Ivanovic: Our defending has to improve

Branislav Ivanovic has admitted Chelsea’s defending must improve if they are to have a serious chance of defending their European crown.

For all their attacking ability, the Blues have looked vulnerable at the back at times during recent matches.

They cannot afford to be sloppy in Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk, who beat them 2-1 in Ukraine a fortnight ago.

“If we’re going to be successful we’ll be defensively good and this is part of our game that we need to improve,” said Ivanovic.

“I’m sure we can create chances against every team and score the goals. The question is about our defending but we know this and are going to work harder on our defensive line.

“It’s important to be solid and compact, in the group stage especially. When we play like that we will be successful because we will create chances for sure.”

Shakhtar proved in the last encounter between the two teams that they too boast plenty of attacking talent.

They were also helped by an early goal – something Ivanovic says Chelsea are determined not to let happen again.

“We conceded at the beginning and we lost our organisation a little bit,” he recalled.

“But the positive is that we know where we made the mistakes and how we have to play and what we have to stop.

“We have to stop the counter attack, because they are one of the best counter-attacking teams in the group.”

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