CL Preview, part 2: MŠK Žilina v. Chelsea

By: Jack | September 14th, 2010

The what: Champions League, group stage – MŠK Žilina v. Chelsea
The where: Stadium Pod Dubňom (11,181)
The when: September 15, 7:45pm local time (2:45pm EST)
The how: Fox Soccer Channel (DirecTV 619, Dish Network 149)
The why: Because an excellent start is a must, particularly in the doldrums of Slovakia. And because a host of fringe players – fringe used in the loosest translation – will be making their inaugural starts of the season. A win for us is likely a win for them.
The referee: Bjorn Kuipers‎

Stadium_Pod_Dubnom
11K strong. Safe to say this place will be packed to the gills.

The punt: Daniel Sturridge will be starting in stead of Didier Drogba. As direct a forward as he is, put a fiver on Studge to open the scoring.
The stat: The average salary in Slovakia? $10,000 per.

Curious about our choice for this week’s stat? Read on to understand just why the average yearly salary of a Slovakian is relevant to Wednesday’s game. So, pricing for a normal ticket to a Zilina match is a nominal $10. For tonight’s CL encounter with the Chels? Between €50 and €500. That’s a 550 percent increase. Hmmmmm. I doubt UEFA will take kindly to news of such price gouging.

MŠK Žilina
Form: Good
Team: A mystery
Doubtful: ?
Injured: ?
Suspended: None
Leading scorer: Me
Quote: “It’s a great challenge for me and I’m really looking forward to it. On the other hand, we won’t sell ourselves short. We want to show our supporters quality football and we’d like to get some points from our meeting with Chelsea. We respect our opponents; they’re a really big club. Chelsea are obviously superior to us, but football is about 11 players playing against 11 players and we want to walk off with our heads high after the match.” -Zilina manager Pavel Hapal

Does anyone know anything about this club? I don’t.

Robert Jez is the captain. He’s dreamy. Momodou Ceesay is the guy after his performance against Sparta. He also had a short spell with Chelsea in the academy. It didn’t work out – obviously.

dailymail2
Last time.

CFC —
League Form: WWWW
Team: Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Alex, Zhirkov, Essien, Benayoun, Mikel, Sturridge, Malouda, Anelka, Turnbull, Hilario, Ferreira, Ramires, Kalou, Kakuta, Van Aanholt, Bruma
Doubtful: No one?
Injured: Lampard (groin), Bosingwa (fitness), Bruma (hernia)
Suspended: Drogba (1 of 2)
Leading scorer: Drogba, Malouda 4
Quote: “This year is very important because the final is at Wembley and no London team have won the Champions League. Maybe that can be a good motivation. The first aim is to play the final. If you play the final, you have done a good job. And after, there is a time to prepare for the final. We have to show our quality and arrive at the right time in the Champions League fully fit. This is the key. We have to arrive in March with all the players fit.” -Carlo Ancelotti

Great to see King Carlo opting for an alternate XI for this one. His confirmation that the likes of Yuri, Danny and Yossi will be in from the start sort of solidifies what many of us had hoped – that Carlo will in fact make use of this squad, the entire squad. McEachran, Van Aanholt, Walker, Kakuta and Borini have also traveled so you’ve got to think at least three of them will be on the bench in Slovakia.

Other than that, business as usual. Three points, please.

The real stat: Chelsea have never failed to progress to the Champions League knockout stages in eight attempts.
The real why: The Champions League Final is at Wembley. In London. No London club has ever won the CL. Need I say more?

KTBFFH

Some Related Chelsea Posts:

Category: Champions League, Chelsea Team News, Fixtures, Match Previews, Player News

« CL Preview, part 1: King Carlo’s team is in | Home | OK, so I’m back from the doldrums … »

Daryl

Jack's not under any obligation to research Zilina. He's a Chelsea blogger, not a Chelsea scout, and the above post contains plenty of information about Chelsea.

I'd argue that Jack has made a virtue of his (and the majority of people's) lack of knowledge about Zilina. I'd much rather read something that makes me laugh, like this...

MŠK Žilina
Form: Good
Team: A mystery
Doubtful: ?
Injured: ?
Suspended: None
Leading scorer: Me

...than a hastily assembled grab bag of facts taken from elsewhere on the internet.
Jack

Thx, Daryl. I'll be sure not to use the term doldrums to describe Wolverhampton when I'm prepping my PL preview v. Wolves.
moodonthepitch

I wasn't aware you did any prepping.
Chelsea

Slovakia:
Way of Life:
The reintroduction of a market economy in the early 1990s produced a sharp increase in unemployment, a high rate of inflation, and therefore a decline in living standards for many Slovak families. However, most households are relatively well-equipped with consumer goods, such as refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, and automobiles. Most urban residents live in high-rise buildings; many also own small cottages in the countryside. In rural areas, single-family homes predominate.
The Slovak diet relies heavily on pork. Bryndzov halušky (noodles with goat cheese) and Hungarian dishes including goulash are also widely enjoyed. Wine, beer, slivovice (plum brandy), and borovicka (an herb-flavored drink), are popular beverages.
Attending soccer games and other sporting events is a popular pastime in Slovakia. Many Slovaks ski and hike in the mountains; and urban dwellers attend the opera, the ballet, concerts, and plays. Socializing with friends in wine cellars and taverns is also common.

Social Problems
Slovak society suffers from many of the problems found commonly in developed Western societies. Crime, prostitution, and drug abuse increased after 1989, when the Communist government collapsed, political controls were lifted, and borders were reopened. Poverty has also increased, particularly among single mothers and the elderly.
In recent years, tensions have mounted between the Slovak government and Hungarians residing in Slovakia. Many Hungarians have complained of discrimination and have pressed for educational and cultural autonomy in addition to the right to use Hungarian as their official language. Tensions have also increased at the local level in areas populated by both Slovaks and ethnic Hungarians.

From Slovakia dot org...I hope you trolls information-seekers are happy now
CFC Fan

I agree with the author, and the article is amusing. If people cant see the humour in the article or if people feel that the article is not professionally written then they should keep their opinions to themselves. I am pretty sure that a true CFC fan will like the article even though the style in which it is written is not conventional. If people want to get information about Zilina they can do so via the Internet. My logic is- the amount of time people spent in blogging about how unprofessional the article was could be spent getting the necessary information about the opponent.
The author is simply writing the match in his unique style. If u dont like it, dont criticize it, cuz u are not paying the author to write.