Musselwhite's homecoming can't hide the gulf

Stuart Musselwhite knows every corridor of the Drogba Arena. Four games, two goals and a fistful of trophies in his time at Chelsea, and now the 21-year-old left winger comes back wearing the yellow and black of Vitesse. "You don't forget a place like that," he said this week. "But I've got a job to do."

He will find the scale of it waiting for him when the two sides meet in the UEFA Champions League on 22 January. Chelsea sit third in the 36-team table on 15 points, five wins and one defeat from six, with a goal difference of plus fourteen. Vitesse are ninth on 11 points, three wins, two draws and one defeat, and their plus three goal difference tells you how hard they have had to scrape. A top-eight finish means skipping the knockout play-off round, and the Dutch side are still very much alive in that fight — but only just.

The history is no kinder. The clubs have met twice, both in March 2039, and Chelsea won 6-0 in Arnhem and 4-0 at home. Ten goals, none conceded. This is not a rivalry; it is a lesson, and Vitesse know it.

Chelsea's own form has a bruise on it after Rotherham United ended their unbeaten league season 2-1 on 5 January, but they answered that by beating Aston Villa 2-0 in the Carabao Cup today. The champions' depth is the real weapon here. Jairzinho is out with a damaged achilles tendon, and the fitness report is a worry — Júnior at 75 per cent, Howard Parkins at 67, and the great Lionel Messi, still striding through games at 63 per cent condition, will need managing. Yet even a tired Chelsea look a class above.

Watch the duel out wide. Messi, average rating 7.81, against Vitesse right-back Zsolt Horváth on 6.84. The numbers say Messi's dribbling against Horváth's tackling is a mismatch, and the pitch will confirm it. On the other side, Stuart Musselwhite — 17 pace, 15 acceleration — runs at Norberto Pico, and that is Vitesse's one honest hope: get the old boy running at his former club and ask questions.

Vitesse's danger man is Emanuel Martey, three goals in his last four games and three clear-cut chances made, while Iliass Guennouni pulls the strings from deep. But Massimo Straalman is labouring at 6.43 over his last three, and Marcel Hering carries a 68 per cent condition into the tie. Chelsea's record against a 4-3-3 DM Wide is frankly absurd: 17 wins, one draw and one defeat in 19 games, a clear-cut chance against every 570 minutes. Vitesse have never faced anything like it.

Musselwhite will walk out to the roar, shake a few familiar hands, and then the real business begins. The old boy returns — but the gulf remains.