European Football was at its zenith as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona were the dominating teams. Chelsea were still considered underdogs. The UEFA Champions League 2011-2012 was going to begin. Barcelona, the defending champions, were the favorites. None thought that a club from the jolly-olly London would grab the silverware of the Champions League.
The groups were announced. Chelsea had Bayern Leverkusen, Genk and Valencia in its group. For Chelsea, finishing first wasn't easy. This team didn't had expensive players, rather the team was dominated by players who loved the team and more importantly, the beautiful game of Football.
The Champions League began. In Europe, it's just like a 7 months long festival that binds people of different nations, different accents and different races together. During the UEFA Euro Cup 2012, Russia had to face Czechoslovakia. The teams were against each other for the first time. This moment was historic for them so the governments of both the nations decided that the match day will be a national holiday.
The Blues fans were behind there team, supporting them every moment. Chelsea finished first in its group securing 11 points. Days later, the round of 16 draws were out. Chelsea had to face Napoli, the club that is well known for its young Argentine players and its ability to seek young legs. Maradonna belonged to this club.
Chelsea lost the first leg by a resembling margin of 3 - 1. Napoli had a 2 goals lead. In the 2nd leg, Chelsea overturned the deficit of 2 goals and defeated Napoli by 4-1 and won on aggregate (5-4). Chelsea qualified for quarter finals where they faced Benefica and defeated them by 3-1 (agg.)
In 2008, Chelsea reached the finals where they were defeated by Manchester United in a penalty shoot-out. Nevertheless, Chelsea tried hard and reached the semi-final of 2009 UEFA Champions League where they faced the mighty Barcelona. First leg was at Barca's home ground, Camp Nou, and the match drew 0-0. The second leg was at Chelsea's home ground The Stamford Bridge. Michael Essien (Chelsea) scored a goal giving Chelsea a 1-0 lead, but later the game turned out to be disgrace, disgrace to Champions League and disgrace to football. There were several fouls by Barcelona but the referee turned a blind eye to them. Many penalty chances were neglected. Later Andres Iniesta (Barca) scored a goal thereby equalizing the score and unfortunately Barcelona won on an away goal.
The 2009 Champions League semi-final atmosphere was regenerated as Chelsea had to face Barcelona again. The countdown to kick off was over and he game began. In the first half, Barcelona dominated the ball and came close to scoring 2 goals. Chelsea played a good counter attack and Ramires' great left foot low cross to Drogba and Drogba's neat left foot finishing put Chelsea ahead by 1 goal to nil. The game ended at the Stamford Bridge and Chelsea won the first leg. The second leg was at Camp Nou. Barcelona scored two goals in the first half. Lionel Messi missed a penalty in the second half. Later, Ramires leveled the score on aggregate by 2-2. The last minute was going on and the whole Barcelona squad was inside Chelsea's box, waiting for Iniesta to deliver the corner. The corner came and Ashley Cole (Chelsea) cleared the ball away and what I saw next was just simply amazing. Fernando Torres (Chelsea) won the ball and was alone, only the goalkeeper between him and the goal. Torres dribbled pass the keeper and scored, leveling the scores on aggregate and Chelsea won the semi-final against the heavyweights of football.
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| Torres beating the Barca keeper Victor Valdes |
The Champions League final (19th May 2012) was at Fußball Arena München, the home ground of the opponents Bayern Munich, the German Champions. The Germans had won UEFA Champions League 4 times and were anxious to get their hands on the trophy for the fifth time. Bayern Munich had the home advantage and now Chelsea's road to glory had the sharpest turn.
The game began. The first ended 0-0. In the second half, Bayern Munich won a penalty in the 57th minute and the former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben (Bayern) took it but Petr Cech made a great save. The game went nil- nil. Later in the 83rd minute, Tom Muller (Bayern) converted a volley into a goal giving Bayern Munich a 1-0 lead in the closing moments. But this was not to be. In the 87th minute, Drogba scored the equalizer and saved Chelsea. The game went to penalty shoot-out. Chelsea missed the first and Bayern kept scoring. Then Bayern missed the last 2 and Chelsea scored 1. Drogba was up to take the decisive final penalty. He went to the left and the Bayern keeper jumped to the right and it was done. Chelsea had won the most prestigious title in European Football history, The Champions League Silverware.
| Drogba's Magical Penalty |
Here are some of the photos of that awesome day.
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| Roberto Di Matteo (centre), the then manager of Chelsea |
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| John Terry, Captain Leader Legend |
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| Ashley Cole, the best Left Back |
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| Ramires (left) and David Luiz |
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| Fernando Torres with his new hat |
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| Celebration Parade at London |
Good post only one problem, Chelsea has spent a lot on the players. So its not exactly a club of home grown players. But having said that the victory was well deserved.
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