Chelsea may have been dire on the pitch following a shabby 0-0 draw against FC Copenhagen but Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti was delighted with his charges.
"We had 24 shots on goal," he said.
"All that was missing was a goal.
“The defence was good, the attack was good, but then again we did not need to score.”
“We scored two in Copenhagen - that was enough.
“The performance was good – I am happy.”
Well that’s okay then, The 36,454 fans that paid good money will be delighted that Ancelotti was not too bothered too.
“We did not want to take a risk,” he said as if to add salt to the wounds.
Perhaps any disgruntled supporter should claim compensation.
Ancelotti did admit that his team needed to “improve” if they are to win the Champions League.
“But this team is fresh and we can improve.
“We have a strong enough team to win. If we play at 100% we have a chance to win [The Champions League]”
It was exactly a year since Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan dumped Chelsea out of the Champions League.
“That year we were crying, this year we are smiling,” he said.
As if to show how confident he was, Ancelotti even tried to engage the press in a joke.
Speaking about leaving Torres on the bench, Ancelotti said: We had a big argument before the game – he wanted to play – he was changing my team sheet to put his name on it.”
However as if realizing that the assembled hacks needed assuaging more, Ancelotti confirmed that the three players he left on the bench, Torres, Essien and Malouda will all play against Manchester City on Sunday.
“I know the team for Manchester City,” he said.
Thinking ahead to Friday’s Champions League draw the Italian said: We are calm and quiet – let’s see who we get and take it from there – but Barcelona is a dangerous team.”