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Drogba will not require surgery

Didier Drogba suffered an injury in the goalless Champions League draw against CFR Cluj.

drogba
drogba

There were  initially fears that Drogba could be out for at least 3 months but Thursday scans revealed that there are no significant ligament damages.
Chelsea manger Felipe Scolari was very happy after finding that he will not require a surgery. It looks like Drogba will be out only for few weeks but Chelsea medical staff want to keep him under observation another 2-3 days until they pronounce on the verdict.
Scolari is facing limited squad options as Deco, Carvalho, Essien, Joe Cole are all injured and Terry, Ashley Cole, Alex with back problems.
Chelsea will play Aston Villa this weekend, and the only attacking option is Anelka. The Blues are occupying the first place on Premier League standings with 14 points from 6 matches.
It remains to see if Scolari can manage the situation and keep Chelsea on top of the table.

Uefa Cup – first round

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Ajax      2-0 (agg 6-1)     Borac Cacak
Artmedia Petrzalka     0-2 (agg 0-6)     Braga
Aston Villa     1-1  (agg 4-2)     Litex Lovech
Benfica     2-0 (agg 4-3)     Napoli
Club Bruges     2-0 (agg 4-2)     Young Boys
Deportivo La Coruna     2-0 (agg 2-2)     SK Brann  3-2 on penalties
Dinamo Bucharest     0-0 (agg 0-1)     NEC
FBK Kaunas     1-2 (agg 1-7)     Sampdoria
FC Copenhagen     1-1 (agg 3-2)     FC Moscow
FC Honka     0-1 (agg 0-2)     Racing Santander
FC Metalist Kharkiv     4-1 (agg 4-2)     Besiktas
Twente Enschede     1-0 (agg 2-2)     Rennes
FC Vaslui     1-1 (agg 1-1)     Slavia Prague
FC Zurich     0-1 (agg 1-4)     AC Milan
Galatasaray     2-1 (agg 6-4)     Bellinzona
Guimaraes     (et) 2-2 (agg 2-4)     Portsmouth
Heerenveen     5-2 (agg 6-3)     Vitoria Setubal
Kalmar FF     1-2 (agg 2-2)     Feyenoord
Lech Poznan     (et) 4-2(agg 5-4)     FK Austria Vienna
Levski Sofia     0-1 (agg 1-2)     MSK Zilina
Man City     2-1 (agg 4-2)     Omonia Nicosia
Motherwell     0-2 (agg 0-3)     AS Nancy
Olympiakos     5-0 (agg 7-0)     FC Nordsjaelland
PSG     0-0 (agg 2-1)     Kayserispor
Partizan Belgrade     1-0 (agg 3-1)     Politehnica Timisoara
Rapid Bucuresti     1-1 (agg 1-2)     Wolfsburg
Rosenborg     3-2 (agg 5-3)     Brondby
SV Red Bull Salzburg     0-2 (agg 0-4)     Sevilla
Schalke 04     1-1 (agg 5-2)     Apoel Nicosia
Sparta Prague     3-3 (agg 3-3)     Dinamo Zagreb
Spartak Moscow     1-1 (agg 2-1)     Banik Ostrava
St Etienne     2-1 (agg 4-2)   H. Tel-Aviv
Standard Liege     2-1 (agg 4-3)     Everton
Udinese     0-2 (agg 2-2)     Borussia Dortmund  4-3 on penalties
Unirea Urziceni     0-2 (agg 0-2)     Hamburg
Valencia     2-1 (agg 3-1)     Maritimo
VfB Stuttgart     2-2 (agg 4-3)     Cherno More
Wisla Krakow     1-1 (agg 2-3)     Tottenham

Can CFR Cluj produce the surprise?

Definitely the revelation of this Champions League season is CFR Cluj.
The Romanians produced one of the biggest shocks in Champions League history as they defeated the Italian giants AS Roma at Olimpico.
CFR Cluj produced another fine display against Chelsea last night. CFR held last year’s finalists Chelsea to a goalless draw and proved that the victory against Roma was not an accident.
This good results have not past unnoticed and attracted the attention of some major clubs in Europe. Possible target for a big transfer in January are Dubarbier and Culio, the man that buried Roma at Olimpico. Coach Maurizio Trombetta is hoping for more of the same in the crucial double against Bordeaux.
What’s really to apreciate is that six years ago  Cluj was fighting in third division and now they are bravely doing in the Europe‘s elite.
With real chances of qualification CFR Cluj are now taken seriously in consideration.

Uefa Champions League results – Group phase match 2

Group A Bordeaux    1-3    Roma
Group A CFR Cluj    0-0    Chelsea
Group B Anorthosis    3-1    Panathinaikos
Group B Internazionale    1-1    Bremen
Group C Shakhtar    1-2    Barcelona
Group C Sporting    2-0    Basel
Group D Atlético    2-1    Marseille
Group D Liverpool    3-1    PSV

Group A Pld Pts
Chelsea 2 4
CFR Cluj 2 4
Roma 2 3
Bordeaux 2 0
Group B Pld Pts
Internazionale 2 4
Anorthosis 2 4
Bremen 2 2
Panathinaikos 2 0
Group C Pld Pts
Barcelona 2 6
Sporting 2 3
Shakhtar 2 3
Basel 2 0
Group D Pld Pts
Atletico 2 6
Liverpool 2 6
Marseille 2 0
PSV 2 0

Will Scholes’s injury cost Manchester United?

Last Champions League game for Manchester United against Aalborg ended in a 3-0 victory for the Red devils, but also ended with the injury of one of the most important midfield player Paul Scholes.

paul scholes
paul scholes

After playing just 16 minutes in the match Paul Scoles wasn’t able to continue, and had to be substituted by Ryan Giggs.
Scholes serious injury looked like it would keep him out for 8 weeks in the beginning but after being investigated by the club medical staff it looks like the damage is even worse and he won’t be playing for at least 10 weeks.
Sir Alex Ferguson stated that he’s happy with his team efforts in the match against Aalborg but he’s disappointed that he lost one of the team’s key player.
This could cost Manchester United because besides Scholes‘s injury ,Rafael is also injured and Rooney has an ankle problem.
With Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves currently on the sidelines, Ferguson will have difficulties in assembling the first eleven.
Probably now most people are asking if it’s worth risking to lose an important player like Scholes in an apparently easy game.