How the old Drog learnt new tricks
Chelsea striker returns from Champions League ban tonight looking fitter, sharper and better behaved than ever. From Madrid, Mark Fleming reports
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Your support makes all the difference.The last time Didier Drogba took a starring role in the Champions League, he was stomping around the Stamford Bridge pitch in his flip-flops, shouting expletives into a TV camera. Tonight's comeback should be slightly more conventional.
Drogba was handed a three-match ban by Uefa for his misguided tirade following Chelsea's semi-final elimination to Barcelona last season. The suspension served, he returns to the competition tonight at Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon stadium having shrugged off a leg injury picked up in Saturday's 4-0 win at Bolton.
Drogba now has to take his remarkable form in the Premier League, where he has scored nine goals, on to the European stage. At the time, his outburst after the final whistle against Barcelona looked to have spelled the end to his Chelsea career, but Drogba appears to be developing, at the age of 31, a welcome, if somewhat belated, desire to learn the error of his ways. So far this season, there have been no controversial comments or antics to overshadow his football. Even his diving seems to have been reined in, if not totally eliminated. It seems you can teach an old Drog new tricks.
Carlo Ancelotti has been the main beneficiary from the revitalised Drogba this season with Chelsea winning 14 of their 16 games in all competitions so far. The Italian said yesterday Drogba's enforced rest from Europe has been one of the reasons he is playing so well. "Didier has not been too frustrated. He's used this period to rest and make sure his body is in good condition," Ancelotti said. "The suspension has helped him make sure he's fresh in every game, which is why he's played so well.
"It's important to have Didier back. The team did very well without him, but now he can help us in the Champions League. I saw what happened [against Barcelona], but I didn't speak to him about this. All I know was he was out for three games and I told him to work and be ready for when he returns, and now he will return to the team. And he is ready to work."
Since Ancelotti arrived at Chelsea in the summer, work has been Drogba's watchword. The goals have been coming but his team-mates have been enthusing about the Ivorian's contribution in other areas of the pitch.
Frank Lampard spoke at the weekend of Drogba being a misunderstood figure, whom neutrals rarely credit the donkey work he does for the rest of the team. "The thing about Didier is he's a very unselfish player. A lot of things get said about him but one thing we know in the camp is he gives everything for the team. That's the beauty of him," Lampard said.
As if to illustrate Lampard's point, Drogba praised the contributions of his team-mates as one of the main factors for his resurgent form with Chelsea. Drogba said: "The key thing is we are playing with two strikers up front and I have a lot of support. The way we pass the ball is really good, we have really improved and that is what has made the difference."
Despite being without Drogba for the opening three games, the Londoners are already on the verge of qualifying for the knock-out stages with three wins, including a 4-0 triumph over tonight's opponents at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago. But as the competition intensifies over the coming months, Drogba's form will be vital to Chelsea's chances of returning to Madrid for the final. Ancelotti said: "Our dream is to return to Madrid in May to play the final. It's a dream, and we have to make it a reality. We've started the competition very well, but to reach the final we have to work a lot."
Chelsea are certainly playing like champions, with 17 goals in four successive victories, without conceding a single goal. One statistic Ancelotti may not want to hear, however, is that this week a year ago, Chelsea were bang in form following a 5-0 win over Sunderland and flew to Rome with manager Luiz Felipe Scolari speculating about a possible return for the final. Chelsea lost 3-1 to Roma to precipitate a startling slide that ended with Scolari's dismissal.
Spain has been a productive destination for Chelsea in recent seasons – they are unbeaten in their last five visits. What's more they arrive in the Spanish capital with Atletico in crisis.
Since the sides met two weeks ago, coach Abel Resino has been replaced by Quique Sanchez Flores, who lost his first La Liga game 1-0 to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. They also have the added distraction of a derby with their neighbours Real Madrid on Sunday. Chelsea host Manchester United on the same day, a game that will undoubtedly prove the acid test of the progress made under Ancelotti. The Italian is content however that since taking over in the summer he has managed to make his mark on the team. "I am happy because I think that, in these three months, we've improved," he said.
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