Captain Cahill confident of riding Chelsea storm
The Premier League trophy had just been regained relatively comfortably as Antonio Conte restored stability in the Stamford Bridge dressing room after Jose Mourinho’s fractured second spell in charge. But this is a club where triumphs are often followed by turbulence. Cahill won’t be emulating Terry by lifting the Premier League trophy this May. That is now certain, with Chelsea in another downward spiral, domestically at least, and doubt has been on whether Antonio Conte will survive to manage Chelsea into a third season.
At 32, Cahill is no longer assured of his starting place at the heart of the defence and only came off the bench in the second half against West Brom last week.
“I see it being always challenging,” said Cahill. “You have ups and downs. For some reason at this football club everything is magnified about ten times. If you look at some teams that are behind us at the moment, everything is [viewed as] fine there.
“Then all of a sudden it seems like there is a lot of drama at our place.
“So I have been used to coping with that over the years I have been here. But for sure it’s Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes has promised Besiktas will not be taken lightly in their Champions League clash.
The German champions appear to have received a favourablelast-16drawagainst opponents who are currently fourth in the Turkish Super Lig standings, but Heynckes, ahead of tonight’s first-leg
0 Club captain Gary Cahill trains yesterday as Chelsea prepare for tonight’s Champions League meeting with Barcelona. a club like no other in terms of that.”
A club, still, that has a trophy haul unmatched in England since the 2003 takeover by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Six Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups as well as the 2012 Champions League and the 2013 Europa League.
Remarkably, the European silverware came at the end of some of the stormiest seasons with temporary managers at the helm: Roberto Di Matteo in 2012 and Rafa Benitez in 2013.
It seems only delivering Chelsea’s second Champions League title can reprieve Conte from being dismissed. tie at the Allianz Arena, said: “Besiktas are a team that can play football and it’s no surprise they are here. They won all three of their away matches in the group stage.
“They won’t hide, they like to play attacking football – if you let them. Besiktas are packed with international experience. They’re well organised defensively and know how to counter well. They will look for their chances.”
Bayern finished runners-up to Paris St Germain in their group, but they start as firm favourites to progress after beating Wolfsburg 2-1 on Saturday to register a 13th straight win across all competitions.
Heynckes rested James
GARY CAHILL Even if the trophy is collected in Kiev in May, given the public grumbling about the transfer policy, it seems hard to see Rodriquez as Bayern maintained their 19-point Bundesliga lead, while regular starters Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich, Robert Lewandowski, David Alaba and Thomas Muller were all on the bench.
Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara returned from a three-month injury absence against Wolfsburg when substitute Lewandowski converted a last-minute penalty for his 27th goal of the season.
But Heynckes, above, dismissed talk of rotation, saying: “I have no A or B team. We only have one Bayern team. Every player knows their position how the Italian coach can survive. The European challenge resumes tonight when Barcelona visit Stamford Bridge.
“I see this month being massive,” Cahill said. “It might shape where we are. We have the FA Cup, we have the Champions League – obviously two important competitions for us, especially this year when you look at the league.
“So I see by the end of this month determining where we are going to be sitting and whether this is going to be a successful season.”
“We have proved before that we can turn things around,” Cahill said. “Individually, if you are talking about myself for example. I have proved three and understands each other, so I don’t think we have too many problems with rotation.
“There are far more benefits, because everyone feels important and stays fresh. It’s not easy, but I think the players are happy with how I have managed it so far. “Now I hope my team puts on a top performance to lay the foundations for reaching the quarter-finals.”
Besiktas became the first Turkish side to top their Champions League group, and overcame German outfit RB Leipzig both home and away in remaining unbeaten.
But main striker Cenk Tosun, who scored four of their 11 or four times before I can turn it around.”
Just as in 2012 – months after Cahill signed from Bolton – winning the Champions League may still be Chelsea’s only route to rejoining Europe’s elite next season. During that run to the final, Chelsea overcame tonight’s opponentswho currently lead La Liga by seven points.
“We are coming up against one of the favourites,” Cahill said. “They are going to have a lot of possession, you know they are going to have players that can hurt you – whether that’s [Lionel] Messi or he’s having an off day, then [Luis] Suarez, or if he’s having an off day, then [Philippe] Coutinho.”
“All of a sudden it seems like there is a lot of drama at our place. Soihavebeenusedto coping with that over the years I have been here”
Heynckes wary of well-organised Besiktas side who ‘won’t hide’
goals in qualifying, joined Everton in January and Besiktas come into the tie on the back of being held by lowly Konyaspor last Friday.
But they have the experience of former Real Madrid defender Pepe – making his 95th Champions League appearance – fellow Portuguese veteran Ricardo Quaresma and Dutch striker Ryan Babel.
“This will be a tough test for us, but we want to push them as much as possible,” said Besiktas’ former Turkey coach Senol Gunes. “We have very good players and I just want to see what they can do, their skills and their characters.
“If we pass the test it will be fantastic, of course.”