Drogba unhappy at French farce

Drogba unhappy at French farce

Published Dec. 8, 2010 7:15 p.m. ET

The Chelsea striker was on the losing side as Brandao's late goal took the French side through into the last 16 - with group winners Chelsea. Drogba was given a warm reception when he took to the pitch and as he was substituted, and the Ivory Coast international said afterwards: "It was quite emotional to be out there. "There was a fantastic atmosphere. It was difficult for me to play but I'm disappointed with the defeat...it's frustrating." Drogba revealed his upset at the 15th-minute incident which saw Chelsea appear to be given a penalty by Russian referee Vladislav Bezborodov. Souleymane Diawara brought down Florent Malouda and the official pointed to the spot but, under pressure from Marseille players, appeared to consult his linesman and change his mind. Drogba - Blues' penalty taker in the absence of Frank Lampard - added on Sky Sports: "I'm wearing the Chelsea shirt now, not the Marseille one, so I wanted to score. "He gave a penalty then said Florent dived - but if that's the case you have to give him (Malouda) a yellow card. "It changed the game - 1-0 for us would have made it a different game." Captain John Terry admitted his team need to rediscover the form which preceded their current poor run - but refuted claims of a training ground 'crisis' meeting. Terry said: "There wasn't a meeting at the training ground on Monday. "There is no point us panicking. We realise we are not playing as well as we can, the players realise there is a lot more to give and to come. Carlo Ancelotti's men have won just two of their last eight games in all competitions and their next fixtures are against Tottenham, on Sunday, Manchester United and Arsenal. Terry said: "Sunday is a massive derby for us and for the fans. We're hoping to kick-start an important time for us." Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admitted his attacking players still looked "a bit afraid to play football" and felt they were only playing at 50% of their capability. The Italian told Sky Sports: "Defensively there was tactical discipline and I asked for this from my players. We didn't have a lot of opportunities to shoot and score, we need to be more clear with the final ball." Asked whether this level of performance would suffice in the three big Premier League games coming up, Ancelotti added: "We have to improve to play against these teams but we have a possibility to do this. "We lost confidence up front, now we are a bit afraid to play football, we have to keep going, stay compact and prepare well for the next game." Ancelotti revealed that Nicolas Anelka and Ashley Cole, who did not travel to Marseille, would be available at the weekend and sounded upbeat about Frank Lampard's chances of taking part too after a long injury lay-off. "Lampard trained today without any problem, in the next two or three days we'll take a decision about him," Ancelotti said.

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