Two managers recognized as among the premier club managers in European soccer could be joining the back of the dole queue if Europe’s top club competition doesn’t go their way over the next couple of weeks.
Chelsea go into the first leg of their Champions League second round tie with FC Copenhagen tonight not knowing whether boss Carlo Ancelotti will still be in a job come Easter.
The match, which will see Fernando Torres make his first appearance in the competition this term, will be played in temperatures of almost negative double figures, and is the only real chance the club has of winning a trophy this season.
The temperatures should give us a chance to see the latest array of winter clothing for sports players, with snoods, gloves, and maybe even full-on puffa jackets a must for anyone on the pitch. Odds on the amount of snoods on display are yet to be released but going with their being at least 10 might not be the worst money you’ve ever laid.
Opponents Copenhagen is the club that number former Chelsea winger Jesper Gronkjaer within their ranks. Not only is he Greenland’s most recent international footballer, Gronkjaer is also credited with scoring the goal that convinced Roman Abramovich to buy the fashionable West London club.
The night’s other tie sees the club close to being renamed “Ego” Madrid travel to Lyon trying to get a considerable monkey off their back.
El Galacticos haven’t got past the first knockout round since beating Bayern Munich in 2004 and better still last year’s loss came against the very side they’re playing tonight.
Madrid go into the game as overwhelming favorites but, much like Ancelotti, boss Jose Mourinho, could conceivably lose his job if Madrid don’t win this trophy. The league, much like Chelsea, looks out of reach and if Arsenal eliminates Barcelona, they will likely be installed favorites for the competition.
Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea’s Torres may well be sulking for 89 minutes of tonight’s game but a moment of brilliance from either in the remaining 60 seconds would be a godsend for either manager.
