At the risk of sounding strange, I’d say I’m more confident about the second leg than I was in the first leg. To play the first leg at home against a team of Valencia’s calibre and potential is a very demanding task strategically. We could not have had a clear target in the first leg apart from the clean sheet expectation. Once Valencia scored, it was even more tricky to attack and score without really opening up in the back and without really getting defensively vulnerable. When the match ended at 1-1, it was a mixture of disappointment and a little bit of relief too.

The target and expectations for Chelsea is crystal clear in the second leg. When you realise that Jose Mourinho’s football philosophy has more emphasis on the results than the means of achieving them, the current scenario suits very well. The expectations on the defence remains the same as in any match – to maintain a clean sheet at any cost.

As for the strike force and attacking midfield, we need to score, the more the better. At the Mestalla, we can expect a voiferous and hostile crowd of more than fifty thousand fans, smelling a possible semi-final berth for the only Spanish team left in the Champions League now.

In these circumstances, you may not expect Chelsea to create too many chances. So, we need to have those kind of players who have good accuracy and a resultant high conversion rate. For this reason, I expect Sheva and Drogba to start and for the same reason, I dont expect Kalou to start. We should retain the possession of the ball and let our midfield dictate the game as we may not be able to play a high tempo game. This leads to a 4-man midfield which could be a 4-1-3-2 or 4-1-2-1-2.

Jose is not thinking about any rest for Drogba right now:

Drogba is more than a goalscorer in my opinion. Even if he doesn’t score his contribution to the team is crucial. In the last game against Tottenham he didn’t score but his work rate was unbelievable. The way he fights for the team is superb. He is the kind of player I have to play in every game. I know it can be a disadvantage to us because I could not give him a rest at the weekend. But that is the difference between a team trying to win the Champions League against a team that is trying to win everything.

Mikel, Ballack and Lampard should start. I too have concerns about the form and fitness of Lampard but that would not stop me from playing him in this very important match. I’ve praised Mikel enough. He is fast becoming the young player of the season, not just for Chelsea but also in the whole Premiership. As Jose said, the progression of youngsters is very methodical, regular and fruitful. Young players evolve in Chelsea rather than being thrown into the big stage like a certain other Premiership team ‘fighting’ for the Champions League spot. Similar to the emergence of Mikel and Diarra this season, we should see Sinclair and Sahar next season.

I’m a big fan of Makelele which makes me sad to see his form dwindling down. A mix of various factors have contributed to Maka being less effective than he was in earlier seasons. The prime reasons are his age and then his out-performing super-competitors (Essien and Mikel). Nowadays, unfortunately, you’d see more often Maka losing possession in crucial areas or making poorly directed or weighted passes only to be intercepted. This is one match where cannot afford to make too many mistakes, especially in midfield as we have to score to retain any hopes of proceeding. Maka should be in the bench and can be brought in only when we are mostly sure of progression.

Essien is travelling to Spain alongwith the rest of the team. That sounds promising though I think he would not play for more than 20-30 mins, if at all he plays. That somehow leaves me with an option of playing SWP. Jose is a smart manager who’d expect results than efforts and that’s where SWP needs to work on. In a midfield where which lacks pace, we certainly need a pacy and skillful midfielder. SWP should start as Joe Cole may not be expected to play for more than 45 minutes. Even the possibility of Joe Cole playing the whole of second half, is truly mouthwatering. If SWP happens to be effective, we can bring on Cole for Ballack and definitely not for Sheva or Mikel. Guys like Sheva and Mikel are 90-minute players. They more they play, the more chances we have for winning this tie.

Boss is trying to play mind games on Valencia’s approach to the game:

If the game ends 0-0 Valencia goes to the semi-finals and Chelsea are out. This maybe affects the way both teams approach the game. We need to score goals to get a result to go through. I know that maybe one goal is enough. But we have to play to score goals.

Morientes will play in this match with a shoulder protection. I can understand Cech playing with a protective gear. He is a goal keeper. I dont understand how a striker would be playing effectively with a shoulder protection knowing that he would be able to make only a few arm movements. I feel, young Quique Flores might have to waste a substitution on Fernando.

Just like Chelsea, Valencia are lions at home. Especially in European matches, no English team has won at Mestalla. Not a very encouraging fact, but we dont need a win as such, do we? Records are meant to be broken. Let’s take the pride of being the first English team to win at Estadio Mestalla.

Essien talks on what he thinks is the best thing about Chelsea, which is also the reason why nobody can afford to write off Chelsea:

For me, one of the best things about this Chelsea team is that we never give up. Even when we go behind, we can change things around and still come back right up until the very end. Luckily, we’ve got the experience and the strength in the team to be able to do that and it’s helped us on many occasions. But we work really hard to get into the kind of condition where we can keep going and going. We have to believe that even though we are away from home in the second leg, we can still score goals. We have the belief in ourselves that we can do it and get through to the semi-final.

Going by the bench strength and the track record of these two teams, a goalless first half should be more worrying for Valencia. While we have the quality and spirit to score a moment before the final whistle is heard, I’d hope that we score early and dictate the game in the majestic way that we do. Something tells me that our winner will be from a corner. Dont you think that a goal from a corner is long overdue?

The lead-cut of the weekend would have boosted Chelsea’s confidence tremendously. Jose would be driving this point of winning the quad, in the minds of all players. One thing is for sure. If we progress in the Champions League, the dream of a ‘Chelsea Quad’ would slowly get closer to possibility and ultimately even a reality. In this backdrop, Jose Mourinho and his blue army will throw everything they got, to win this tie and it’s gonna be fun!