Scolari unfazed by Chelsea pressure

Luiz Felipe Scolari has denied he is feeling the pressure as Chelsea FC strive for the victory over CFR 1907 Cluj on Matchday 6 that will secure their place in the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League.

'Zero pressure'
His assistant Ray Wilkins said at the weekend that Scolari was tired and feeling the pressure of the demands of keeping the London club challenging on three fronts. But the Brazilian came out fighting on the eve of the game, saying there was "zero" pressure attached to his present job. "Do you know how many people live in Brazil?" Scolari replied to his questioner. "One hundred and eighty million, and I was the national coach there. You think this is pressure [at Chelsea]? It is zero pressure. Pressure is when you are coach of the Brazilian national team because everybody in Brazil is a coach."

All on the line
Scolari said the reason he asked Wilkins to face the press following Saturday's 2-0 Premier League win at Bolton Wanderers FC was not because of fatigue or pressure but because his lack of English does not allow him to explain himself as clearly as he would like. He will be hoping the message is clear to his players at Stamford Bridge because, after losing to AS Roma then drawing with FC Girondins de Bordeaux in their last two matches in the competition, anything less than a victory over the Romanian visitors - who will finish bottom of Group A - will put their qualifying ticket in jeopardy. "If we lose the game then we don't go through," Scolari said, although they will as long as Bordeaux fail to win the section's other fixture at Roma. "I won't feel good about this but it is life, it is football."

Lampard suspended
Victory would certainly see Chelsea through, as in their preceding six UEFA Champions League campaigns, and as group winners for the fifth time if Roma are unable to beat Bordeaux. With that in mind the manager may be prepared to pair Didier Drogba with Nicolas Anelka in attack. Drogba's availability may signal that Chelsea's long injury list is about to recede, though Frank Lampard is an absentee following the red card he received in Bordeaux. However, Scolari is anxious that players should only turn out if they are 100 per cent fit. "I tell them, if you're not in a good condition, don't play."

'Outsiders'
CFR Cluj coach Maurizio Trombetta said the circumstances are the same as before Matchday 1 when his team recorded one of the surprise results of the tournament this season, winning 2-1 away to Roma. "We are outsiders again," he said. "We did it once and maybe, with a bit of luck and concentration, we can do it again." Trombetta is likely to retain Nuno Claro in goal in place of Eduard Stăncioiu, who has played in all five group games so far. Claro took over between the posts in CFR's last Romanian league match, the 2-1 home victory over AS Gaz Metan Medias on 1 December, after Stăncioiu damaged his hand in training on the eve of the fixture.