Carlo Ancelotti was happy enough with his side's 4-1 win over Slovakian club MSK Zilina in their Champions League group stage opener on Wednesday.

Goals from Michael Essien and Daniel Sturridge and two to Nicolas Anelka did the damage for the Blues and their performance was good enough for Ancelotti who admitted it was always tough to play away from home in Europe.

"Every game in the Champions League is hard to play," said Ancelotti. "We started very well in the first half, we played fantastic football, the second half was different.

"Zilina put more pressure on our defence. The back four did a good match. When you are 3-0 up it's normal to have more difficulty.

"If I have to judge the performance I am very happy because it's not easy to win 4-1 away in the Champions League."