The Chelsea Legends starting line-up for this afternoon’s clash against Liverpool Legends has been confirmed.
A fixture that is 20 years in he making celebrates a memorable 2004/05 season for Chelsea where they claimed their first-ever Premier League title – a first league championship in 50 years – and the League Cup having beaten Liverpool in the final.
That season also featured a Champions League semi-final between the two teams, although the Blues were beaten on that occasion.
Still, it was an historic campaign for Chelsea and as old rivalries will be reignited on Saturday at Anfield, Carlo Cudicini, Gary Cahill, Ramires and Florent Malouda were the first four names to be confirmed in the legends squad that is to be managed by Roberto Di Matteo.
A week later, the squad doubled in size as Ryan Bertrand, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Jody Morris and Frank Sinclair were all added.
Gianfranco Zola, whose final competitive match for Chelsea came against Liverpool in 2003, was among the next batch to be announced alongside Tiago, Jon Harley and Michael Mancienne.
At the beginning of March, Claude Makelele, William Gallas, Robert Huth and Jose Bosingwa joined the Legends team, swiftly followed by Eidur Gudjohnsen, Jesper Gronkjaer, John Mikel Obi and Loic Remy.
It has since been announced that Chelsea Women great Katie Chapman will be taking part. In fact, she and Liverpool Women ambassador and former player Natasha Dowie will make history at Anfield this afternoon by becoming the first women to feature in the annual legends game.
Chelsea Legends starting lineup
Chelsea Legends XI: Cudicini; Bosingwa, Huth, Gallas, Babayaro; Mikel, Wise, Makelele; Ramires, Hasselbaink, Malouda
Subs: Green, Chapman, Remy, Sinclair, Gudjohnsen, Zola, Harley, Mancienne, Smith
