London, Sept 12: After winning the Europa League with Porto last season, Andre Villas-Boas makes the step up to the continent's biggest stage when his new team Chelsea launches its Champions League campaign against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.
In taking the job at Stamford Bridge this summer, Villas-Boas acknowledged that bringing European success to Chelsea was high up on billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich's wishlist.
The closest Chelsea has come to lifting the Champions League for the first time was in 2008, when the team lost to Manchester United on penalties in the final in Moscow, but the English club is again likely to be among the challengers to Barcelona's title this season.
“If you take the European trophy, of course it is a dream to everybody but it's the most difficult trophy to win when you see the level of the other European teams as they are, and it's going to be a massive challenge again,” said Villas-Boas, who is the youngest coach to win a European trophy. “We just have to go step by step on it ... we have to focus on getting the first three points before going to Valencia.”
Valencia should be Chelsea's biggest rival in Group E and the Spanish team, which has opened up its La Liga campaign two straight wins, visits Belgian team Genk in the other pool match.
Spain striker Roberto Soldado has been the key to Valencia's early success this season, having scored four goals so far.
“I don't know where my ceiling is and I don't want to know; the only thing I want is to keep growing as a player,” Soldado said.
While one Spanish striker is in stellar form, the same can't be said of another in Chelsea's squad—Fernando Torres.
Signed in January for a club-record 50 million pounds (then $81 million), Torres has failed to regain the form that made him such a success in the Premier League with Liverpool two or three years ago.
He was dropped by Villas-Boas for Saturday's 2-1 victory at Sunderland, which maintained Chelsea's unbeaten start to the Premier League, with Daniel Sturridge beginning in his place and scoring.
With Didier Drogba unlikely to be fit for the Leverkusen match, Sturridge could again start up front with Nicolas Anelka and former Valencia winger Juan Mata in a three-pronged strike force.
“The competition for places is very tough in the squad and the manager has shown huge faith in me to put me in the team,” said Sturridge, an England Under-21 player.
Villas-Boas will be taking charge of a team for the first time in a Champions League fixture, with Chelsea now rightly regarded as a giant in Europe after making at least the semifinals in six of the last eight seasons.
Leverkusen, Champions League runner-up in 2002, has won three of its opening five matches in the Bundesliga and has former Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack in its ranks.
“Leverkusen have this strong emotional impact of being present in the Champions League final and always wanting to perform well,” Villas-Boas said.
“They lost (Arturo) Vidal, of course, to Juventus but have again good quality players.”
Genk has qualified for the group stage of the Champions League for the second time, and is in midtable in the Belgian league after winning two of its first six games. AP
