Chelsea 1 FC Basel 2

Last updated : 18 September 2013 By Paul Lagan

Chelsea were terrible, they deserved nothing and got nothing as their Champions League campaign got off to the worst possible start with a humbling defeat 2-1 at home to FC Basel.

The last time Chelsea lost a European group stage game at home was in October 2003 when they lost to Besiktas 2-0 under Claudio Ranieri tutelage.
That night was bad, but this was even worse.

Under Jose Mourinho, this simply wasn't in the script.

The watching Roman Abramovich must be wondering what he had done to bring back the Special One.

The true is Chelsea started the match as if it didn't matter, as if the group was already theirs and they could focus on Saturday's derby against Fulham. They got exactly what they deserved - absolutely nothing.

The Blues opened the scoring with the last kick of the first half through Oscar but that was as good as it got as Mohamed Salah and captain Marco Streller notched the strikes that dumped the Europa Cup champions on their backside.

A deadly dull opening period was punctuated only by a fumble by Basel goalkeeper Yann Sommer which Italian referee Daniele Orsato decreed was a foul on him, a mistimed Frank Lampard shot which was defected away for a corner which the aforementioned Orsato saw as a goal kick and a foul on Eden Hazard which, you guessed, it the ref saw as a slip.

Basel, the only team on this season's Champions League which sounds like a herb played in strip which resembled Crystal Palace and like their 1970s side which contained Peter Taylor, this opposition had a livewire winger in the form of Mohamed Salah, who, on two occasions threatened to break through Chelsea's rearguard.

Perhaps the frustration of failing to find the net in the opening 42 minutes was the reason Marco van Ginkel cut down Giovanni Sio. For once, the ref made the correct decision and issued the Dutchman a yellow card.

Or perhaps the yellow card gave the Blues added motivation, as three minutes later the home side actually had an effort on goal and scored.

Okay it was the last kick of the half but it was worth waiting for as Lampard fed the in-running Oscar who hit a smart low right-footer, from just inside the Basel penalty area, across the path of stranded Sommer and into the far corner of his net.

Notable starters for the Blues are a debut for midfielder Willan a summer signing from Anzhi Makhachkala and Samuel Eto'o also from Anzi makes his Champions League debut for the boys from SW6, while Marco Van Ginkel makes his first start after two substitute appearances.

Fernando Torres failed to make the bench - presumably kept back for sterner tasks ahead, Fulham at the weekend or possibly Swindon Town on Tuesday.

Remarkably Jose Mourinho failed to alter his side for the start the second half, perhaps challenging them to up the tempo and give the 40,358 brave souls who suffered that first-half dirge something to cheer about.

The Blues defeated the Swiss side 3-1 in last season's Europa Cup semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge to secure a 5-2 aggregate win, and on the bench that night was Oscar.

With one goal under his belt this time, Brazil midfielder produced the moment of the match 10 minutes into the second half.

Receiving the ball from Lampard wide on the left, just outside penalty area, the mercurial marvel curled an almost perfect right-footer over the Basel defence, over the prone Sommer. The ball looked as if it would nestle into the back of the goal, but but it clipped the crossbar instead.

Gary Cahill almost doubled the score but his powerful header from Lampard's corner, while on target went straight into Sommer's midriff.

Hazard flashed a solid left-foot over the vistors' crossbar following excellent set-up play by Oscar as the Blues attempted to piece the opposition's dogged defending.
Marcello Diaz received a yellow by upending Willian.

That was the last action for the Brazilian as Juan Mata entered the fray at his expense on 67 minutes.

Eto'o almost found a way through two minutes later by Sommer who smothered the ball before the Cameroon could swoop.

But while it remained only one-nil, Chelsea could be caught with a sucker counter-attack and that's exactly what happened on 71 minutes when Basel's best player Salah, who scored for them in that semi-final last season, scored again with an immaculate curling left-footer that left Petr Cech floundering.
Jose Mourinho, sensing that even a would be deemed a bad result decided to bring on striker Demba Ba and midfielder Mikel five minutes later.

The luckless Lampard and ineffectual Van Ginkel suffered the ignominy of the short walk back to the changing room.

Within seconds, Basel had a brilliant breakaway and could have scored if it wasn't for the long legs of Cahill who intercepted the pass to Marco Streller.
Streller then saw his shot deflected for a corner by Luiz as shell-shocked Chelsea disintegrated in front of their fans eyes.

From the resultant kick captain Streller glanced home with a near-post header past Cech to put the Swiss side into a sensational lead with eight mutes remaining.

They could have notched a third two minutes later as they carved through the Blues's ranks like a hot knife in butter. This time a face-saving block by Cahill preserved the one-goal deficit.

Not even four minutes of added time could see the Blues claw their way back into the match and the Blues players slumped off the pitch with their legs between their tails.

Teams:
Chelsea,Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, Luiz, Lampard, Oscar, Van Ginkel, Hazrad, Willan, Cahill, Eto'o
Subs: Schwarzer, Mata, Mikel, De Bruyne, Ba, Terry, Azpilicueta

FC Basel 1893
Sommer, Streller, Ivanovic, Stocker, Voser, Schar, Safari, Frei, Diaz, Salah, Sio
Subs: Vailati, Philipp Degen, Ajeti, David Degen, Delgardo, Sauropod, Xhaka

Referee: Daniele Orsato, Italy