Bordeaux coach looks ahead to Rome after blunting Chelsea

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc was a happy man after his side forced a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Wednesday and believes anything can happen as they now go to Roma in their final outing in a bid to book what would be an unexpected place in the last 16.

“Chelsea kept the ball well but our game plan was to reduce the size of the pitch, battle and pressure them. We've played better matches but not against a team like Chelsea,” said the former World Cup and European champion on Wednesday's stalemate.

“For the club, the match against Roma will be an exciting prospect and there is also a UEFA Cup spot at stake. Everyone expected Roma and Chelsea to qualify but we will battle for the qualification. I'm satisfied with the point and it was almost the perfect match but now we'll look ahead to our next league match and the match against Roma is just one match and anything can happen,” continued Blanc.

“We don't have a psychological advantage over Roma despite the result against Chelsea and it's more likely they have an advantage having beaten us 3-1 in Bordeaux.

“When Chelsea scored, it became more complicated but we battled back and we were up for it. The players knew it was a big occasion and they seized the occasion.”

He went on: “After the first match when Chelsea won 4-0, the English journalists wrote that Bordeaux received a footballing lesson and it was a walkover. It's true that you can't say much to a 4-0 scoreline. But after today we hope you can see that we're not a corked wine and maybe not a vintage wine but we're a good wine.”

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari meanwhile had Nicolas Anelka to thank after he plundered his 14th goal of the season to break the deadlock on 60 minutes but says his attacking options are limited.

“Anelka is more confident and he had a few opportunities in the game and scored one goal. He doesn't score every game but he has scored many goals for us this season.

“For Sunday (Chelsea's domestic match against Arsenal), I have only Anelka so that is why I made the change and gave Didier (Drogba) 25 minutes because I only have one player (Anelka) for Sunday. When I have all the players I might be able to change the system and play Didier and Anelka. He has more confidence with every game,” said Scolari.

Frank Lampard was sent off with four minutes left after a feisty game that produced a misleading statistic of eight yellow cards and one red but while the game was combative it was played in the right spirit.

Roma now top the group on nine points with Chelsea on eight and Bordeaux seven going into the final round of the pool phase.

Chelsea host CFR Cluj on December 9 while Bordeaux travel to the Italian capital for what promises to be an enthralling final matchday in Group A.