Juventus 2-2 Chelsea (Chelsea win 3-2 on aggregate)

Michael Essien may never be able to have a career as a public speaker, yet his influence on a Chelsea team packed full of internationals continues to do the talking for him.

Put Essien in front of an interviewer's microphone and he is undoubtedly the quietest man in world football. When he is on a football pitch however, it is difficult not to notice him, thanks to the big impact he has on matches.

For the past six months, Chelsea have struggled to express themselves with the Ghana international in the treatment room due to a severe knee injury.

They may have won six straight matches since Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked, but that didn't stop new manager Guus Hiddink giving Essien his first start since recovering full fitness.

One full game for the reserves and a gentle run out as a substitute against Coventry on Saturday meant he went came into this huge game against Juventus undercooked — but it was nevertheless his crucial goal which turned up the heat on the Italians and turned the tie in Chelsea's favour.

Their participation in the Champions League was on the line after Vincenzo Iaquinta had cancelled out the side's one-goal advantage from the first leg inside 19 minutes.

Juventus looked certain to go into the break with the momentum on their side, only for Essien to react first when Frank Lampard's deflected shot rebounded off the bar and he bundled the ball over the line.

It may have been a simple task to score from just six yards out but his ability to win the race against fitter opponents to convert the rebound was remarkable.

There are many footballers with bigger egos than talent in the English game who would have milked the moment for all its worth — and kept it going in the post match interviews afterwards.

Essien's main priority though was to pay respects to the club physio Thierry Laurent, the man who helped him overcome the worst injury of his career.

The 26-year-old ran straight to the Chelsea dug-out where Laurent was sitting and gave the Frenchman a big hug. In front of the international media he was back in shy mode and could barely be heard, but his message of gratitude for Laurent's help still came across loud and clear.

Essien said: “He has been with me for the past six months and I had to go hug him to thank him for what he did for me. I'm fit now, but I was happy to be picked in the first 11 and I think I did a good job. We didn't get off to a good start, but we just kept going and had to believe we could get back into the game — and we did.

“Scoring just before half-time was a big moment for us. As soon as I saw the ball come back off the bar I knew I had to go for it.”

This refusal to seek the limelight ensures Essien will perhaps never get the recognition he deserves, apart that is from his manager and team-mates.

Midfielder Michael Ballack said: “It was a big contribution from Michael. He is a big player and it's a shame that he was out for six months. It is fantastic that he could score for us in his first game back.”

Hiddink added: “He is fit, although not game-fit for 90 minutes at this high-paced level, but we chose to bring him and play him.

“I wanted to be pro-active in playing him. His contribution to the team was huge, not just with his goal.”

His strike was all the more crucial as it came just three minutes after Chelsea had been robbed of an equaliser when the match officials failed to spot that Didier Drogba's free kick had crossed the line before keeper Gianluigi Buffon clawed the ball back out.

Things still threatened to go against the visitors after a fading Essien was replaced by Juliano Belletti in the 66th minute.

The Brazilian's first meaningful contribution was to inexplicably handle Alessandro Del Piero's free kick in the area and the Italian restored Juventus' lead from the penalty spot.

It was all the more unexpected as only five minutes earlier Claudio Ranieri's side had virtually given up after Giorgio Chiellini was sent off for two yellow card offences.

Chelsea did look a bit rattled despite their numerical advantage, however Belletti soon made up for his error by crossing for Drogba to score a second equaliser seven minutes from time and finally end the opposition's resistance.

While Chelsea's performance wasn't the most impressive, the fighting spirit on show will still send out a warning to their Champions League rivals.

Drogba, who now has four goals in his last five games, believes it took falling behind for Chelsea to show their best qualities.

He said: “We didn't really know what to do, if we should attack or not, so we played counter-attacking football. When they scored, we decided to play our game so I think it was a good thing they scored.

“You always want to start out to win the game, but at some point it was difficult to take a decision and I think the goal really helped us.
“It's a good result. The draw is like a victory to us. We wanted to come here and qualify and that's what we have done.”