Lampard out to complete set

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH has spent almost a billion euros on his quest to turn Chelsea into European champions and his dreams will be put through the mangle again at Stamford Bridge tonight with the uncomfortable knowledge that his club will never be seen as historical equals to Manchester United until they break their Champions League hoodoo.

Tonight’s quarter-final first leg match is Chelsea’s 100th in the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti’s 100th in charge of the club and Frank Lampard’s 500th appearance in a blue shirt and it’s fair to say that incredible progress has been made during the years that have passed on the way to those milestones.

But even so, Chelsea go into the tie sitting 11 points behind United in the Premier League and still smarting from losing on penalties to Alex Ferguson’s men in the Champions League final of 2008, a painful night that has prevented the Blues taking their place at the very top table in European football for now. So no wonder Lampard dreams of winning the trophy for his owner.