Chelsea FC v RSC Anderlecht Stamford Bridge - London Tuesday, 13 September 2005 - 20:45 (CET) Group stage - Group G - Matchday 1 Match officials Referee Wolfgang Stark (GER) Assistant referees Harald Sather (GER), Harry Ehing (GER) Fourth official Manuel Graefe (GER) UEFA delegate Michael Van Praag (HOL) Match preview Mourinho targets smooth start After successive defeats for Chelsea FC at the semi-final stage of the UEFA Champions League, manager José Mourinho has set his sights on going one step further in this season's competition but warns that his club have been drawn in a "dangerous group". Strong start The English champions begin another quest for the trophy Mourinho says is the "crown everyone wants to have" with a home fixture in Group G against RSC Anderlecht. Chelsea have started their campaign with impressive results - five wins in five Premiership games so far and yet to concede a goal - but their coach, a Champions League winner in 2003/04 with FC Porto, spoke of possible pitfalls ahead. 'We want the final' "We want to dominate in England, we want to win the Premiership more times and the natural consequence is to succeed in the Champions League," Mourinho said. "I don't know if it will be this season or next but the reality is we have had two successive semi-final appearances and we want the next step which is the final. Unlucky draw "But I have to say we have not been lucky with this group. We knew we would be drawn with a big team, Liverpool [FC] or Real Madrid [CF] or [FC] Barcelona or [FC] Bayern [München] but we were not lucky with the third and fourth seeds. 'Dangerous group' "There are teams without experience of the competition, teams from Bratislava or Switzerland, but we are in with a good Spanish side [Real Betis Balompié] and also Anderlecht who have years and years of experience at this level. It is a dangerous group and we need three points to start us off in the right way." Left-back conundrum Mourinho has a decision to make at left-back with Asier Del Horno sidelined with a thigh muscle injury and Wayne Bridge still to recover fitness after a broken leg. He could switch William Gallas there or move Paulo Ferreira from the other flank and retain Geremi at right-back. The Cameroonian international played, and scored, in that role against Sunderland AFC on Saturday. Makelele wait John Terry, who returned from the knee injury which kept him out of England's last two FIFA World Cup qualifiers to face Sunderland, suffered no adverse reaction while a possible comeback for Claude Makelele will depend on how he felt after Monday night's training session. Mourinho said it would be "crazy" of him to deny that Chelsea possessed better players than their Belgian opponents but predicted that the two games against them would be difficult. Anderlecht's incentive "Anderlecht will be fighting hard to be in the next round and if that's not possible they will be fighting hard to be in the UEFA Cup," he said. "I have shown the players a video of some of their games and they have a good team. I like them." Low expectations However, Anderlecht struck a less bullish note themselves, coach Frank Vercauteren pointing out that it was an honour to begin the campaign at the home of such an illustrious club and insisting that Belgium expectations 13:30:45 CET 13/9/2005 uefa.com 1/16 Matchday 1 - Group G - Tuesday, 13 September 2005 - PRESS KITS CHELSEA-ANDERLECHT remained at a low level. "It is clear who are the favourites in this game and it is clear we don't have a lot to lose," he said. "All I can ask my team is that they do their best. If we are beaten by the better team then at least there will be no questions we can ask of ourselves. Vercauteren realistic "As a sportsman you always play to win even though this is one of the most difficult games to start a Champions League programme. You can have the ambition to reach the second round but I prefer to start on a realistic and lower level." Match background Chelsea and Anderlecht aim high Chelsea FC, having been beaten in the last two UEFA Champions League semi-finals, have the clear objective of taking their run a stage further this season. The Premiership champions are again among the favourites and after elimination by Liverpool FC last season will now meet their rivals again in Group G. RSC Anderlecht have different reasons for wanting a successful campaign. Last season, the Brussels club joined a small band of teams to have lost all six group games. However, Anderlecht came through a potentially difficult third qualifying round tie with SK Slavia Praha with a 4-1 aggregate win, to give a boost to their confidence for the group stage. There was a possibility that these clubs might have met in the first European Champion Clubs’ Cup event 50 years ago; Anderlecht took part in the first edition in 1955/56, but Chelsea, the English champions, were not allowed to enter. Half a century on, and this is their first meeting. Chelsea have played in two previous ties against Belgian teams, in both instances against Club Brugge KV in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, with the London club winning through on both occasions. The first tie took place in 1970/71 when Club Brugge recorded a 2-0 home win. The return leg at Stamford Bridge found Chelsea in top form and two goals from Peter Osgood, plus one each from Peter Houseman and Tommy Baldwin, took Chelsea through. The Blues went on to beat Real Madrid CF 2-1 in the replayed final. The second encounter in 1994/95 followed a similar pattern with Club Brugge winning the home leg 1-0 thanks to a Gert Verheyen goal; but Chelsea scored twice in the first half of the return leg through Mark Stein and Paul Furlong to progress. Chelsea were eliminated in the semi-finals by Real Zaragoza. Anderlecht have twice been drawn with English teams in the UEFA Champions League. In the 2000/01 first group stage, they were pitted against Manchester United FC. The Old Trafford leg was won by United 5-1, thanks to an Andrew Cole hat-trick, but Anderlecht won the return game 2-1 with two goals from Tomasz Radzinski. Anderlecht topped the group and met Leeds United AFC in the second group stage. Leeds won at Elland Road 2-1, and then gave a fine performance in the return leg in Brussels, where an Alan Smith double paved the way towards a 4-1 win, with Leeds going on to reach the semi-finals. They also played English opposition in the 1956/57 edition of the European Champion Clubs' Cup, the forerunner to the Champions League. It was a harrowing experience for the Belgian side when they were drawn against Manchester United in the preliminary round. United won 2-0 in Brussels, but in the return at Maine Road, home of their Manchester City FC neighbours, United won 10-0 with four goals for Dennis Viollet and a hat-trick from Tommy Taylor. Anderlecht have met English clubs in two of their UEFA finals. The 1976 Cup Winners' Cup was won with a fluent display in a 4-2 win against West Ham United FC, but Tottenham Hotspur FC prevailed on penalties after two 1-1 draws in the final of the 1984 UEFA Cup. But the draw was an achievement for Anderlecht, it is the only time in eleven visits to England that they have avoided defeat, with a goal difference of 5-34. 13:30:46 CET 13/9/2005 uefa.com 2/16 Matchday 1 - Group G - Tuesday, 13 September 2005 - PRESS KITS CHELSEA-ANDERLECHT All-time statistics Head-to-head record No matches have been played between the two clubs Home teams record versus clubs from the away teams country Date Competition Stage Match Res Venue 10.03.1971 UCWC QF Club Brugge - Chelsea 2-0 Bruges 24.03.1971 UCWC QF Chelsea - Club Brugge 4-0 London 28.02.1995 UCWC QF Club Brugge - Chelsea 1-0 Bruges 14.03.1995 UCWC QF Chelsea - Club Brugge 2-0 London Overall record Chelsea FC Pld: 4, W: 2, D: 0, L: 2, GS: 6, GA: 3 Away teams record versus clubs from the home teams country Date Competition Stage Match Res Venue 12.09.1956 UCL PR Anderlecht - Man. United 0-2 Brussels 26.09.1956 UCL PR Man. United - Anderlecht 10-0 Manchester 25.11.1964 UCL R1 Liverpool - Anderlecht 3-0 Liverpool 16.12.1964 UCL R1 Anderlecht - Liverpool 0-1 Brussels 13.11.1968 UCL R2 Man. United - Anderlecht 3-0 Manchester 27.11.1968 UCL R2 Anderlecht - Man. United 3-1 Brussels 05.03.1975 UCL QF Leeds - Anderlecht 3-0 Leeds 19.03.1975 UCL QF Anderlecht - Leeds 0-1 Brussels 05.05.1976 UCWC F Anderlecht - West Ham 4-2 Brussels 02.03.1977 UCWC QF Anderlecht - Southampton 2-0 Brussels 16.03.1977 UCWC QF Southampton - Anderlecht 2-1 Southampton 04.12.1978 SCUP R1 Anderlecht - Liverpool 3-1 Brussels 19.12.1978 SCUP R1 Liverpool - Anderlecht 2-1 Liverpool 07.04.1982 UCL SF Villa - Anderlecht 1-0 Birmingham 21.04.1982 UCL SF Anderlecht - Villa 0-0 Brussels 11.04.1984 UCUP SF Notts Forest - Anderlecht 2-0 Nottingham 25.04.1984 UCUP SF Anderlecht - Notts Forest 3-0 Brussels 09.05.1984 UCUP F Anderlecht - Tottenham 1-1 Brussels 23.05.1984 UCUP F Tottenham - Anderlecht 1-1*(4-3) London 13.09.2000 UCL GS1 Man.