Camoranesi: Blues inferior without Jose

Claudio Ranieri - returning to Stamford Bridge for the first time since departing as Chelsea manager in 2004 - sends his new side into battle against the Blues in their Champions League last 16 first leg on Wednesday night, with opposite number Guus Hiddink taking charge of only his second game since arriving as temporary coach.

And while the Dutchman may have enjoyed a winning start to life with the west London outfit - winning 1-0 at Aston Villa - Argentine-born Italy international Camoranesi believes the Blues are no longer the imposing, unbeatable force they once were under Mourinho, and therefore can be beaten.

"Playing against an English club always generates problems due to their tremendous quality, but I am optimistic and I believe that we can succeed at Chelsea," he told skysports.com.

"This Chelsea is not the same as Mourinho's. Now they are no longer superior to us.

"Ranieri has done a lot of psychological work with us. He insists that Juve are better and that is possible to win the two matches. Claudio knows them perfectly from his time in London.

"The key of this match is to avoid letting Chelsea control the game. It's not easy to stop people like Lampard, Ballack or Deco, but in these rounds there are no easy matches.

"Juve have not come to London to defend, but I warn Chelsea they will have problems scoring against us. Our defensive line is better than any Premier League side.

"Scoring in London will be key for to us."

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Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.