"There was embarrassment in the dressing room and also sadness" This were the words of Chelsea defender David Luiz.
With the sound of the home crowd singing the "We are the champions of Europe" Anthem fading away with the cool night breeze, the city of London was silent as the Champions of Europe could no longer go further in their defense of the crown they won barely 7 months ago when the sad news of Juventus goal arrived from Ukraine, which saw them secure the Group E qualifying slots in the company of group leaders Shakhtar Donetsk.
Chelsea became the first defending champion to crash out of the group stage in the History of the UEFA Champions League.
Goals from Fernando Torres (2), David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Juan Mata and Oscar ensured an emphatic sign-off but it could not lift the sense of disappointment and regret. Joshua John claimed FC Nordsjælland's solitary reply.
Three penalties made it an eventful first half. From the start Chelsea demonstrated their determination to add to Nordsjælland's deficit column in their debut campaign. The Danish visitors, already missing key defender Jores Okore, were further disrupted when Ivan Runje was taken off on a stretcher early on.
Torres's eagerness to get on the scoresheet was obvious as he darted into space time and again. Sometimes his desperation worked against him while fortune favoured Nicolai Stokholm as he cleared Victor Moses's cross against his own crossbar and away to safety. The first spot kick came as Cahill was adjudged to have handled Anders Christiansen's shot.
Stokholm stepped up and made it easy for Petr Čech to save. His example was followed by Eden Hazard after Cahill's header had struck the arm of Mikkel Beckmann, Jesper Hansen comfortably dealing with another poor attempt.
Hazard's blushes lasted only three minutes before Patrick Mtiliga's hand-to-ball was spotted following Mata's attempt. The responsibility fell to Luiz and he made no mistake with a high, venomous drive.
Torres's first came after Moses had picked him out and though he benefited from a lucky rebound off the goalkeeper, his second would be far more assured. As was John's reply to make it 2-1 immediately on the restart, seizing on a long pass and lifting the ball over Čech.
Chelsea continued to threaten with every attack, Cahill heading in a Mata free-kick, Torres profiting from Hazard's clever dash to the byline, Mata scoring at the second attempt and then substitute Oscar wrapping up proceedings near the end.
Chelsea's six goals were not enough to save them the embarrassment of failing to get out of the group stage for the first time in their 11 UEFA Champions League campaigns.
Though some positives can be drawn from the game, with Fernando Torress recording a brace and new Manager Rafa Benitez winning in his first European outing with the club. But it still cannot dispute the fact that "There are times when Goals do not Matter"
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