Well-travelled in his time, columnist and former Blues star Pat Nevin has had smoother passages than his one from Madrid last week. Chelsea fans kept him sane.

Could this be the best week of the season so far? Well there may have been better performances than the one against Atlético Madrid and even the showdown with Manchester United could hardly be described as a classic, but we are through qualification on the Champions League and there is clear blue water between us and the rest in the Premier League.

Many words will be written about the United game, but I will not bore you with my thoughts on that…mostly because I can't. It is a long story but I got the score on my mobile standing beside my car, or what was left of it after a crash that wrote it off.

Not my fault I can assure you and the other vehicle was similarly trashed but most importantly no real injuries to speak of for any parties involved. They did however wonder why I was smiling so broadly beside the carnage, well the text that we had scored via JT was enough to get me grinning gormlessly whatever the circumstances.

So great result and it all looked tight in the highlights but I was more involved with the trip to Madrid during the week. As mentioned last week I travelled over for the game to cover it for BBC Radio 5 Live. Certainly the team didn't pay at full throttle for the entire 90 minutes, but they looked as if they were doing just enough to secure a 0-0 draw.

Then of course the Spaniards had to ruin it all by scoring and Didier had to put his foot on the gas a couple of times (actually I should stop using these driving metaphors after my recent prang).

In the end the 2-2 scoreline and the team expending only as much energy as necessary left them fit and well to match up to Manchester United four days later. This is of course the point, it isn't laziness, it isn't a lack of desire, it is just good sense for the players not to run themselves to exhaustion every single game because of the effect it will have as the season progresses.

The only downside is of course that the travelling support, who in this case had made it all the way to Madrid, at no little cost, might have felt just a little short changed by the entertainment on offer. They might have but most of those I talked to didn't, they seemed to fully understand that it was all about getting the job done. In fact the fans I met were in remarkably cheery fettle considering what some had gone through.

Now let me get this straight, I like Spain, I like the Spanish people, so much so that I regularly holiday in that country, so this is hard to write…the treatment of our fans by many of the locals was bordering on a disgrace. It is something that is not often commented upon, as English travelling football fans are generally held in regard somewhere considerably lower than a snake's belly, but good decent fans were treated once more like animals.

The policing after the game was heavy handed and sometimes bordering on gratuitously violent on a number of perfectly well-behaved Chelsea fans. Okay yes, I know they do not always behave impeccably and when they do not I have precious little sympathy, but it isn't right to just allow the local plod to lash out without fear of recourse, whenever the spirit takes them.

Chelsea fans are not the only ones getting treated this way, so let's not be paranoid, some Everton supporting friends of mine had eerily similar stories after their recent visit to Benfica. Once again my visits to Portugal in the past have always been a total delight but I will see for myself if this abusive treatment of travelling fans is endemic when I make the trip to Porto later in the month to see Chelsea play out the rest of this group.

I am sorry if this sounds like a rant and many travelling Chelsea fans have told me they have encountered much worse, but it really isn't highlighted enough because the British media prefer a story about a ruck caused by 'our' fans more than the ill treatment they receive.

It all left the ignorant, arrogant treatment of me at the airport by various staff, including that of a certain budget airline - no names but they have a very orange livery - rather pale in comparison.

Actually there was one particular guard flouncing around in customs, clearly still upset that General Franco isn't around any more, who deliberately made me miss not one, but two flights I was booked on. Give some people a badge or a uniform and they want to relieve the rest of society of their civil rights at a stroke.

All of this was forgotten because of the stoical, fun and friendly Chelsea fans, particularly those I met in the airport while an assortment of flights back to Blighty were delayed. I would just like to say that every one that I met was a credit to this football club.

You do not often hear that said about Chelsea fans, but I reckon it should be, because travelling is not cheap, the games aren't always fantastic and the welcome isn't always friendly, but they are always there nonetheless, so from me and from the club…thank you.

Last week I asked a particularly sneaky question, which trophy was won in 1985? Well to the pedants among you, the precise answer was that the club won no trophy in 1985, but did pick up the Full Members Cup at Wembley in season 1985/6 (pictured above). So either answer was considered correct, none or the FM Cup. The winner picked at random was Carolyn Cheyney from Suffolk and she will receive the Chelsea Here, Chelsea There book asap.

This week to stand a chance of winning a copy of the DVD review of last season, could you tell me why Chelsea fans were treated so badly in Madrid. The most amusing answer wins the prize. Answers as ever to pat.nevin@chelseafc.com. And if you come up with a question I use on this page I will at least give you a name check right here.