Carlo Ancelotti has gambled Chelsea’s Champions League future – and possibly his own – on Fernando Torres in tonight’s must-win quarter-final second leg at Manchester United.

FOOTBALL in Europe is a season of two halves. True, the winter break has become more like a pause in Spain; they start back on Saturday, while Portugal, Italy and Greece have a few more days leave.

YOU can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time.