Bridge fury over Schalke shaker

The defender flew home from Gelsenkirchen with bruises and swelling on his face after some rough treatment by Gerald Asamoah.

Bridge insisted he should have been better protected by officials and was almost forced to take matters into his own hands.

A row broke out near the end of the game as the left-back became tired of the battering he was getting from the Schalke hardman.

Bridge said: "I got a few elbows but I guess that is football. The linesman warned him a few times but that was about it.

"The worst thing was that he [the referee] didn't do anything about it. He decided to let it go and maybe he should look at his game."

The Swiss officials let quite a lot go in a game from which Chelsea were lucky to come away with a point.

But the draw came at a cost as goalkeeper Petr Cech had to be withdrawn at half-time with a calf problem and left the stadium on crutches.

Manager Avram Grant said: "He could not continue in the second half. How bad the injury is we need to wait and see.

"It is a calf injury and I asked the doctor-if he could continue and he couldn't. But Carlo Cudicini came on and played well."

The result leaves Chelsea one win away from qualification for the next stage with two games to play, but Bridge admitted they have set their sights a lot higher.

Three semi-finals in the past four years have left most at Stamford Bridge frustrated and the defender does not want to endure any more suffering.

He said: "The Champions League is definitely one trophy we want. We have gone far in it before and it has been quite painful. Getting to a final and losing would be painful enough but reaching the semi-finals and not getting there is even worse so we want to make sure we go all the way this season."