Inter Must Tame Didier Drogba If They Are To Oust Chelsea In Champions League

Manchester United boss predicts key role for Ivorian…

By Gill Clark

Didier Drogba, Chelsea (Getty Images)

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted Tuesday night’s Champions League clash between Chelsea and Inter is hard to call, but feels Blues’ striker Didier Drogba may prove the difference between the two sides.

The last-16 tie is intriguingly poised with the Italian champions bringing a 2-1 lead to Stamford Bridge, yet having grabbed an away goal Chelsea will feel confident they can also progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.
Meanwhile, Ferguson predicts it will be a very tough game for the hosts particularly against their tactically astute former manager Jose Mourinho. 

“Inter versus Chelsea is a real big one. Chelsea are hard to beat at Stamford Bridge but it is a good Inter team – an improved Inter team and Jose [Mourinho] will have them well organised,” he told the Sunday People.

“It won’t be an easy game for Chelsea. I think Jose has Inter playing now as he wants, it’s his team. He has changed the system and they are not bad.”
The Scot then moved on to highlight how Drogba could make the difference and explained how his brute strength could cause chaos in Inter’s rearguard.  
"For me, it will rest on how they handle [Didier] Drogba. They don’t have a great deal of height at the back.

"They have Lucio, who is a reasonable size, but [Walter] Samuel is not big,” he added.
"He’s only about 5ft 9ins or so. He’s tough, but not particularly big, so Drogba’s size could be a problem."