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It is the battle of Britain in the Champions League tonight when Chelsea host Manchester United in a fascinating quarter-final tie.
The first-leg takes place at Stamford Bridge with both teams searching for an advantage going into the second game at Old Trafford in a couple of weeks time.
Sir Alex Ferguson has already stated that his team will be searching for away goals as a priority, knowing that even a score draw would put them in an excellent position going into the second leg.
There is probably more pressure on Chelsea in tonight’s game. They have home advantage to begin with and need to find a balance between going for the victory and keeping things tight at the back.
The home fans will be expecting big things tonight, with the Champions League the only realistic chance of silverware for Chelsea this season.
If they can progress past Manchester Untied and eventually go on to win the competition, it would overshadow a massively inconsistent domestic campaign and perhaps guarantee Carlo Ancelotti’s position as manager for next season.
That is why the pressure is really on Chelsea. If they fall behind on such a massive occasion and fail to perform in front of an expecting Stamford Bridge, it goes halfway to ending their season prematurely.
This wouldn’t be good enough for a club like Chelsea, especially when you consider that their Premier League rivals Manchester United are still on for a famous treble.
Ferguson’s men can still win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League this season and will want this to still be the case after tonight.
Tottenham’s 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid last night showed how a tie can be virtually ended after one game, so both teams will be wary of that this evening.
With regards to team news, Rio Ferdinand and midfielder Anderson could return for Manchester United, while Chelsea have no fresh injury concerns.
The major decision for Ancelotti will be whether to play Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba in attack as they search for the goals to put them in the driving seat for this eagerly anticipated Champions League quarter-final.
