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Chelsea face character test

Clare Lovell | May 05, 2004 17:29 IST

Chelsea face a test of character and nerve when they host free-scoring Monaco in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, needing to reverse a 3-1 deficit from the first leg.

They will take heart from the performance of underdogs Porto at Deportivo Coruna on Tuesday. The Portuguese side, whose coach Jose Mourinho is a front runner for Claudio Ranieri's job at Stamford Bridge next season, reached the final with a surprise 1-0 win after being held 0-0 at home.

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Chelsea have a tougher task attempting to stop Monaco, the Champions League's top scorers with 25 goals, finding the net. The Londoners must also snatch two goals themselves.

"It's a big test of the character of all the players," acting captain John Terry said after final training on Tuesday. "We'll find out how much each of us wants this."

The England defender will wear the captain's armband after Marcel Desailly was suspended for two games for elbowing prolific Monaco striker Fernando Morientes in the face during the first leg.

Desailly's France team mate Claude Makelele is also suspended after picking up a yellow card in the first leg.

Terry would miss the final in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on May 26 if he picked up another caution and Chelsea qualified but he said that threat would have no bearing on his performance.

"I will focus on tomorrow night's game and tomorrow night's game only," he said. "If a tackle's to be made, I'll make it."

Terry is likely to be kept busy after Monaco coach Didier Deschamps said his side would not sit back and defend their lead because they were by nature an attacking side.

The French side may be without injured striker Dado Prso, who scored the first goal in the Monaco leg, and left-sided midfielder Jerome Rothen. Both face fitness tests on Wednesday.


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