IF ONLY ZOLA HAD PACKED HIS BOOTS...

GIANFRANCO ZOLA’S hopes of a quiet, early match-day flight from Heathrow looked in serious danger when he was spotted boarding the plane to Germany by some excited Chelsea fans (below). Ever the gentleman, Zola was happy to oblige those who wanted a word or a photo and was, in fairness given his status, generally left in peace. One of Chelsea’s all-time greats had a fitting seat on the plane — A1 — with a free one handily next to him for selfie hunters. The sight of him amid Chelsea’s current issues led to almost inevitable quips about whether the little magician had packed a pair of boots.

● ZOLA would have got in a handy five-a-side team of former stars in attendance last night. Ex-Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller was working the corporate areas and striker Karl-Heinz Riedle passed through on his way to punditry duty. Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack and ex-Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg were also spotted.

● STARBUCKS (other coffee shops are available) should be one of those places where visitors can feel welcome and familiar wherever they find one. Not in Dortmund, though, where they chose to blast out one of the local club’s anthems through their speakers as kick-off anticipation built. Perhaps that obvious show of allegiance was an attempt to deter Chelsea fans who were drinking in the main square near an interestingly named bar called Wenkers and frustrating staff by only using the coffee shop for its toilet facilities.

● THE PA announcer had had his time to practise and as kick-off approached his big moment arrived — it was time to read out the teams. All was going well until Marc Cucurella followed Carney Chukwuemeka when he got to Chelsea’s substitutes and his attempt to muddle through and hide his pronunciation struggles failed.