Gianluca Vialli used Chelsea's arrival in Holland yesterday to play down persistent reports that the club are on the verge of agreeing a deal for PSV Eindhoven's £22 million-rated striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.
"The asking price at the moment is out of our league," said the manager. Which begs the question: what league do Chelsea want to be in?
Recent struggles against Marseille have only underlined the view of Feyenoord's well-versed coach Leo Beenhakker. "For me, Chelsea are missing something," he said. "There is a gap between Chelsea and teams like Lazio, Barcelona and Bayern Munich."
And one area of deficiency is up front. Chris Sutton, Tore Andre Flo and Gianfranco Zola have not scored in the Premiership since January 4th. And a sharper attack in the Champions League would have eased Chelsea's path to the quarter-finals.
Instead they are sweating on winning their Group D match tonight or, failing that, beating Lazio at home in a fortnight to qualify. Two draws might also be enough.
With a predator such as Van Nistelrooy in the side all that nailbiting might have been prevented and Chelsea's chances of winning this tournament improved. But Vialli remains unconvinced. "Prices are going crazy. We are looking for good players but they have to be affordable."
Presumably players such as Sutton, who cost a mere £10 million but cannot score. Surely for Chelsea to reach a higher plane they must pay the going rate for players who can deliver the goods.
What Chelsea need tonight is the tactical discipline and concentration that earned draws at Milan and Lazio, otherwise Ed de Goey will be in for a busy return to his former club.
For this is not the same Feyenoord crushed 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in November. Then the Dutch were undone by player disagreements and Beenhakker's romantic notion of fielding four strikers. A 4-4-2 pragmatism has since tightened up their play, securing them four points out of six against Lazio. The Dutch also need victory tonight to go through. It should make for an exciting game.
Dutch police have said that the security operation for tonight's match will be treated as a practice run for their plans to prevent hooliganism during this summer's European championship. With the Euro 2000 final taking place in Rotterdam, along with group matches, the police are keen to show the tournament organisers their ability to deal with potentially volatile matches.
Tonight's Group D tie is seen as such a match. Both teams have notorious hooligan followings and Feyenoord, who have one of the most organised gangs in Holland, have a long history of clashing with English clubs. Chelsea fans were involved in incidents a fortnight ago in Marseille's stadium, where police used tear gas and batons.
Lazio face a battle to reach the quarter-finals when they face Marseille in tonight's other Group D game. Sven Goran Eriksson's side must win their remaining two games to be sure of progressing to the last eight. Eriksson has been tight-lipped about his starting line-up, but is expected to name a full strength side.
Real Madrid ignored the distraction of striker Nicolas Anelka refusing to train for three days to remain totally focussed for their Group C clash with Dynamo Kiev. It is a must-win match for Real, who are level on points with Kiev in a two-way battle to join Bayern Munich in the last eight.
Real Madrid have revenge in mind for last season's Champions League quarter-final defeat, when Dynamo Kiev managed to draw 1-1 in the Bernabeu stadium and then won the return leg 2-0 in Ukraine.
In addition to the recent rivalry which has built up between Real and Dynamo, the home side's convincing 3-1 win over struggling Seville in the Spanish league on Saturday was described by club coach Vicente Del Bosque as the ideal remedy to restore morale after last week's humiliation in Munich.
