Till we meet again: Jose Mourinho gave Essien a hint of his return to Chelsea on the final day of last season.

  In Real Madrid's final match of the season, Michael Essien scored a goal in Madrid's 4-2 victory against Osasuna. He went on to celebrate the goal by hugging Mourinho who was at at the bench for the last time as a Madrid manager. The Chelsea midfielder, who was on loan last season with Madrid now reveals that in that moment, Mourinho informed him of his return to Chelsea this coming season.

Essien celebrates his goal against Osasuna on the last day of the 2012-13 season.

                                                                                                                                                        
 In his blog for www,chelseafc.com Essien wrote, 'When I scored my last goal for Real Madrid on the last day of the season, I ran over to celebrate with him and was expecting him to congratulate me when I hugged him,'
'Instead he leaned over and said: "See you at pre-season training on July 8". I found that so funny.'
'We are now back together where we belong and where we had so many beautiful years together and I hope we can recreate those magical years.'

Essien hopes to relive the "beautiful years" that he spent with Mourinho during his first spell as a Chelsea manager

Essien, who had been sent on loan to Madrid last season, hopes to give his all to Chelsea this season along side Mourinho whom he affectionately calls 'daddy'.

He said, 'I am ready to give my all to Chelsea.'
'I haven’t lost any desire or motivation. I have been working hard in the last few weeks to be physically and mentally fit for the season and I feel good about my work so far.



'We are definitely going to give it a go this season. All the trophies are up for grabs and you can rest assured we will do all we can to bring as many as we can to the Bridge.'

Essien and co. play Real Madrid on Wednesday in the final of Guinness International Champions Cup and they will certainly look to win that match ahead of an all important season.

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Chelsea vs AC Milan match report.

Mario Balotelli taking on Ivanovic in the friendly between Chelsea and AC Milan match played on Sunday.

 Jose Mourinho's side set up a clash with Real Madrid in Wednesday's final as they beat AC Milan 2-0 in an impressive fashion. Goals from Kevin de Bruyne and Andre' Schurrle sealed the victory for the blues in the Metlife stadium against a good AC Milan side.

  Chelsea absorbed the Milan attacks for much of the match and hit them effectively at the counter consistently.

After a quiet opening, Chelsea burst into life after Ivanovic back-heeled a De Bruyne cross towards goal which was well saved by Abbiati. Moments later, he was involved again as he headed an Oscar cross wide off the post.

Milan on the other hand created its first chance in the 14th minute when Kevin Prince Boateng ballooned his shot over the post after good work from Stephan El Shaarawy. 

 

De Bruyne (left) and Hazard (right) celebrate the opening goal.

Moments later, El Shaarawy was the man again as he played Muntari in with a lovely ball. Muntari then shot towards goal which was well saved by Petr Cech considering he was in an awkard position. Ivanovic then cleared the loose ball away and denied Balotelli a simple tap in.
On the other end, Chelsea opened their account in the 29th minute when De Bruyne finished coolly after good work from Hazard who combined well with Oscar and played KDB in with a lovely ball.



The start of the second hand saw Chelsea make 7 changes including the introduction of Juan Mata, Fernando Torres, Victor Moses, Ashley Cole and captain John Terry.

Milan looked dangerous in the second half with the introduction of M'Baye Niang and may have equalised had it not been for last ditch defending and blocks by the Chelsea defenders. The half also saw the blues miss many chances. Fernando Torres received good balls in promising areas but couldn't take full advantage of those opportunities.

Andre Schurrle scores the second goal for the blues against AC Milan in the closing stages.

The blues buried the game in the 92nd minute when he buried his audacious volley in the bottom corner from a Victor Moses cross.

With the win, Chelsea will now face Real Madrid in the Sun life stadium on Wednesday. This will be a reunion for the managers of both sides as Mourinho will come face-to-face with his old club Real Madrid while Carlo Ancelotti will face Chelsea, the side he managed to the premier league title in 2009-10 season. It surely will be a great contest.


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Chelsea vs AC Milan preview, timing and predictions

Chelsea vs AC Milan playing in a friendly in 2012 which Milan won 1-0.

After an impressive display against Inter Milan, Chelsea will look to ride their confidence and secure another win against another giant of Serie-A, AC Milan as the two square off the Met-life stadium, New Jersey. On Thursday, the blues defeated Inter 2-0 courtesy of goals from Eden Hazard and Oscar. AC Milan on the other hand will also look for a win and will try to hand Jose Mourinho his first loss of the preseason.

 Chelsea are likely to regain André Schürrle and Kevin De Bruyne who missed the first game due to sickness and knee injury respectively. However, Frank Lampard will still be absent as he recovers from his Achilles injury that he got on the Asian tour.

Mario Balotelli has been superb for AC MILAN since his transfer from Man city

On the other hand, AC Milan were also very impressive against Valencia in their opening game. They have the likes of Stephan El Shaarawy (16 goals, Serie A) and Mario Balotelliwho can pose a major and a bigger threat to the Chelsea defense than what Inter did. The AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri’s will want to assemble a strong starting XI  against a talented Chelsea side.




Last year at the World Football Championship, AC Milan defeated Chelsea 1-0 with a second half goal by Urby Emanuelson, and the same can happen again as AC Milan comes into the game with a strong roster that also includes Giampaolo Pazzini (15 goals, Serie A), Nigel De Jong and Kevin Prince-Boateng.

Chelsea or AC Milan will face Real Madrid in the final who defeated Everton 2-1.

The winner of this game will face Real Madrid in the finals on August 7 which could also mean a possible re-union between Mourinho and Real Madrid. Meanwhile, the loser of this match will face Everton for third place finish prior to the final. Whatever the outcome and whichever team you support, we can expect an exciting contest.

PREDICTION: CHELSEA FC 1 - AC MILAN 0
TIME: 23:30 BST/6:30 p.m. EDT/3:30 p.m. PDT, 02:30 a.m (Monday) Pakistan Standard Time and 03:00 a.m (Monday) Indian Standard Time
TV/Broadcasting Channels: Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Soccer 2Go, ESPN Deportes (USA); Chelsea TV (UK)
Worldwide Livestreams and TV Channels: LiveSoccerTV.com
Radio: SiriusXM - SIRI Channel 94



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The Curious Case Of El Nino By Yash Haldankar

   On 31st January 2011, Chelsea signed a certain quintessential World Cup winning striker Fernando “El Nino” Torres for a sum of £50 million breaking the British Transfer record. The dynamic striker with blistering pace, sublime technique and an eye for spectacular had swapped Merseyside for West London. Torres was signed on a contract of five-and-half years to lead the club from the front to glory and beyond.

Signed by Ancelotti on Deadline Day

      Fast forward two-and-half years and what you get is mediocre overpaid striker with confidence issues. Or is it really? After arriving with much pompous fanfare, the Spaniard took his own time to setting into the Chelsea system by taking 903 minutes to find the back of the net for his first goal in 18 appearances. After the horrendous start to his Chelsea career, his first full campaign in a Chelsea shirt was expected to be better than his first six months. However the effervescent presence of Didier Drogba, an eccentric Sturridge and young Lukaku added to his misery. In 49 appearances he gave a return of 11 goals paving way for another mediocre season even with Chelsea winning the coveted Champions League and FA Cup.

Torres under the shadow of Drogba

      However with new season came new hopes. After a tantalizing display for his national side by winning the Golden Boot as Spain lifted the Euro 2012 cup. The stage was finally set for Torres to prime in Chelsea shirt with Didier Drogba heading to China in search of new pastures, Lukaku sent on a season long loan to West Bromwich Albion, Sturridge being sold to Liverpool and Demba Ba coming in the winter. Torres became the only viable option up front and he did not disappoint. Finally reaching the 20- goal mark in 64 appearances with 22 goals. For once he seemed to be the Fernando Torres he was.

After scoring the decisive against Barcelona

      With Torres it has been a never-ending saga of transfer speculation after mediocre performances since his arrival. Yet both club and player have been swift and vocal enough to drive down speculation regarding Torres being sold even after bids from Athletico Madrid, Arsenal and Barcelona being made. The player has shown commitment to honoring his contract with Chelsea.
      The favorable conditions are set to prevail as Lukaku, even after his spectacular loan spell is yet unproven in Chelsea system and Demba Ba’s inconsistency in finding the back of net since leaving the Toon’s adds to that. Making Torres Chelsea’s No.1 forward at this moment. Torres’ Vantage point is his confidence. On his day, he’s an established defender’s nightmare and often is quite too sublime against even the relegation zone clubs. It is this enervating factor that he has to fight. Which if prevailed upon he is sure to flourish.

Gaining his old prowess

      Throughout his career in a Blues shirt various factors from Didier Drogba’s spectacular form to the pressure of justifying his price tag, from Chelsea’s Managing conundrums to the style of play and philosophy not suiting to his game have been responsible for not realizing his true potential.
      However with the start of new season, Torres will be coming back to London with another Golden Boot won at Confederations Cup, Brazil but a new manager will be there to welcome the 50 million forward, none other than the Special One, Jose Mourinho. This ensures that for good or for bad-This Curious Case of El Nino will be solved with either Torres finding his scoring boots, which commanded the 50 million Chelsea paid to get him or Torres being shipped out with a huge loss. This is the season that will define the legacy of El Nino and brings an end to this curious case. Now as for how it ends, lets just wait and watch.

 (This article is taken from http://www.bbfwl.com/the-curious-case-of-el-nino/ all rights belong to the writer Yash Haldankar)


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Chelsea to adapt to Torres' style of play

Mourinho impressed with Torres' efforts in training

It looked as if Torres' career at Stamford Bridge may come to a halt when Chelsea bid for Wayne Rooney. Valencia are even keen on taking El-Nino back to Spain. Instead, Jose Mourinho has encouraged the Spaniard to stay and has been impressed by his work rate and efforts at the training pitch.

Mourinho said: “I don’t know if it’s confidence. I feel the guy is highly motivated, he works very hard. Some of the work we do with the team in terms of attack suits his qualities. So let’s see what happens. We’re here to support him."

Torres came off the bench in the 72nd minute against Inter Milan

 “Usually when he is clear he scores – but he’s missed. We know that this is Torres’ game.

He added that Chelsea will try to get the best out of El-Nino by adapting itself to his game.

"We want the team not to learn how to play with him, but to improve how to play with him. He is working hard in training, we are happy with him.”




Asked if he will try to remodel Torres' game to suit Chelsea's play, Mourinho said:
“Will I try to re-model his game? Not his game, his game is impossible to remodel.

"But we want to adapt the team and teach the team how to use his best qualities because his game is his game.
"He is what he is and he is very good with the qualities that he’s got. So we need to learn and support his game.”

Chelsea will now play AC Milan in another friendly in New York on Sunday night. Torres will want to score and further impress the boss Jose Mourinho.

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Chelsea vs Inter Milan match report.

   The red card for Hugo Campagnaro was the only blemish on an otherwise well contested match between Chelsea and Inter Milan in which the blues secured a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Oscar and Hazard.
 

Hugo Campagnaro's tackle on John terry which led to a red card.

Hugo Campagnaro went for the ball against Terry but badly mistimed his tackle and ended up making contact with the defender's ankle which left him on the floor writhing in pain. the referee Elfath had no hesitations in sending Campagnaro showing him a straight red-card before Hugo even turned around. Ashley Cole and Ricky Alvarez got into a tussle but it didn't get serious and soon Terry was brushing the dust off his kit and was able to complete the 90 minutes.

A small tussle that was sparked by Campagnaro's red card

 Earlier Oscar had given Chelsea the lead after Moses won the ball in midfield and made a darting run towards the Milan goal. After evading a few defenders, he laid the ball off for Oscar who checked inside and beautifully curled the ball home. Moments later Oscar had a chance to increase the lead after he was played in by hazard with a nicely weighted lob, but this time his finish wasn't so pretty as it sailed over the bar. On the other end, Petr Cech kept out a deflected Rodrigo Palacio's long range shot.


The match wasn't short of controversy either as Alvaro Pereira brought Moses down on the edge of the area, but referee Ismail Elfath awarded a penalty despite the initial contact happening outside the box. Eden Hazard though calmly slotted home sending keeper the wrong way.
 

Goals from Hazard and Oscar sealed a comfortable victory for the blues

This win gives the blues an important boost ahead of their new season as Jose Mourinho's side put up an impressive display against Inter Milan. Chelsea play its next match against AC Milan on August 4.


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Chelsea vs Inter Milan Preview and Predictions

Chelsea players train ahead of their game against Inter Milan

 Chelsea will go one on one against Inter Milan on Thursday at the Lucas Oil Stadium in the capital city of Hoosier State as it begins its campaign in the Guinness International Champions Cup. The tournament includes many star teams such as Real Madrid, Valencia, Everton and LA Galaxy. Both teams will want to do well tonight as they look to gather momentum heading into the all crucial next season.

 The blues, led by Jose Mourinho will head into the tournament having completed a 3 game Asian tour which all ended in victory. The blues showed impressive displays at the Asian tour where the youngsters were given a chance to show off their ability too. This game also marks a special occasion for Jose Mourinho as he leads Chelsea against a side which he managed to victory in the UEFA Champions League in 2009.

Chelsea squad at the airport

  The blues flew a 25 member squad to the states which include goalkeepers Petr Čech, Mark Schwarzer, Henrique Hilário and Jamal Blackman; and defenders César Azpilicueta, Branislav Ivanović, Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Ryan Bertrand and David Luiz. The midfield will be occupied by the likes of John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien, Oscar, Ramires, Frank Lampard, Marco van Ginkel, Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Victor Moses, André Schürrle and Kevin De Bruyne while Torres, Lukaku and Ba will lead the attack.


On the other hand, Inter's coach Walter Mazzarri is leading his own 25 member squad which includes  forwards Diego Milito and Rodrigo Palacio (12 goals in Serie A), defender and captain Javier Zanetti and goalkeeper Samir Handanovič.

LA Lakers basketball star Steve Nash practices with the Inter players during their training session

Chelsea deployed the 4-3-3 tactics to perfection against the weaker Asian teams but Inter will provide a much sterner test as they have plenty of quality in side. The Nerazzurris will look to win this game and avoid any injuries to gain the all important momentum heading into the Serie-A season. Similarly the blues will look to use its talented midfield to create chances and score an important victory for themselves.

The match starts at 1:00 GMT (Friday)/8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT and can be watched on Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Soccer 2Go, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 (US); Chelsea TV (UK).

My prediction for the match is: Chelsea FC 2- Inter Milan 1