Chelsea banish Jose’s blues as Drogba steals the show

JOSE MOURINHO spent £30 million (€44 million) to add Andriy Shevchenko to his already well-staffed ranks at Chelsea during the summer, but it was the man whose place he looks like taking, Didier Drogba, that dragged the champions to victory against Blackburn at Ewood Park.

Chelsea were unimpressive and unconvincing against Mark Hughes’s team, but they responded to their growing band of critics by overcoming the midweek defeat at Middlesbrough with a hard-fought win that emphasised, if anyone had doubted it, that Mourinho’s team will still be the team to beat in the Premiership this season.

No-one can doubt Mourinho’s ability to mould together a formidable team at Chelsea, having repaid Roman Abramovich’s multi-million pound backing with two Premiership titles in the last two seasons, but there is a growing belief that the Champions League has become a distraction to the champions, to the point that it may ultimately cost them domestically.