Seeing is believing.
If I hadn’t watched every minute of the game, if I had
looked only at the stats – possession, total shots, shots on target, corners –
I would have assumed that Bayern Munich beat Chelsea easily. The fact that
Chelsea was outplayed for most of the Champions League final yesterday and yet
still walked away with the hardware, is one reason football is the endlessly
fascinating game that it is.
In football, the improbable happens all the time.
Petr Cech was a monster in goal for Chelsea. Bayern
pressured the Chelsea end relentlessly, wave after wave of attacks led by
Ribery and Robben, but Chelsea refused to buckle, even without stalwart
defenders John Terry and Branislov Ivanovich. On their back foot most of the
game, the Blues showed grit and heart and championship character. And yes, the
soccer gods appeared to side with Chelsea on this occasion, no question about
it. No matter the sport or the team, it takes a bit of luck to win a
championship.
Bayern had numerous chances to put the game away, but they couldn’t
do it.
When Fernando Torres came on in the 84th minute
and Chelsea behind a goal, the Blues became more attack minded. Torres and
Didier Drogba haven’t been on the pitch together very often, but it should be
remembered that it was Torres’ hard work that won the corner on which Drogba
headed home the equalizer. No commentator has mentioned this, but it struck me
as significant.
If this was Didier Drogba’s final appearance for Chelsea,
the big man certainly exits in fitting style. In games on the largest stages,
Drogba delivers the goods. He was cool as ice when he stroked the winning
penalty kick into the back of the net, as were Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole
before him. The core Chelsea stars came through in the clutch, and coupled with
some brilliant goal keeping from Cech, some luck and some Bayern miscues, the
Blues became champions of Europe by the most difficult route possible.
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