A "True Blue" ME .....: May 2012

Chelsea embraced European Glory for the first time in the history of Champions League on 19th May 2012 after beating Bayern Munich in their own turf at Allianz Arena, Munich. Chelsea were in pursuit of this cup since Roman Abramovich took over as the owner of the club in 2004. Being a Chelsea fan, this cup literally meant everything to the club since it was the only one missing in Chelsea's cabinet. The match ended in a draw after extra time and was won in the penalties with a scoreline of 4-3 favoring Chelsea.
A perfect metaphor to comprehend this game comes from a rather notorious reference. Its called as 'Strangling to Death' as many would understand it. Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea manager) put on a very clever squad in order to counteract the wing play from Bayern's players Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery. Instead of going for an extra attacker, Roberto went for an extra defender that allowed Chelsea to watch the attacks from Bayern. As expected, Bayern started firing towards the goal right from the very start. Chelsea had to sit back and neutralize any attacks coming from Bayern, just as they did it in the semi-finals against Barcelona. Bayern failed to capitalize on any of their chances in the first half and their efforts should be deemed as 'poor'; considering the fact that both the teams went into half time with a score of 0-0. Chelsea had a couple of notable chances in the first half but even they could not put the ball past the net.
Chelsea's confidence and Bayern's frustration increased as time passed by. Clearly, time was of essence to both the teams. As second half passed by, all of the Bayern's efforts were futile and they were just not able to find a crack in Chelsea's defense. Chelsea had already shown signs of their resilient defending against Barcelona and they were repeating the same performance in this game as well. Ashley Cole (Chelsea player) needs a mention here for his performance because of his marvelous defensive abilities and sharp awareness of the game around him. Roberto's gamble of putting Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea player) as an additional defender in the team was already visible in the scoreline which stood at 0-0 as the clock ticked past 70 minutes. Ryan perfectly marked Philipp Lahm (Bayern player) to cancel out his right wing runs throughout the match. Ryan was substituted by Roberto to bring on Flourent Malouda in the 73rd minute of the game to change things around.
Bayern's endeavour for goal was finally paid off in the 83rd minute of the match when Thomas Muller (Bayern player) headed the ball to net it past Petr Cech (Chelsea goalkeeper). Bayern were ecstatic since they only had a few minutes to survive the match and hold on to the lead. Chelsea's emotions were marred by the defeat they had suffered against Manchester United in the 2008 campaign. It all seemed lost of Chelsea at the moment and the dreaded thought of competing for the cup next time started flowing through Chelsea supporters.
Chelsea's evergreen talisman Didier Drogba had other thoughts when he scored the goal in the dying 88th minute of the match to head the ball in the net from a Juan Mata (Chelsea player) corner. Chelsea's hopes were rekindled and their quest for the enchanted cup was still 'on'. Bayern were heart-broken as they almost had one hand on the cup. Bayern players were visibly sad and gloomy on the pitch as they had just given away a precious lead that could have won them the cup. After seeing the Chelsea goal, all the players had embraced the fact that they had to slog it for 30 more minutes to win the cup. As it ended, after full time the score recorded was 1-1 to both the teams.
Bayern were emotionally tired and that was reflected in their physical semblance, whereas Chelsea on the other hand looked fresh and raring to go after recently having scored the goal to snatch the match back from the Germans. There were clear signs of fatigue in both camps with the poor quality of passing seen during the extra time. Bayern had a wonderful opportunity to seal the match when they were awarded a penalty following a stupid tackle by Didier Drogba on Frank Ribery in the box. Arjen Robben stepped up to take this golden opportunity but Cech dogded this penalty to deny Bayern the win yet again. It all seemed to Chelsea's way at this point in the match with all the missed chances and missed penalty. Finally, after a couple of substitutions from both sides, the match ended as 1-1 draw after extra time.
It was time for penalties and Chelsea seemed more nervous because they had lost the cup back in 2008 at this same stage. Apparently Bayern had never lost a match in Champions League in the penalty stage but the scars of conceding the lead and missing the earlier penalty were still afresh in the players mind. Readers are directed to this video to watch the penalties as they happened in the match.

Champions League Final 2011/2012: Penalties

As soon as Didier Drogba scored the winning penalty, Chelsea crowd erupted as they had just witnessed history in the making that would be written forever after today. Weeping in tears of joy, Chelsea fans finally rejoiced the moment they had been waiting for the past 8 years. Bayern players were devastated as started to wonder it could have been them today. All the players were handed the medal of honor and Chelsea players were handed the Champions League Cup that had Chelsea etched on it for the very first time.

Chelsea FC: Champions League 2011/2012 Winners

It was a night where the 'luck charm' was in the hands of Chelsea and with this, they accomplished the unthinkable.Chelsea's performance in the Champions League has not been short of a fairy tale. It is not sure as where Chelsea go on from here, but one thing is for sure that because of this victory they will be competing for this cup yet again next year. There have been rumors that Didier Drogba, who literally won Chelsea the trophy !, could be leaving Chelsea to join another team. Whatever the future beholds for him, he will sorely be missed here in Chelsea for his flair, strength, motivation and performance. It is also not quite surely if Roberto will be given a permanent role as a Chelsea manager, but if he is, he would definitely be the right person to take up this role at this time. Roman Abramovich can finally add the much awaited feather in his cap since he took over Chelsea FC.
As we come to the close of yet another thrilling football season, it does not get mentioned enough that 'Football never stops amazing'. As players head off for a summer packed with football, we now await to see breath-taking performances at the national level in EURO 2012 campaign which starts from 8th June 2012.

Article Sources:
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/matches/live/day=13/session=1/match=2007693/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_F.C._in_European_football
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/matches/round=2000267/match=2007693/postmatch/report/index.html#shoot+ends+chelseas+long+wait+glory
Image Source:
Michaela Rehle/REUTERS; http://www.sportlive.co.za/incoming/2012/05/20/chelsea-champions-league-final.jpg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/Chelsea+Champions+League+final.jpg

Premier League fans were witness to one of the greatest sporting drama of all times on the last day of the league when Manchester City scored twice in the last 5 minutes to win the league in almost 44 years to oust their neighbors Manchester United. While that happened, Chelsea wrapped up their season with a win by a margin of 2-1 over relegated Blackburn Rovers. Chelsea managed to finish 6th in the league and football pundits term this as 'Chelsea worst league finish in a decade'. We now look back at the defining moments of Chelsea's Premier league campaign this year.

The Start: Chelsea were looking confident at the start of the season with the appointment of a new manager Andre Villas Boas (AVB). Having won a number of accolades, AVB was pitched to be the right person at the start of the season to lead Chelsea to yet another Premier league football glory. Chelsea had a scrappy start with a draw against Stoke City away from home. Soon after that, Chelsea consecutively won 3 matches in a row beating West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City and Sunderland.

First Loss: Chelsea suffered its first loss of the season to the title holders, Manchester United by a margin of 3-1 while playing away. Fernando Torres's (Chelsea striker) miss in the match is still considered to be the 'miss of the season' when he failed to net the ball that could have changed the face of the match.

Home Losses against Arsenal and Liverpool: Chelsea's hopes of winning the title received a big punch when they lost against two strong oppositions at home, viz. Arsenal and Liverpool. Chelsea lost to Arsenal by a margin of 3-5, thanks to a wonderful hat-trick by Robin van Persie (Arsenal). A late goal by Glen Johnson (Liverpool) cost them the Liverpool match by a margin of 1-2.

Inconsistency: Things were looking shady for Chelsea by the end of November 2011 after the consecutive losses, but Chelsea pulled up their socks to secure three consecutive wins against Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester City. A win against Manchester City was a big morale boost to the players and the manager as they re-started believing that they could pull something off in the league. Complacency crept in the Chelsea dressing room after this crucial win and they drew the next three matches, which brought them back to square-one.

End of the year 2011: Chelsea failed to capitalize the home advantage on the last day of the year 2011 when they faced Aston Villa and lost 1-3 to them. By this time people and pundits had started doubting AVB as the right manager to lead the Chelsea squad. As Chelsea moved into the new year, they had to forget the previous abysmal performances and make a fresh start.

The New Year 2012: Chelsea started the new year strongly with two wins and a draw. This confidence was oozing when they faced Manchester United at home and were leading 3-0 which probably seemed to be Chelsea's biggest win of the season. But sloppy Chelsea defense and determined United side were the major reasons for the match to end in a draw 3-3.

Andre Villas Boas sacked: AVB was sacked on 5th March 2012 after dismal performances by the Chelsea team in the previous months. Recent losses at Everton and West Bromwich Albion were the main reason for his exit. The owner of Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, said he had high confidence in AVB but could not afford to see Chelsea performing badly in the season. After AVB left, Roberto di Matteo took over as the caretaker manager.

Roberto di Matteo's reign: Since Roberto took over as caretaker manager at Chelsea, the team has had respectable statistics as compared to AVB's rule. Out of the 11 matches, Chelsea have lost 3, won 4, drawn 4. During this time Chelsea also managed to pull-off miracles in the Champions League and clinched the FA Cup against Liverpool that added another silverware in Chelsea's bag.

Chelsea FC: FA Cup winners 2011/2012

Roberto's introduction as Chelsea manager in mid-March helped Chelsea get through a tough phase in its season. Crucial contributions by veterans along with the new-comers in the Chelsea team has helped them see off this season.Chelsea managed to finished 6th in the league, which does seem applause-able after everything the team has been through. Strong performances by teams like Tottenham Hotspurs and Newcastle United, who stand above Chelsea in the table, is also one of the reasons for Chelsea's poor finish in the league. Chelsea have to start converting the draws into wins, losses into draws in the next season if they are to be even considered as title contenders and salvage anything in the next season. Chelsea do not have an option to lose in the Champions League final on 19th May 2012 because if they do, they will not only lose the cup this year but also lose out on competing for the cup next year considering the fact that they could not finish in the top four in this year's league.

Roberto promises to be a very confident and intelligent manager for Chelsea but his leadership will be truly tested when Chelsea will go against Bayern Munich in the finals of Champions League 2011/2012. A win in this match would be a cue to Roberto's appointment as a full-time coach for Chelsea in the years to come. With all the other players gearing up for EURO 2012, Chelsea's men have to first engrave their name on the Champions League title on 19th May 2012 before heading off to EURO 2012.