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.