After his dramatic rise and fall, Ryan Bertrand is battling his way back to the top again

 
4 April 2013

Not for the first time in his career, Ryan Bertrand will be under the spotlight when he starts a game for Chelsea in Europe.

The circumstances this evening could not be any more different, though, to a glorious night in Munich 11 months ago and not just because he is now merely involved in a Europa League quarter-final tie rather than the climax of Europe’s premier club competition.

Once again there is a lot at stake for the 23-year-old left-back but he is playing for another prize entirely.

Last May, he was the exciting young English talent making his Champions League debut in the Final.

He impressively kept his cool against the twin threat of Philipp Lahm and Arjen Robben on Chelsea’s left flank to help his side contain Bayern Munich on their own pitch and was rewarded with a winners’ medal on the greatest day in the club’s history.

The plaudits and honours grew rapidly, which included being handed his first senior England cap at the beginning of this season, against Italy, and then a second, versus Ukraine.

It was always going to be hard to sustain such a high and the former Gillingham trainee is now experiencing the harsh reality of football at such an esteemed level.

There is now a section of Chelsea fans who have begun questioning whether he is the long-term replacement for Ashley Cole or, indeed, whether he is even good enough to be a squad player.

As always, Chelsea are being linked with moves for other players in the summer, including Southampton’s Luke Shaw, who is six years younger than Bertrand.

England coach Roy Hodgson has gone cold on Bertrand, too, having ignored him for the friendly against Brazil in February and the recent World Cup qualifiers.

Bertrand hasn’t done a lot wrong, his main problem has been caused by not playing regularly enough to sustain his development, with his 20 starts spread erratically across the campaign.

Now his opportunity has come because Cole is sidelined with a hamstring injury for at least the next two weeks, a period during which Chelsea have five matches in three competitions.

Chelsea are relying on him to make his mark once more, starting with the visit of Rubin Kazan in tonight’s first leg at Stamford Bridge.

It may not be as glamorous as the events of just under a year ago, yet Bertrand is fully aware of its importance to himself and the club. He said: “It was always going to be hard to follow up what happened to me in the Champions League Final last year. That doesn’t come around too often. For me it’s about getting games in and putting in performances as good as I can.

“It’s a chance for me to come in now and play in the next few games. It’s just about focusing on my club game. If I get enough games and my performances are good enough, that [an England recall] hopefully will take care of itself. I want us to win everything we can, we want to go as far in every competition as we can and secure as high a place in the League as we can as well.

“It’s [the Europa League] a chance to get another fantastic trophy if we win it. To have a chance to be in any competition at my age is fantastic.”

Bertrand reminded the critics what he is capable of after replacing Cole just 21 minutes into Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final replay victory against Manchester United on Monday. He performed well against United’s strength on the right flank of Antonio Valencia and Nani, who was so ineffective he was substituted late on.

Chelsea’s interim first-team manager Rafael Benitez is certainly full of confidence that Bertrand can make a positive impression at Stamford Bridge.

He added: “It’s good to say that [he’s improved]. He showed that he’s clever enough to understand his role and how to move forward, progress and improve. If he can learn from those around him, then he will improve, for sure.”

It is vital that the whole team and not just Bertrand perform against a Rubin side that boast an unbeaten away record in the Europa League this season.

Fernando Torres will start up front instead of the cup-tied Demba Ba.

Gary Cahill is still ruled out with a knee problem but captain John Terry is expected to return in defence.

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