Lampard and Ballack unite to give Chelsea treble hope

LONDON (Reuters) - Chelsea's rehabilitation from their League Cup final defeat by Tottenham Hotspur last week continued when they demolished Olympiakos Piraeus on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.

The fact that Olympiakos were woeful for most of a one-sided match in which Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 victory should not detract from the London side's outstanding performance on the night or their potential in this competition.

With Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack showing signs of gelling as an indomitable midfield force at last, with each scoring in the first half, Chelsea have emerged as serious contenders to lift the European Cup for the first time.

Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich would love nothing more than to watch his team win the trophy in May's final in Moscow and while Chelsea will not get carried away after beating a poor side they played excellent football.

The game was never likely to match the epic scale of Arsenal's 2-0 win over holders AC Milan on Tuesday but Chelsea left the Greek champions' hopes in ruins after establishing a 2-0 lead on the night and on aggregate inside 25 minutes.

Their third goal from Salomon Kalou just after the break sealed the victory and Chelsea were unlucky not to double their total by the end.

TREBLE CHANCE

Chelsea, and especially coach Avram Grant, were roundly criticised for their poor performance and his team selection at Wembley when they lost 2-1 to Spurs after extra time.
But Saturday's 4-0 win over West Ham United in the Premier League and Wednesday's victory keeps alive their chances of success in both competitions.

They also look set to reach the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday by beating Championship (second division) side Barnsley and the chance of a rare treble is very much alive.

The only blemish for Chelsea was the news that the ankle injury to goalkeeper Petr Cech in training on Tuesday could keep him sidelined for up to a month.

However his deputy Carlo Cudicini, who has just celebrated his 200th match for the club, is an outstanding replacement and showed his quality with an acrobatic late save on Wednesday.

Chelsea are one of three English clubs in the last eight, having joined Manchester United and Arsenal, while Liverpool, 2-0 ahead from their first leg against Inter Milan, should also go through when their tie is completed at San Siro next week.

Chelsea captain John Terry said he would rather not face an English team next while Grant added: "Whoever we play... will be a tough team. We came from a tough group and I don't see how any team in the quarter-finals cannot be a good team."

The Israeli also said he was delighted with the mature, patient waiting game Chelsea played on Wednesday.

They might well need more of the same to progress against far tougher opposition waiting in the wings.

The draw for the last eight and semi-finals takes place on March 14 with the final set for Moscow on May 21.