Diego Costa and his new team Chelsea got off to a disappointing start in their Champions League opener only managing a lacklustre 1-1 home draw against German side FC Twente – who were dogged and determined if not all that skilful.
The game contrasts sharply with Chelsea’s and particularly Diego Costa’s form in the opening games of the Premier League season. So far, the Stamford Bridge club have bagged 12 points from a possible 12 – helped in no small part by Costa’s electrifying start to the new season which has seen him net seven times in those four games.
Running major campaigns on two or more fronts has proved costly to clubs all across Europe in recent years. Quite a few clubs do manage to win their domestic leagues alongside the Champions League – but the double campaigns undoubtedly take their toll.
So to some extent, with large squads always in rotation, the club and manager need to decide where their real priorities lie. And you can’t help but think that at Stamford Bridge, Roman Abramovich and, therefore, José Mourinho’s number one target this season is Champions League glory.
Mourinho would love to become the first ever manager to lift the trophy with three different clubs (following his victories with Porto in 2004 and Internazionale six years later). Roman Abramovich, meanwhile, has already seen his club win one Champions League under the stewardship of Roberto Di Matteo – but this wasn’t in the convincing style with which Chelsea have the potential to win the trophy under the “special one”.
Also, the way Chelsea are heading in their domestic league means they could have the Premier League title sewn up, in a manner of speaking, earlier than anyone expects. If Chelsea can get a six point cushion clear of the chasing pack, they may be able to win at a relative canter – placing their entire focus on the Champions League instead.
It seems possible that Chelsea’s participation in England’s two other major domestic trophies, the League Cup and FA Cup, could become little more than testing grounds for Chelsea’s second-stringers, though it has to be said, the club does have a matchless record over the last decade in the FA Cup, winning four times.
So where does all this leave us? Well it means that Chelsea’s Champions League blip against FC Twente should prove fairly meaning less and, if we’re right about the club’s main focus, Chelsea will be extremely tough to beat.
In last year’s competition and with a team that wasn’t of his own making, Mourinho still managed to steer Chelsea to a hard-fought semi against Atletico Madrid where one Diego Cota was instrumental in carrying the tie for the Spanish club. Currently troubled by hamstring concerns, you can bet that Mourinho will do everything he possibly can to make sure Costa is fit and fresh for the business end of the Champions League campaign.
In short – Chelsea could win it and the fact that their odds slipped out a little to 13/2 with major bookmakers including Unibet, 32Red and others simply means they’re better value.
And there could be a way of picking up that value for free. Pretty much all major bookies have free bet offers etc., but the online casinos such as skybet, 888 and plenty more have even bigger offers. The trick is in finding one like 32Red that also runs a sport-book – then transferring as much money as you can from one account to another after you’ve played the required number of games.
The trick, then, is in finding games like roulette where you have a good chance of staying even and transferring the cash to reinvest on Chelsea’s Champions League hopes – because that’s where the real focus will be from the two men who matter most at London’s richest club.