosport says Milan are favourites to land the Brazilian and are ready to offer Roma £4 million at the end of the season for the player. Emerson's Roma teammate Jonathan Zebina could also be on his way to Milan in the summer. ”

Ajax fullback Hatem Trabelsi says he hopes to secure his future by next week. The Tunisia international is off contract in the summer and revealed: "I want to have it sorted out by next week. Three years with Ajax is enough. I want to experience other things." Trabelsi says he is fielding enquiries from Arsenal, Chelsea and Juventus. .