Chelsea 3 - 0 Olympiacos

Scorers: Ballack(5'), Lampard(25'), Kalou(48').

Starting Eleven:
Cudicini
Ferreira, Terry, Carvalho, A.Cole
Lampard, Makalele, Ballack
J.Cole, Drogba, Kalou
subs: Wright-Phillips, Malouda, Anelka, Essien, Mikel

Chelsea cruised into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a comfortable victory over Olympiacos at Stamford Bridge. The only negative aspect of the evening was the news of goalkeeper Petr Cech picking up an injury and missing the game. Chelsea have released a statement saying Cech may need upto a week to recover from the injury. And the good thing for the Blues was that Carlo Cudicini never touched the ball in the first half.

Ballack grabbed the fifth-minute opener from the throw. Lampard took a touch on the flank to steady himself for a cross then found Ballack at the near post, who placed his header beyond Antonios Nikopolidis. The Greek champions looked pathetic in defence as even Makalele joined the attack and shot on target in the 19th minute.Chelsea's second came in 25 minutes, this time Ballack assisting and Lampard scoring. Makelele won a header on the edge of the area after a corner was not cleared, Terry then nodded towards Ballack beyond the Olympiacos defence. Ballack's finish was parried by Nikopolidis and Lampard tapped in the rebound.

Just after the halftime, Kalou scored when Olympiacos displayed how not to defend a corner. Chelsea would have made it four soon after their 3rd but Lampard shot wide though it was an easy chance for his standards. Leonardo and Fernando Belluschi were brought on to give a different edge to the Olympiacos attack, with the latter forcing a save from Cudicini with a free-kick. It was their first shot of the game, after an hour. Belluschi atleast looked like he wanted to do something and his presence made Olympiacos second half a little better than their first. Towards the end, Cudicini made a fine save from a header. the game was messy in the last few minuntes.

The only negative aspect from the game was the form of Drogba. He ought to have scored against this Greek defence, if something like that was actually there. Though I think he scored one, which was wrongly called offside. Then three cards, a total of 6 cards including the away game was a bit too much. The referee was very much eager to flash cards, especially the one that Lampard got was a big mistake from the part of the referee. Hope this doesn't haunt the team in the latter stages.

And if I had to name a Man of the Match, it would be Micheal Ballack. He is surely back to his best, something Shevchenko should get inspired from. Ballack was involved in the two goals, won most of the headers, and was commanding in the midfield. But I believe the Blues should not get carried away by this victory, and continue to play in this brilliant, proffesional style.