Champions League / Chelsea 0 Vfb Stuttgart 0 (Chelsea win 1-0 agg): Claudio Ranieri has said that it is hard for him to look too far forward when his future at Chelsea is so uncertain.
The Italian coach can at least be sure of having a Champions League quarter-final to plan for after his team edged, largely unimpressively, past Stuttgart in last night's return leg.
In the end an own-goal in Germany proved sufficient for Chelsea, who were second best for long periods here but defended with enough fortitude to get by. They were grateful that Boris Zivkovic wasted a free header from a corner and Christian Tiffert shot just wide in the final 15 minutes as Stuttgart dominated the second half without creating many clear openings.
Chelsea barely made a chance until the final few minutes when the lively substitute Adrian Mutu was twice denied and Jesper Gronkjaer hit a post.
After a stalemate first half, Chelsea too often gave away possession lightly, wasting chances to counter-attack. If they looked far from Champions League winners, at least it has kept their season alive.
As so often, Ranieri's position had been a pre-match talking point, but he was not the only Chelsea man whose future had been the subject of feverish discussion before kick-off. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had made clear his disillusionment in an interview on Dutch television.
"I informed the management in December that I will leave the club if I can't play on a more regular basis," said the striker, who has one more season on his contract. "I want to play every week."
Last night Hasselbaink, the club's leading scorer, was not even on the bench. Eidur Gudjohnsen and Mutu were instead among the substitutes as Ranieri started with only Hernan Crespo up front.
With Claude Makelele and the hard-working Scott Parker generally holding fairly deep positions, it was plain Ranieri did want to make it easy for the German side to carve them open through the centre, where he had identified Alexander Hleb as a threat. Makelele was rarely far from the Belarussian's side.
That's not to say there was no attacking intent from Chelsea. Their aim was to get the ball wide to Damien Duff or Jesper Gronkjaer and create problems, while also restraining Stuttgart's full backs from getting forward.
Duff, starting for the first time in 2004 after shoulder and Achilles' injuries, had first-half moments which hinted at the danger he can pose, and Wayne Bridge supported him well several times down the left.
Yet Chelsea couldn't build sustained pressure or get their wide men involved, and in a tight first half both teams felt for openings without wanting to commit too much and leave themselves vulnerable to a sucker-punch.
A rare Chelsea opportunity came when Crespo headed wide from a Bridge cross, but Stuttgart held more of the possession without managing to get their forwards seriously involved. They were restricted to long-range efforts which posed no problem for Carlo Cudicini, though they looked the more likely scorers. In the 42nd minute Cudicini had to push wide a shot by new substitute Imre Szabics.
Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand was not even that busy. For long spells Gronkjaer was barely seen on the right and crossed poorly when he did get the chance, while Crespo's contribution was limited to a few lay-offs.
The sight of Phillip Lahm shooting just wide early in the second half must have done nothing for the home supporters' nerves. It was clear immediately that Stuttgart had restarted far more intent on taking the game to Chelsea, and some worrying moments followed for Ranieri. Stuttgart were zipping passes around the edge of the home box and two efforts went wide.
Chelsea had pushed Duff up in support of Crespo but made few counter-attacks as Stuttgart, led by Hleb, forced them back. But in the end they not only weathered the storm but rallied to fire in late defiance and go through in style.
CHELSEA: Cudicini, Johnson (Desailly 29), Gallas, Terry, Bridge, Gronkjaer, Makelele, Lampard, Parker (Geremi 61), Duff (Mutu 82), Crespo. Subs Not Used: Ambrosio, Cole, Gudjohnsen, Huth.
VFB STUTTGART: Hildebrand, Hinkel (Gomez 81), Zivkovic, Bordon, Meira, Meissner (Tiffert 62), Hleb, Cacau (Szabics 39), Soldo, Lahm, Kuranyi. Subs Not Used: Heinen, Vranjes, Gerber, Heldt. Booked: Hinkel.
Referee: K Nielsen (Denmark).
