Levski suffer striker blow

Levski Sofia will be without star striker Emil Angelov when they face Chelsea in Europe.

Levski Sofia will be without star striker Emil Angelov when they face the daunting prospect of playing Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

Levski, the first Bulgarian side ever to reach the group stages of Europe's premier competition, take on the English champions at home, live on Sky Sports Xtra, following an opening day 5-0 demolition at the hands of Barcelona.

That game first saw Angelov pick up a thigh injury, and the 26-year-old, who scored twice in Levski's qualifying campaign, aggravated the problem in a subsequent clash against league rivals CSKA.

Angelov has now confirmed he will be unable to take on Jose Mourinho's men at Georgi Asparuchov Stadium.

"I really wanted to play against Chelsea," said Angelov.

"Everyone wants to play against the best and I'm not an exception but unfortunately I will not recover in time.

"We've decided not to take any risk and I hope to be back for next Sunday's city derby with Slavia Sofia."

With Valeri Domovchiiski also injured Levski will turn to two-time Bulgarian footballer of the year Georgi Ivanov as they attempt to engineer a shock victory over The Blues.