WRITTEN IN THE STARS: CHELSEA'S MAIDEN TRIUMPH IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE [POST 2 OF 2]

 Author- Shubham Priyadarshi 

Image Credit- UEFA

Semi-Final [2nd Leg] 

I particularly remember the second leg of the semi-final against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. The moment when Andres Iniesta scored, minutes after John Terry - Chelsea’s Captain, Leader, and Legend - was sent off for the stupidest of fouls, was, and remains till date, the only time I have ever been scared about the team, and as a natural corollary, myself. Most of my acquaintances of the time supported Barcelona, and for a good reason. Imagine the core of the world’s best team, which had continuously won 3 consecutive international trophies, coupled with, in the words of the legendary Peter Drury, the best player in the world, bar none. Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona was that imagination turned into reality. I thought of watching the game till half-time and then going to sleep because the outcome was a foregone conclusion, with only the severity of the defeat in question. However, just before half-time, Ramires latched onto a pass from Frank Lampard and scored a sensational lob. The score was 2-1. Out of absolutely nowhere, Chelsea was going through on the away goal rules. 

What I mentioned to be a storm in the first leg was a Tsunami in the second half of the second leg. Minutes into the second half, another South American, Lionel Messi, only managed to hit the bar from the penalty spot. Another shot was then tipped to the post by the typical brilliance of Peter Cech. Chances kept coming, and it wasn’t as if they were half chances. They were full chances and then some. Chelsea was hanging on, but it truly felt like it was only a matter of time before the next goal was scored. The next goal was scored, but to the utter disbelief of everyone, it was by Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s much-maligned striker who had been out of form for 18 months. He received clearance from Jose Bosingwa, who only came in because Chelsea’s first-choice defender, Gary Cahill, had to be substituted. Strictly in terms of rules, Torres’ goal was not necessary for qualification, but anyone who matched even the highlights of that would say that the goal was almost imperative, even with only two minutes left (Chelsea fans would remember the Iniesta’s goal in 2009). The signs weren’t appearing to be that unreasonable

THE FINAL 

Chelsea were without Terry, Meireles, Ivanovic, and Ramires. The match was against FC Bayern Munich, at their home turf, Allianz Arena. If the semi-final was a storm, the final was a siege. In one of the best chances of the first half, Arjen Robben, Bayern’s left-footed winger’s (like Messi) shot, was saved and deflected onto the bar. The score remained at nil-nil. The siege strengthened, and Chelsea’s resistance finally broke in the 83rd minute when Thomas Muller scored a header past Cech. With 7 minutes to go, Chelsea came out of their shell. And with Chelsea’s only corner of the match (compared to Bayern’s twenty), Didier Drogba scored. The match went into extra time. Soon after extra-time began, Bayern got a penalty. Robben took the penalty, and Cech saved it. Bayern had chances, but they couldn’t capitalize. Penalty shootout followed. 

To give the readers a context, it was a dreaded situation for an English team to face a German team in the penalty shootouts because of what had happened in the 1990 World Cup and the 1996 Euros. At both of those tournaments, none of the Germans missed from the spot, sending the English team out of the tournament. Bayern’s Philip Lahm went first and scored. Juan Mata for Chelsea went first, and he missed. The shootout continued and score reached 2-1. With the 5th kick of the shootout, Ashley Cole scored. And with the 6th kick, Cech saved the penalty, again. The next penalty kick from both sides was scored— one left from each side. Bastian Schweinsteiger, who had scored the winning penalty in the semi-finals against Real Madrid, missed from the spot. From one angle, it was seen that Cech had brilliantly tipped it onto the post. 

In 2008, when Chelsea played their first Champions League final, Didier Drogba was sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidic. That match also went into a shootout, and because Drogba was not on the pitch, John Terry decided to take what could have been the winning penalty. In the Moscow rain, he slipped, and ultimately, Manchester United emerged victorious. 

 This time, Drogba was on the pitch, and Terry was not. He stepped up to take the deciding penalty, and as he was about to put the ball down on the spot, Gary Neville said, “it is written the stars.” Drogba slotted the ball home. It was Blue bedlam in the midst of Bayern’s silence. The signs, it would seem, had always been there.

IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE STARS 

WRITTEN IN THE STARS: CHELSEA'S MAIDEN TRIUMPH IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE [POST 1 OF 2]

Author - Shubham Priyadarshi 

Image Credit- The Guardian 

Round of 16 

The opponents in the round of 16 were Italian side Napoli which had a very strong attack.  Prime Edi Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi carried much threat, manifested in the three goals the pair scored amongst themselves. Chelsea lost the first leg 3-1, and the only reason they did not lose 4-1 was that Ashley Cole, Chelsea’s left-back, made a goal-line clearance. The manager lost his job. An interim was appointed. Then the 2nd leg of the round of 16 took place, and the legendary sentinels of the Stamford Bridge took over. Frank Lampard, John Terry, and Didier Drogba all scored. It is notable to mention that a South American (Edi Cavani) missed glaring opportunities in the game, which then went into extra time. And then Branislav Ivanovic scored. Chelsea went through. The signs were persistently present, and it wouldn’t have been that unreasonable to consider them as signs if not for the opponents in the next round.

Quarterfinals 

The clear memory which I have of that  year's Champions League quarterfinal is that of Raul Meirelles scoring a brilliant goal in the last minute against Benfica to clear any doubts about securing qualification into the next rounds. It was not as if the goal was imperative to secure qualification, but it was nevertheless necessary. No reasonable fan would have considered it a sign, but then again, football, certainly from a fan's perspective, is mostly not about reasonableness.

Semi-Final [1st Leg] 

If I have to compare it to anything, going from facing Napoli and Benfica in previous rounds to facing FC Barcelona can aptly be compared to going to Class XI from Class X. One might hear that it is difficult, but only when one is in the midst of the storm, do you realize what you have landed yourself into. The storm came. FC Barcelona created chance after chance. I don’t have any explanation about the many instances as to how Barcelona wasn’t able to score, but there was one notable instance: Ashley Cole made another goal-line clearance. However, Didier Drogba scored. Chelsea inexplicably won the game 1-0. Calling it one-sided would not be a reasonable assessment of the match.

Then the 2nd Leg. 

THE RECORD MAKER

Image Credit- Real Madrid CF

In June, 2021 Carlo Ancelotti resigned from the post of Everton's manager and joined Real Madrid on a three years contract. Interestingly this is Carlo's second stint with the Spanish Giants as he had earlier managed them from 2013- 2015.  

And Boy what a second stint it has been. In January, 2022, Ancelotti won the Spanish Super Cup. Furthermore in May he won the La Liga title as well as the UEFA Champions League title. 

However, the most interesting thing is this that with Real's La Liga win, Ancelotti became the first manager to win league titles in all the top 5 league of Europe. No other manager has achieved this in the history of beautiful game.  

Furthermore with Real's UCL win, Carlo Ancelotti has become the most successful manger in the history of Champions League.  He has won 4 UCL titles as a manager. A feat. which has not been achieved by anyone before. 

Indeed a record maker.