[1]Chaos is the only way to describe how Chelsea started against Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League at the Allianz Arena stadium in Munich, where skipper John Terry, Ramires, Raul Meireles and Branislav Ivanovic sat out, having been suspended. With Daniel Sturridge and Fernando Torres both starting on the bench, the optimistic yet confused Frank Lampard was leading the side. David Luiz and Gary Cahill were both in a starting XI which saw Jose Bosingwa at right-back. And it showed in the way they played. Where Bayern played in a focus and planned manner, Chelsea seemed lost.
Bayern were clearly at an advantage, playing at home in front of an army of fans. They were also in the final on the back of a splendid run of form, crushing teams such as Basel 7-0 at home, and with wins over the big guns of Europe like Marseille and Real Madrid to reach the final. In contrast, Chelsea scraped through with some narrow victories over Benfica and Bar-celona and were under a lot of pressure to leave Munich with the trophy in their possession.
Bayern easily dominated Chelsea for the most part. However, as the match progressed, the Chelsea defence became more resilient while Bayern became erratic. But after 82 minutes of drought, Thomas Muller, much to the jubilation of the fans, scored. But six minutes later, Didier Drogba equalised with a spectacular header, which took the game to penalties. Drogba was the hero again, converting the crucial penalty as Chelsea won 4-3 on penalties to be crowned the deserving champions of Europe.
— The blogger is a student of the Amjad Ali Khan College of Business Administration in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/24che2jpgcropdisplayjpg-290