Malouda relishing Euro clash

Malouda relishing Euro clash

Published Dec. 5, 2011 7:15 a.m. ET

Manuel Friedrich's late goal in Germany sealed Bayer Leverkusen's place in the last 16 and left the Blues with work to do in Tuesday's final Group E clash at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea must pick up a victory or goalless draw to make it through to the knockout phase for a ninth consecutive season, and Malouda is in confident mood after Saturday's 3-0 win over Newcastle. "We have done a big mistake in Germany against Leverkusen and we have to correct that at home in front of our fans," the Frenchman told Sky Sports News. "We want to have our fans behind us. That is what we need at the moment. "We don't think about defeat. We have a positive way of thinking. "What we are looking for is a victory to qualify. Every time we start a game it is to win, so we are not thinking about this scenario." The weekend fixture at Newcastle kicked off a busy period for Chelsea leading up to Christmas, with a home game against Premier League leaders Manchester City to follow next Monday. Malouda is hoping to bring City's unbeaten run to an end and get back into a strong position in the title race. "December will be a very important month for us. We have massive games and all we need to do is to win and go from game to game," he said. "We had a bad period recently with bad results but, as you could see against Newcastle, when we have that confidence we can beat any team. "For us that will be a wonderful opportunity to close the gap and maybe show the other teams there is a way to beat Man City."

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