01/11/2005  Real Betis 1 Chelsea 0
 
Chelsea crashed to a shock defeat against struggling Real Betis to leave their hopes of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League on hold.

Jose Mourinho's men have now failed to win on their travels in this competition for more than a year and they were undone once more by an ordinary Betis side currently fourth from bottom in La Liga.

A first-half goal from the left boot of substitute Dani put Chelsea to the sword in Seville after the jittery Blues defence had failed to deal with Capi's cross and a clever dummy from Edu left William Gallas flatfooted and confused.

Victory would have given Chelsea a place in the knockout stages but in reality it would have been an injustice on the home side which had the better of the first half despite losing top scorer Ricardo Oliveira through injury in the 24th minute.

The enforced change brought its own luck with Oliveira's replacement, Dani, striking the winner with admirable calm just five minutes after being introduced into the action.

Betis are now just one point behind the Londoners who may need to win both games to ensure qualification.

Mourinho must have been relishing a return to purely football matters when the game got underway after his verbal volleyball with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had once again overshadowed this Group G clash.

Ever since Mourinho arrived at Stamford Bridge, his penchant for team rotation had served him well but the inclusion of Eidur Gudjohnsen in attack at the expense of Didier Drogba was a baffling one.

Betis' hopes of causing something of an upset appeared to have evaporated in the first half when Nano was replaced by Paulo Castellini and Oliveira was stretchered off under a challenge from Ricardo Carvalho.

In the 28th minute though Betis were in front when a low cross from Capi evaded the Chelsea defenders and after Gallas had been fooled by Edu's dummy, substitute Dani placed the ball under Petr Cech.

Betis were now controlling proceedings in the midfield and for once Lampard and his cohorts were out thought and out fought - a rare occurrence at any level since Mourinho took charge last year.

In the 39th minute though Chelsea squandered a golden opportunity to level the scores when Gudjohnsen sliced the Betis defence open with a perfect pass to Cole.

However, the England international's shot was well saved by Pedro Contreras to maintain the home side's slender advantage.

Chelsea had been second best for much of the opening half with Arjen Robben particularly disappointing.

The Dutchman had failed to make an impact on either wing and he was clearly not a patch on the player which terrorised defences last term.

However, he tried his luck with a long-range effort after exchanging a clever one-two with Essien on the edge of the Betis penalty area, and brought a fine save from Contreras.

Gudjohnsen wasted a fine chance to restore parity when he was put clear of the home defence by John Terry but the normally deadly Icelandic striker fired high over the bar with just Contreras to beat.

Dani's goal was the first the Londoners had conceded in the competition this season and Mourinho had every right to be appalled by their first-half display.

Chelsea's normally accurate passing had disintegrated once more as the game wore on and a wayward ball from Essien was greeted with anger by Mourinho who then gestured to Damien Duff to get ready for action.

In the 65th minute Mourinho played his final card - bringing on fit again Duff for the out of sorts Robben.

The home crowd were now beginning to sense a victory that would leave them just a point behind their opponents in Group G.

It was difficult to see where Chelsea would find the inspiration to overcome the deficit and such was the frustration that Drogba was also shown the yellow card following a face-to-face confrontation with Betis keeper Contreras.

In the 74th minute, Chelsea were desperately unlucky not to equalise when Wright-Phillips crossed only to see Essien's shot strike both posts before rolling into the arms of the Betis 'keeper.

Chelsea's desperation was such that Mourinho asked defender Terry to play up front in the final 15 minutes but it was all to no avail as the Blues failed once more to succeed away from home in Europe.