FOOTBALL CLUB WORLD

Ancelotti's men are decided to fight until the end. Chelsea got an important 1-3 win as visitors over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns Stadium on Saturday.

West Bromwich scored the first goal by Peter Odemwingie, but Chelsea reacted thanks to Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard.

Spanish star Fernando Torres entered in the second half, but he still cannot score his first goal with the Blues, a fact that now is called the "Torres curse".

Chelsea remains in the third position of the Premier League, one point behind Arsenal and eight behind Manchester United.

Didier Drogba was designated by Carlo Ancelotti to be part of the starting team against Everton, in the FA Cup.

Coach Ancelotti was eager to give Fernando Torres as many minutes as possible, but he is not eligible for this match.

Even though Drogba is 33 now and the board is probably thinking about Torres becoming their most important strikers for the next years, the African star will prove that he is still a goal-scoring machine.

It was Drogba vs. Eto'o. It was Mourinho against Chelsea. In the end, Inter Milan got a 1 - 0 win over the Blues and kick them out of the Champions League. However, the qualification, achieved by a 3-1 aggregate score after the Italian team had won the first leg, 2-1, was not that satisfying for Jose Mourinho. He was manager of a legendary squad of Chelsea and this was his first time facing his old home.

"Today I was the enemy, and today the enemy won," the Portuguese coach expressed.

Cameroon star Samuel Eto'o netted in the 78th minute to destroy the Blues' 21-game home unbeaten streak in the UEFA Champions League.

Inter booked a place in the next stage. And in Stamford Bridge, we will have to wait for the next season of the Champions League to see Chelsea finally winning the long expected crown of Europe.

According to a report in a British newspaper, Inter are hoping to take Chelsea's Didier Drogba to Milan at the end of the season.

Apparently, Nerazzurri head team boss Jose Mourinho is extremely eager to be reunited with the Ivory Coast striker and will offer Portuguese international winger Ricardo Quaresma in exchange.

Drogba excelled under Mourinho's management of the Blues, scoring 16 goals in 2004/05 and 2005/06, and an incredible 33 in the 2006/07 campaign.

Since the 'Special One' departed Stamford Bridge in September 2007, the Ivory Coast striker has struggled to find the same form.

This season he has played only 20 encounters, scoring just three goals, while Nicolas Anelka has made 32 appearances, finding the back of the net on 17 occasions.

It is claimed that the 30-year-old has also fallen out with current manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, so should Quaresma impress for the remainder of the season a swap deal may not be out of the question.

Explosive forward Didier Drogba's Chelsea future has become surrounded in doubt, with the Blues striker understood to have held discussions with officials at Serie A club Inter Milan, according to a news website.

The popular Drogba is understood to have met with Nerazzurri coach Jose Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes and Marco Branca the technical director at the San Siro along with his powerful agent Pierre Frelot at a restaurant in West London.

As we know, former Stamford Bridge manager Mourinho was a huge influence on Drogba, while at Chelsea and had been heavily linked with a move to bring the former Marseille striker to Inter in the summer. However, Drogba, who is currently serving a three-match ban for throwing a coin in the Carling Cup defeat to Burnley, remained at the Premier League side.

Jose Mourinho has an abundance of striker’s at the San Siro, with Hernan Crespo, Adriano, Mario Balotelli, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Julio Cruz and Victor Obinna all fighting for a starting berth upfront for Inter. Despite this Mourinho is expected to offload brazilian Adriano in January, with Balotelli a reported target for Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, while Crespo never made the grade under Mourinho at the Blues.

We must notice that young striker Obinna had been heavily linked with a loan move to Everton in the summer, but this didn’t materialise due to work permit problems and this deal could be resurrected in January, which if as Mourinho has stated recently that some forward’s will leave Inter in January then the path would be clear for Inter to sign Didier Drogba, who would be keen on a reunion with his former boss.

Historical night for every blue fan, player, board member and supporters around the world. After many years of struggling, Chelsea reached the Champions League Final for the first time in history.

What's more, it will be the first European Cup final between two English clubs, and beating Manchester United to win the title will make it even more special.

Owner Roman Abramovich wasn't at Stamford Bridge to see his expensively assembled team beat Liverpool 3-2 in extra time to advance to the final on May 21, but United manager Alex Ferguson was.

Manchester United and Chelsea are also neck-and-neck in the Premier League. The Blues beat the Red Devils 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to draw level on points with United, which leads on goal difference with two encounters to go.

"An all-English final. I think everyone's looking forward to it," Chelsea leader John Terry said. "They have been very good in the league. Also we matched them the other week and managed to defeat them here. All in all, they're playing very well. I think we're at the top of our game so in three weeks time it's going to be a very tough game."

It's important to notice that even though it's the first time two English teams have made it to the final, there are no English coaches.

The last Englishman to lead a team to a European Cup triumph was Liverpool's Joe Fagan in 1984. That was at a time when English coaches did well in the competition with seven triumphs in eight seasons, including victories from Liverpool's Bob Paisley (three), Nottingham Forest's Brian Clough (two), Aston Villa's Tony Barton and Fagan between 1977 and '84.

Manchester United has had the veteran Ferguson in charge for 22 years, and the Scot has led the Red Devils to nine Premier League triumphs and five FA Cups and is now chasing his second Champions League title to go with the one he won in 1999.

As for Avram Grant, he is the former coach of Israel who has led Chelsea to its first Champions League final after the man he replaced, Jose Mourinho, failed three times. Mourinho moved to Stamford Bridge in June 2004, a month after leading FC Porto to a triumph in the competition.

And although he won two league titles in a row, Chelsea's first in half a century, portuguese Mourinho couldn't capture a European success and the club replaced him in September. Now, the fact that two English teams are playing each other thousands of miles away in Moscow for a major prize is good timing.

Now talking about the semifinal match, we can say it was one of the most exciting games of the year. Didier Drogba scored the first goal that seemed to assure their ticket to the final. But Fernando Torres kept the emotion alive up to the 90th minute.

In the extra time, the referee downed a goal scored by Kalou, but just two minutes later a penalty shot was converted by Frank Lampard. His celebration is now inprinted in the memory of every blue fan.

Drogba appeared again to score the third one, to unleash the emotion of every Chelsea supporter. Babel scored a goal for Liverpool, but that was not enough to save his team.

Now Chelsea will face Manchester United knowing all about Cristiano Ronaldo's dribbling and shooting skills and how to stop him from adding to his 38 league and cup goals this season. It also has to break open the solid defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

Because it played Chelsea on Saturday, Manchester United is aware of the dangers posed by Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Michael Ballack and the defensive strengths of Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.

Ferguson's team has a 65-41 record against Chelsea with 44 draws. But the last time they met in a final, Chelsea edged Man. United 1-0 in last season's FA Cup at Wembley.