Blues stunned as Basel win at the Bridge

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Chelsea 1 Basel 2

Jose Mourinho’s first Champions League game in his second spell as Chelsea manager ended in miserable failure as Basel fought back to win at Stamford Bridge.

Oscar capped an outstanding individual performance with a fine low strike to put the Blues ahead in the final minute of the first half.

He almost added a second when a glorious curled shot hit the bar.

But Chelsea, who were playing their first Champions League game under Mourinho since a dismal 1-1 draw with Rosenburg in 2007, were stunned by Mohamed Salah’s strike and Marco Streller’s header in the final 20 minutes.

They failed to muster a shot on target until Oscar’s fine finish.

Eden Hazard and Gary Cahill both had efforts blocked and a Frank Lampard effort was deflected wide.

Apart from that, and an early goalmouth melee, the Swiss side’s 4-5-1 set-up kept the Blues at bay with the minimum of fuss.

Hazard and debutant Willian both  looked lively, while Salah was a constant threat on the break for the visitors.

But the hosts went ahead with their best move of the half when David Luiz brought the ball out of defence and found Lampard, whose pass enabled Oscar to fire the ball  into the bottom corner.

With Basel having to show more enterprise after the break, Chelsea began to find much more space.

Oscar hit the bar with a majestic 25-yard strike, Hazard blazed over after a flowing move and Branislav Ivanovic went close with a header.

But Basel, beaten 5-2 on aggregate by Chelsea in last season’s Europa League semi-final, levelled with 19 minutes left.

A flowing move on the left created space for Streller to find Salah and his measured strike easily beat Petr Cech.

And Streller was left unmarked at a corner to net the winner.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Cech; Ivanovic, Cole, Luiz, Cahill; Lampard (Ba 76), van Ginkel (Mikel 75); Oscar, Willian (Mata 67), Hazard; Eto’o.
Subs not used: Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Terry, De Bruyne.

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