Torres will come good - Harris

Torres will come good - Harris

Published Mar. 13, 2011 9:15 a.m. ET

Carlo Ancelotti's team selection for Chelsea's Champions League return leg against the Danes is set to reveal much about the Italian's likely approach to what is left of the season. With the Blues leading the last-16 clash 2-0 and all but assured of a quarter-final spot, Ancelotti can afford to tinker in all sorts of ways on Wednesday night. Under normal circumstances, the game would present an ideal opportunity for the Chelsea boss to rest players ahead of a crunch Premier League match against Manchester City four days later. However, having maintained that the nine-point gap - with a game in hand - to leaders Manchester United is still "too big", Ancelotti may decide there are more important considerations on Wednesday than simply keeping players fresh. Chief among those is helping Torres remove the millstone around his neck of not having scored since his £50million move from Liverpool. Copenhagen proved little more than target practice for Torres in the first leg three weeks ago and, although his aim was awry, everything suggests the Danes will give him plenty of chances to put that right this week. Whether he breaks his duck on Wednesday or not, Stamford Bridge legend Harris has no doubt Torres will eventually come good. "He's been a little bit unfortunate. He could've scored two or three goals," Harris said. "I don't think it'll be too long before he finds the back of the net." Harris believes "a sloppy goal, a penalty or a deflection" will be enough to spark Torres into goalscoring form on Wednesday. He added: "If they were two- or three-nil up with a few minutes to go and got a penalty, maybe Frank Lampard would allow him to take the penalty." While getting Torres scoring is doubtless important, Ancelotti may feel it is even more vital for the Spaniard to improve his problematic partnership with Didier Drogba. The pair have struggled to strike up an understanding in the two games they have started together, with Ancelotti eventually forced to substitute one of them. Conversely, Torres and Nicolas Anelka looked extremely effective in the first leg against Copenhagen and it may be that their manager decides sticking with them for the rest of the season will give Chelsea the best chance of ending their stuttering campaign with some silverware. Harris has no doubt Anelka is the right man for the Champions League at the moment. "If you look at his track record in European ties this year, he's done ever so well," he said of the Frenchman, who has netted seven goals in his six appearances in the competition this term. "Of the games I've seen, the best strike force seems to be Torres and Anelka." Harris believes Ancelotti should play his strongest side on Wednesday as he feels retaining the Premier League is now beyond Chelsea. But the former Blues defender is confident they are more than capable of winning the Champions League, having seemingly put their mid-season slump behind them. "They've got players coming back now who were either injured or not playing particularly well," he said. "When you look now, you can see people like Drogba, (Florent) Malouda, (John) Obi Mikel on the bench. It looks a squad that much better." Harris even believes Arsenal's conquerors Barcelona are not invincible, with Chelsea desperately unlucky not to knock them out two seasons ago. "From what I've seen at the moment, I would think the side to miss is Barcelona," said Harris. "But, saying that, Chelsea went very close two years ago to upsetting the applecart. "The Arsenal supporters now know how Chelsea supporters felt when a Norwegian denied them about three penalties and they scored with the last kick of the game."

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