After years of heart break Chelsea had gotten to the final, A hurdle they have stumbled on before. They had come from behind to beat Napoli and they had beaten arguably the best Barcalona team from behind with 10 men. All they had to do now was beat Bayer Munich, 5 time European champion, In their own backyard(The Allianz Arena).
The first half of this monumental game started and Chelsea were already under the kosh. This half gave Bayern the lying share of the major chances, Chelsea only having 1. Bayern’s chances had both sprouted from play by their wingers (Ribery and Robben). Robben was a 100 apped Chelsea player so Chelsea knew how good he was and Ribery was arguably one of the best in the world at the time of the match. Chelsea’s single chance looked promising and showed the Bavarian side just how good we can be. However this wasn’t enough and we needed to keep showing our skill.
Going into the second half Chelsea’s tactic was to give Bayern no space, pressure everyone and make it difficult for the opponents to play. This helped the side to hold the game out till the 83rd minute when Kroos held the ball at the edge of the box in a pocket of space. He loopeed the ball towards the far post and Thomas Muller came up to meet the ball. He headed the ball hard and into the ground it flew over Cech and into the net giving Bayern the lead with little time to go. With little hope left Chelsea had a corner in the 88th minute. It was taken by Mata a beautiful ball that sailed towards the front post. Then from nowhere the Didier Drogba leapt to meet it he produce one of the most iconic headers. This feat could only be done this late in the game by him (as said by Frank Lampard, fellow Chelsea legend and Champions league winner). The ball came of his head at such speed that it overpowered Neuer’s hand and bounced into the roof of the net. It was 1-1 at full time and There was still some hope for Chelsea.
Extra time had started and fatigue had started to set in. The 1st half of extra time held little action until the 105th minute. Robben was dribbling within the Chelsea box, Drogba had come back to help the defence. He stuck out a leg in the hopes to stop Robben’s attempts. The Dutchman went down and a penalty was awarded to Bayern. Robben stepped up to take the penalty this was his chance to make himself a hero. Robben and Cech (The Chelsea’s goal keeper) were friends and they had trained together at Chelsea. Cech new his technique and his penalty style. As Robben ran towards the ball and hit it to the Cech’s left. Cech also went this way, he had made the save to keep Chelsea in the game. The 2nd half of extra time was tense and there was little attempts at ever net and all that was left was the penalty shoot out.
The shoot out had started. Philip Lahm took Bayern’s 1st and he put it away. Mata was Chelsea’s first taker and his shot was saved (1-0 Bayern). Both of the teams 2nd penalties were scored (2-1 Bayern). Both teams 3rd penalties were also scored (3-2 Bayern). The 4th Bayern player steps up to take his penalty but Petr Cech saves it allowing the blues to even the score. Frank Lampard then smashes the ball down the middle and scoring (3-3). Bastien Schweinsteiger goes to take Bayern’s 5th penalty and Cech saves it yet again. Now the if Drogba scores this penalty Chelsea win the shootout and the Champions League. He steps up to take it, and he slots the ball to Neuer’s right and the German keeper went the wrong way. CHELSEA HAVE WON IT. After countless semi finals and the final heartbreak of 2008 Chelsea have finally won a champions league. Not only have they beaten Bayern, arguably the best team at the moment they’ve done it in their own back yard!
Chaz's Football Blog 