Gallas saves the day for Chelsea

Ranieri pushed the disappointing Geremi out to the right flank and introduced Damien Duff on the left but it was the arrival of Frank Lampard in the heart of the midfield that suddenly enhanced Chelsea's passing game.

Lampard had started all of Chelsea's previous matches this season and was clearly disappointed to find himself on the substitutes' bench when Ranieri unveiled his starting XI for the first prestigious Champions League date.

"I don't think the manager would want me at the club if I wasn't disappointedto be left out," he said. "I respect him and all the top class players around me but I want to play in the Champions League."

That, of course, will become a familiar cry as the season unfolds. Ranieri is careful in public not to advertise a dressing room pecking order but if last night's starting line up is his first choice, it would suggest that Lampard, Duff, John Terry, Joe Cole, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - all on the bench - will be among those complaining about a lack of European football this season.

"I don't have a first XI," Ranieri insisted. "All my players are first XI."

The success he has treading the selection tightrope will help shape Chelsea's season. Many managers would not relish the challenge of trying to satisfy the egos of 20 or so topclass players who all believe themselves worthy of a regular place in the team. "I'm a lucky man because I have such fantastic players," he smiled.

They didn't look so hot yesterday when Abramovich and his entourage might have been expecting a bit more pomp and majesty. Hernan Crespo and Adrian Mutu squandered chances and Juan Veron looked illatease as the cutting edge in midfield.

The one really encouraging element of Chelsea's first half was the contribution of Claude Makelele. Neat, strong and purposeful, he held the midfield together and produced the best pass of the half with a weighted ball into the path of England defender Wayne Bridge. His crisp centre from the left was well held by Jaromir Blazek.

The Sparta goalkeeper was busier after the interval, but had no chance of stopping the Chelsea goal when it finally arrived five minutes from the end. The Czechs failed to clear a Chelsea corner and when Duff returned the ball across the face of their goal, Hasselbaink touched it on to Gallas whose low, close-range shot billowed into the net.

The fact that a centre-half was in place to score tells you all you need to know about Chelsea's intentions. "My philosophy is always to try to win," said Ranieri. "Had we drawn I'd have been happy, too, because we'd tried to win."