Premium
This is an archive article published on March 7, 2008

Grant relieved as Chelsea whip Olympiakos

Chelsea manager Avram Grant and his Schalke 04 counterpart Mirko Slomka can sleep a little easier after both their sides...

.

Chelsea manager Avram Grant and his Schalke 04 counterpart Mirko Slomka can sleep a little easier after both their sides reached the Champions League quarter finals.

Grant – who has been under fire for his selection policy at the League Cup final defeat by Spurs which saw The Blues produce an insipid display – was never in trouble yesterday as Chelsea breezed to a 3-0 win over Greek side Olympiakos to win 3-0 on aggregate.

While Grant has not been publicly criticised by his club owner Roman Abramovich – the two are close friends – Slomka has not been so lucky with club president Josef Schnusenberg being his biggest critic.

Story continues below this ad

However, Schalke’s penalty shootout victory over former champions Porto in Oporto – the match ending 1-1 on aggregate after the hosts scored in the dying minutes to ‘win’ the second leg – and making the last eight of the competition for the first time in their history will earn Slomka some breathing space.

However, Schalke apart from heroics by 21-year-old ‘keeper Manuel Neuer, will have earned few new friends as their negativity in extra-time against a 10-man Porto was in stark contrast to the attacking football of the 2004 Champions League winners.

Scoresheet

Real Madrid 1-2 (Agg 2-4) AS Roma

Raul Gonzales (75) Taddei (73)

Mirko Vucinic (90)

Chelsea 3-0 (Agg 3-0) Olympiakos

Michael Ballack (5)

Frank Lampard (25)

Solomon Kalou (49)

Porto 1-0 (Agg 1-1) Schalke

Lisandro Lopez (86)

Schalke won tie 4-1 on penalties

Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement