Branislav Ivanovic: I’m back in the game – and so are Chelsea

It is quite a statement by a player who admits he has been far from sturdy this season, but Branislav Ivanovic believes things have changed. “I am back,” the Chelsea right-back says of his recent stuttering form.

His next comment might appear to the seriousness of those words, but for the fact that it is delivered with a laugh – though that humour is perhaps an indication that things might finally be looking up for the 31-year-old and his team. Ivanovic is asked about stopping freewheeling Jamie Vardy at Leicester City tomorrow, and whether he might have to kick him.

“If this helps, yes!” the Serbia defender jokes. “Some of the strikers don’t like [it] when you kick [them]. You kill their confidence. Vardy at the moment is running a lot and is making the space for other players as well. They are confident. I think it will be very hard.”

It’s just as well, then, that Ivanovic feels Chelsea have their confidence back too. The defender is speaking after the 2-0 win over FC Porto, which probably explains that mood, but it’s also difficult to deny it was the side’s most complete display of the season.

The sense around the club is that this, at last, is a true turning point in a turbulent campaign. That is not just because of the bullishness of the performance.

It’s also because it was a genuine benchmark. Out of all that has gone wrong in this campaign for Chelsea, early Champions League elimination would have been a nadir, something from which they might not have been able to recover. That prospect has been banished. It’s something to build on, a real step forward – into the last 16.

“I think it [Porto] was a very important game for us,” Ivanovic says. “I think honestly the most important game this season so far. We came into the game very strong with a clear idea and were prepared for them playing with five at the back. I think the most important thing in the first half was to score the goal and make the pressure go away. Then we have the confidence to play well. I think we deserved to go through.”

Ivanovic also feels his performance was more deserving of a starting place in the team. Previously responsible for so many errors, the defender admits he’s been poor this season, and the drastic drop-off in his performance level has led many to wonder openly how he has kept his place in the team.

It has also led to questions over whether he will get a new contract. Ivanovic’s current deal is up at the end of the season, and Chelsea have yet to offer him an extension, despite the fact the defender can speak to other clubs in January. The club’s policy is also to offer only one-year deals to players over 30, which complicates any personal decision.

Ivanovic doesn’t feel that way. He wants to stay. “Honestly, I am so happy [here],” he says. “I am trying to do my best. I know I didn’t start the season well, but I am back. I hope the result will be good for the team. In that case, I will be good as well. I hope and I think we will have time to speak about my future.”

You only have to go back seven months to marvel at how quickly the game can change. At the end of April, Ivanovic had been a key player in the title charge as Chelsea won 3-1 at relegation-threatened Leicester to go within three points of sealing the trophy. The champions are now near the bottom, trying to topple a Leicester side stunningly eyeing their title.

From what Ivanovic says about the Midlands side, though, that upturn wasn’t totally unexpected. “My memories about our last game there is we were 1-0 down in the first half and it was a very difficult game for us. We know what we can expect there and and it is a real hard game.” Vardy will almost certainly ensure that, and Ivanovic praises him highly. “The good thing about him is he never stops, he is always in movement, which for a defender is very difficult to stop.” For all this new assurance, though, it is going to take Chelsea finally claiming a scalp like Leicester to convince people they have moved on from this stop-start spell in the League.

Ivanovic admits that Chelsea have felt released when playing in Europe, which slightly undermines the sense that Champions League qualification can boost them domestically.

“I think this kind of pressure, what we feel in the League, is different,” he said. “We had 10 points before this [Porto] game. In the League, we didn’t start well, we start catching even the points we cannot recover.

“The Champions League is a different style of football, different completely. Teams like Porto like to play more. They are physically not strong like the teams in the Premier League. We need to work very, very hard and much more hard in the Premier League than in the Champions League.

“This season, as every season here, is so long. The good thing about us is we can still change it. We can make a good season. A good season at the moment for us, of course, is not the aim to think about, but focus on every game.