“HE’S DONE IT! The greatest night in the history of Chelsea Football Club! European Champions! They’ve beaten Bayern in their own backyard! They’ve found the holy grail after an adventure fraught with danger! And Drogba may never play for Chelsea again, he’ll never be forgotten. He’s immortal at this football club…” – Martin Tyler
May 19, 2012 – Immortal words spoken at the climax of a truly undulating, tension-filled night for Chelsea Football Club prove to be the perfect summation of a decade long journey towards capturing the Holy Grail of the UEFA Champions League.
For the better part of the mid-2000s, Chelsea could justifiably claim to have been the best side in Europe not to have won Europe’s premier club competition. Reaching four semi-finals and a final in the space of six years, luck appeared to be dead set against the Blues finally grasping the big-eared trophy. The famous Luis Garcia ‘ghost goal’ in the semi-final against Liverpool in 2005, the Terry slip in the Moscow final against United in 2008 and the innumerable penalty claims against Barcelona in the semi-final in 2009 seemed to suggest that fate was determined to label the club as perennial ‘nearly men.’
The irony of the 2012 success story was that the side that ultimately won it was perhaps the least deserving of all the Chelsea sides of that era. Possessing greats like Petr Cech, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba, stalwarts of previous sides who were nearing the end of their careers, it was a team fighting to remain relevant in the Premier League and Europe. That it was so patched together forged within the members of this team a doggedness, a force of will and a refusal to give in that would carry it through to the final. In games against Barcelona, possessive of the mercurial talents Iniesta, Xavi and Messi who were arguably superior to the players in Blue, this ‘never-say-die’ attitude was evident.
In the final awaited a ruthless, talented and determined Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena, in Munich. With an unprecedented home advantage for a final on paper and the genius of Robben, Ribery, Schweinsteiger, Lahm and Neuer to call upon, Die Roten seemed like a bridge too far. But for all the advantages Bayern had, they didn’t have the most important ingredient on their side: fate.
Going into the game, Roberto di Matteo couldn’t call upon captain John Terry, first choice right back Branislav Ivanovic or midfielder Ramires, so he put together a defence including an injured David Luiz. And, in an effort to quell the genius of Arjen Robben, he handed a surprising debut to Chelsea academy product Ryan Bertrand to double up with the inimitable Ashley Cole on the left.
In the first half and with Chelsea set up to defend, it appeared that it was only a matter of time before the patch tore apart. Bayern amassed sixteen shots to Chelsea’s two. Robben and Ribery had the freedom of the park and, even with little room to manoeuvre, were pulling, probing and finding spaces in defence. Were it not for a woefully profligate Mario Gomez, they may have been ahead.
Heading into the second half, it was more of the same: Bayern with the lion’s share of possession, Chelsea camped in their own half. Try as Bayern might, Cech in goal would repel. For 83 minutes, the Blues displayed masterful levels of concentration, organization and determination. But, as with any temporary solution, the patch could only hold for so long. Ghosting in at the far post, Thomas Muller powered a header into the ground that took Cech by surprise and put Bayern 1-0 up with seven minutes to play. For Bayern, their overwhelming advantages seemed to have paid dividends at last. For Chelsea, it was another cruel twist of fate.
Or so it would seem. On as a substitute, the hero of the Camp Nou weeks earlier, Fernando Torres, won a corner in the 88th minute, Chelsea’s first of the night. With his wand of a left foot, Juan Mata delivered a superb ball into the box with pinpoint accuracy onto the head of the Man in Munich, Didier Drogba. With characteristic poise and power, Drogba delivered a bullet header into the top right-hand corner of Manuel Neuer’s goal. 1-1, and game on. Perhaps fate had turned to kindness instead as extra time loomed.
Into an additional 30 minutes, the narrative was all the more skewed now that Chelsea nursed tired legs. Bayern probed some more but Chelsea held firm. Then, disaster. A saviour just minutes before, Drogba turned villain again by fouling Ribery to gift Bayern a penalty. To rub salt into an already gaping wound, former Blue Arjen Robben would step up to deal the potentially devastating blow. Casting Drogba’s blunder aside, though, Cech saved and ushered a new crescendo in this dalliance with fate.
Extra time would end with no trouble for the scorers and onto the lottery of penalties. Ever the professionals at penalties having dispatched Real Madrid in the semis, Bayern were ready. Lahm, Gomez and Neuer scored the first three. Mata missed, Luiz and Lampard replied. 3-2 with two each to take. Bayern in the pound seats again. A heroic Petr Cech saved from Olic, and Cole scored. 3-3.
Into the last two penalties, Schweinsteiger stepped up to take. A Germany stalwart, midfield dynamo and bona fide leader, surely, he could not miss? Owing to the fingertips of a certain Blue goalie, miss he did. 3-3 with one penalty left.
And who would step up to take the final penalty? None other than the man himself, Didier Drogba.
No player embodied the turbulent dance with fate on that Munich night more so than the Ivorian. Off the back of a costly sending off in the 2008 final in Moscow, Chelsea’s number eleven had a lot to prove. The equalizer on the night and the concession of a penalty embodied a thoroughly topsy turvy outing. But in the midst of a storm, calm is what is needed. And calmness personified was exactly what Drogba was, immortalizing himself with an impeccable penalty to win that famous trophy for Chelsea for the very first time.
On a night where he was near deified by iconic words from an incomparable commentator, Chelsea fans should revel in the genius and composure of Drogba for time immemorial. But, more than that, the contributions of every single Chelsea player cannot be ignored. Gary Cahill and David Luiz, a largely untried defensive partnership, were the epitome of concentration and doggedness the whole night. Ashley Cole and Bosingwa were disciplined at full back. Lampard and Mikel were calm, resolute and tireless in midfield. Ryan Bertrand was mature beyond his years, Salomon Kalou was immense from the wing and Mata was a wizard when it mattered. And last but absolutely not least, Petr Cech was his imperious and elastic best all night.
Everything about that game, that tournament, suggested Chelsea should not have won it. With a team ethic, a resilience, a willingness to band together and a sheer refusal to give in, win it they did. For all the heartache of years gone by, all the near misses, it turned out that it was all being saved for what stands alone as the single greatest in Chelsea Football Club history.
Sources:
Rob Smyth, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/may/19/champions-league-final-chelsea-bayern-live
By Dan Hill
Edited by Jai Mcintosh