Chelsea’s 4-2 win over Bayern Munich has placed the Premeirship leaders in the driving seat, but Michael Balllack’s late penalty for the German side, has given coach Felix Magath, a slither of hope for next week’s second leg.
Joe Cole and Didier Drogba were both on target but Felix Magath singled out the English side’s two-goal hero Frank Lampard for special praise
“I feel both hope and disappointment,” said Magath. “It’s like a reverse of the Arsenal game
“I’m obviously disappointed to concede four goals, but am glad that we got that second goal at the end of the match. It has given the team a lot of hope and we will be optimistic of a good result at home, when we hope to welcome back several players, like [the suspended Martin] Demichelis.
“We had difficulty controlling the centre of the park and also coping with high balls. Defensively, we usually cope with this situation but we definitely missed Demichelis.
“As for Lampard – we know he is a class player and I just hope that he has emptied the locker with those goals and won’t repeat the feat again next week.
With Chelsea manager José Mourinho banned from the touchline, his assistant Baltemar Brito said he was confident his team will prrogress to the last four.
“We hadn’t really planned to play direct football,” said Brito. “In fact, there was no strategy to play direct football at all but, at times, that’s the way the match flowed.
“I feel we have the side to go through to the semi-finals; provided we prepare well, focus on our task and stand back, then we can get a result in the next game.
“It was quite tough without Mourinho – his presence is always important but he prepared us well and helped us to stay calm in the build-up. The last time we spoke to him was two or three hours before kick-off and we haven’t seen him since.
Chelsea’s two-goal hero Frank Lampard admitted he had mixed feelings at the end of the game.
“Bayern are very strong, well organised and have got world class players,” said the England midfielder. “Ballack got a penalty in the end, scored and will be a big threat out there. We saw what Bayern did to Arsenal in Germany, it’s definitely not over.
“At the moment I’m disappointed because of the last-minute [penalty] – 4-1 would have been a great lead to take there, 4-2 still is but obviously we’re disappointed. Two goals is a good lead but three would be better.
“We are confident we can score goals anywhere in Europe but the game is by no means over. We were solid, they were tight in midfield but we got the goals we deserved.
