AVB puts boot into 'Man City-supporting' media (and Gary Neville)

Andre Villas-Boas steered Chelsea into the Champions League knockout stages - then launched into an astonishing rant at his critics.

A brilliant brace from Didier Drogba and another goal from Ramires clinched top spot in Group E for the Blues and took the pressure off the coach.

But Villas-Boas then claimed the English football media is more desperate for Manchester City to qualify from their group than for Chelsea to advance from theirs.

The Blues boss said: "I just think the reaction has been over the top.

"There's only one team in the country at the moment, and that's Man City.

"I hope they qualify, sincerely. But the attitude has been if they qualify they qualify, and if they don't they don't. That's not the same as with us. I will never criticise your editorial choices, but it's the reality.

"People have taken stances that are out of this world. From criticising our players, from criticising our choices.

"From a Manchester United defender that says things like: 'I don't want to be one of the Chelsea players for this game. I couldn't play in this game. It's a difficult game to play in.' This is out of this world for me. I don't believe this.

"So this is a continuous persecution of Chelsea, continuous aggression of one club. We have become your target. We have to accept it.

"But you have to accept that today was a brilliant win. Tomorrow, it's unfortunate for you guys because you'll have to write about a brilliant win for Chelsea, qualifying first. It's a difficult win for everybody."

The 'United defender' line was a reference to Gary Neville, the former Old Trafford captain turned Sky Sports pundit, who had previously angered Villas-Boas with comments about defender David Luiz.

Villas-Boas also warned Frank Lampard, dropped for last night's win, that he faces a fight to get back into the Chelsea team.

The coach added: "There were inportant players left out, players of immense talent, not just Frank. Today's selection ended up like this. Frank has been in a fantastic moment and will continue to threaten for the starting line-up.

"He will be in contention to come back for Monday [when Chelsea play Manchester City]. He is one of the greatest players in the world, as you know.

"But we wanted to keep possession with our three midfield players, to bring it down and play it out from the back, more solid. That was our choice."

Drogba, meanwhile, later revealed that he was only 80 per cent fit going into the match. The striker said: "I am improving.

"I haven't played that much since the beginning of the season. But in the last few games I have managed to get more time on the pitch and it is helping me a lot.

"There was a lot of pressure but when you start the group stages there are four teams and you have to keep going to the last day.

"So we still had a chance to finish top. The pressure sometimes can be positive."

Chelsea skipper John Terry said: "We left it too late in the group, but we did the job. It was a good solid performance. The big man (Drogba) was fantastic. He held it up brilliantly."

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