PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: NAPOLI V CHELSEA

CHELSEA STATS
Chelsea have won six and lost four of our last 16 away games in the Champions League. In the knockout stages it's two wins (FC Copenhagen and Liverpool), two draws (Barcelona and Juventus) and two defeats (Man Utd and Inter) from the last six away games.

Chelsea have only won once on Italian soil in 10 attempts.

The Blues have topped our group seven times in the last nine campaigns. We have never failed to progress to the Champions League knockout stages.

Chelsea's away record against Italian teams
1965/66	Roma	D 0-0	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round
1965/66	AC Milan	L 1-2	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup third round
1965/66	AC Milan	D 1-1	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup third round play-off (won on toss of coin after extra time)
1997/98	Vicenza	L 0-1	European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final
1999/00	AC Milan	D 1-1	Champions League first group stage
1999/00	Lazio	D 0-0	Champions League second group stage
2003/04	Lazio	W 4-0	Champions League group stage
2008/09	Roma	L 1-3	Champions League group stage
2008/09	Juventus	D 2-2	Champions League round of 16
2009/10	Inter	L 1-2	Champions League round of 16

Chelsea's last ten years in Europe
2001/02 Uefa Cup - second round
2002/03 Uefa Cup - first round
2003/04 Champions League - semi-final
2004/05 Champions League - semi-final
2005/06 Champions League - round of 16
2006/07 Champions League - semi-final
2007/08 Champions League - runners-up
2008/09 Champions League - semi-final
2009/10 Champions League - round of 16
2010/11 Champions League - quarter-final

Chelsea's overall record in European competition is played 179, won 94 drawn 49, lost 36. This is our 15th season in succession in Europe and 10th in the Champions League.

Tonight is our 112th match in the Champions League including qualifying games. We have won 56 of our 111 games, drawn 33 and lost 22.

Champions League group E fixtures
Sep 13	Bayer Leverkusen (h)	W 2-0
Sep 28	Valencia (a)	D 1-1
Oct 19	KRC Genk (h)	W 5-0
Nov 1	KRC Genk (a)	D 1-1
Nov 23	Bayer Leverkusen (a)	L 1-2
Dec 6	Valencia (h)	W 3-0

Champions League scorers
Drogba 3, Ramires 2, Torres 2, Ivanovic 1, Kalou 1, Lampard 1, D Luiz 1, Mata 1, Meireles 1. Total 13

Last six results
Jan 14	Sunderland (h)	W 1-0
Jan 21	Norwich (a)	D 0-0
Jan 31	Swansea (a)	D 1-1
Feb 5	Manchester United (h)	D 3-3
Feb 11	Everton (a)	L 0-2
Feb 18	Birmingham (FA Cup h)	D 1-1

 

MILESTONES
Chelsea's next win will be the 2000th in our history in all competitions.

If selected, Frank Lampard will play his 100th career match in Uefa competition for West Ham and Chelsea.

Congratulations to Branislav Ivanovic who celebrates his 28th birthday tomorrow (Wednesday).

NAPOLI STATS
Founded 1926

Major honours
2 Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990
1 Italian Cups in 1962, 1976 and 1987
1 Italian Super Cup in 1990
1 Uefa Cup in 1989

Last ten league seasons
2001/02	61	5th	Serie B
2002/03	45	16th	Serie B
2003/04	56	14th	Serie B (relegated to Serie C1 after bankruptcy)
2004/05	61	3rd	Serie C1
2005/06	68	1st	Serie C1
2006/07	79	2nd	Serie B
2007/08	50	8th	Serie A
2008/09	46	12th	Serie A
2009/10	59	6th	Serie A
2010/11	70	3rd	Serie A

Since returning to European competition after 13 years in 2008, Napoli have gone 11 matches unbeaten at Stadio San Paulo. The last foreign side to win in Naples was Eintracht Frankfurt in December 1994.

Napoli are unbeaten at home in 2012 and have only lost one at San Paulo (to Roma in December) in their last 13 matches in all competitions.

Last season Napoli competed in the Europa League and were eliminated by Villarreal in the last 32 knockout round.

Their overall record against English teams is two wins, three draws and three defeats. They have never lost at home to an English side.

Napoli have won 41 and lost 25 of their 97 games in Uefa competition although tonight will only be their 13th match in the European Cup/Champions League.

Napoli's home record against English teams
1966/67	Burnley	D 0-0	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup round of 16
1968/69	Leeds United	W 2-0	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup second round
2010/11	Liverpool	D 0-0	Europa League group stage
2011/12	Manchester City	W 2-1	Champions League group stage

Ten-year European record
2001/02 - Did not qualify
2002/03 - Did not qualify
2003/04 - Did not qualify
2004/05 - Did not qualify
2005/06 - Did not qualify
2006/07 - Did not qualify
2007/08 - Did not qualify
2008/09 - Uefa Cup second qualifying round (having qualified as Intertoto Cup winners)
2009/10 - Did not qualify
2010/11 - Europa League round of 32

Italy's third largest stadium, San Paulo, has a Champions League capacity of 60,240. Their crowds on group home games were 46,747 (Villarreal) and 60,074 (Bayern Munich) and 57,575 (Manchester City).

 

Champions League group A fixtures
Sep 14	Manchester City (a)	D 1-1
Sep 27	Villarreal (h)	W 2-0
Oct 18	Bayern Munich (h)	D 1-1
Nov 2	Bayern Munich (a)	L 2-3
Nov 22	Manchester City (h)	W 2-1
Dec 7	Villarreal (a)	W 2-0

Champions League scorers
Cavani 4 (1 pen), Fernández 2, Hamšík 2, Inler 1, own goal 1. Total 10

Last six results
Jan 29	Genoa (a)	L 2-3
Feb 1	Cesena (h)	D 0-0
Feb 5	AC Milan (a)	D 0-0
Feb 9	Siena (Coppa Italia semi-final first leg)	L 1-2
Feb 13	Chievo (h)	W 2-0
Feb 17	Fiorentina (a)	W 3-0

 

 

2011/12 Serie A table
Top		Pld	Gd	Pts
1	AC Milan	24	27	50
2	Juventus	23	22	49
3	Udinese	24	12	42
4	Lazio	24	9	42
5	Roma	24	10	38
6	Napoli	24	17	37
7	Inter	24	1	36
8	Palermo	24	3	34

 

Edinson Cavani is Napoli's leading scorer in Serie A with 15 goals followed by Marek Hamšík six, with Ezequiel Lavezzi and Goran Pandev with five.


Manager Walter Mazzarri
Days in charge: 869
Played 116
Won 53
Drawn 38
Lost 25

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Referee Carlos Velasco Carballo, his assistant referees and additional assistant referees, are from Spain. If you like omens, he was in charge of Chelsea's 2-0 win away to Spartak Moscow last season.

OTHERWISE ENGAGED
Napoli's coach Walter Mazzarri will serve a touchline ban in both legs.

Champions League bookings list
Three yellow cards in the Champions League will result in a one-match ban.
Napoli Cannavaro 3 (already served suspension), Aronica 2, Maggio 2, Campagnaro 1, Cavani 1, Dzemaili 1, Fernández 1, Inler 1, Lavezzi 1, Zúñiga 1.
Chelsea D Luiz 2, Meireles 2, Cole 1, Ivanovic 1, Kalou 1, Malouda 1, Mata 1, Romeu 1, Torres 1.

Napoli v Chelsea