The Holy Grail for Chelsea Football ClubIs the Champions League a cup that Chelsea will just never win? Year after year Chelsea set out to finally win that one trophy that has always eluded them but these high hoped campaigns appear to ultimately always end in disappointment.
Tom Westcott investigates... For many years now Chelsea Football Club have been chasing the dream of capturing their first ever Champions League trophy. Over the years Chelsea have encountered triumph and heartache in this competition, with some unforgettable nights at Stamford Bridge. People say however that you always need that little bit of luck to win the competition, a decision to go your way, a penalty shout or a controversial goal to be given, but unfortunately for Chelsea luck has never been on their side in this competition.
The journey began in August 1999, when they took the Champions league by storm in their debut season in the competition. Chelsea convincingly made the quarter finals that year, coming up against Barcelona, which is something we are all to familiar with nowadays. The Blues amazingly beat them 3-1 at The Bridge, however they succumbed to their great power and skill in the second-leg losing 5-1, on the night and 6-4 on aggregate. Also I cannot talk about Chelsea’s debut season in this inaugural competition without mentioning Dennis Wise’s fantastic goal against A.C.Milan, which is still chanted from the stands to this day. After years of being very close to the Champions league qualifying places in the league Chelsea finally qualified again on the last day of the season against Liverpool in the 2002/03 season. Liverpool were also battling for the fourth spot, leaving them without Champions League football. This was the year Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea Football Club and spent over £100million to strengthen the squad for not only the upcoming campaign in the Premier League but the Champions League as well. Chelsea made the semi-finals this year, but after some controversial decision’s to say the least from Claudio Ranieri, infamously dubbed the ‘tinker man’ Chelsea were knocked out by AS Monaco, which ultimately led to Ranieri’s dismissal. The Blues did however knock London rivals Arsenal out this year at the quarterfinal stage. The following season gave a change of manager with Jose Mourinho taking the helm at Stamford Bridge, with his eyes firmly set on not only domestic success but also European, just as he achieved with Porto the previous year. Many new faces came in to Chelsea, with a high turn over of players, as Jose looked to build his own team and take certain elements of Ranieri’s in the process, giving Chelsea their first title in 50 years. In the last 16 knockout round Chelsea were drawn against Barcelona. The first-leg saw them lose 2-1, with Didier Drogba controversially sent off. However Chelsea returned to Stamford Bridge and beat Barcelona 4-2, in a thrilling match, with captain John Terry scoring the winner. German side Bayern Munich were beaten in the quarterfinal and this set up a semi-final with fellow English team Liverpool. A 0-0 draw is all Chelsea could achieve in the first-leg, but then went out to a Luis Garcia goal in the away second-leg at Anfield, leaving the chance of winning the trophy a dream for another year. In the 2005-06 season Chelsea were drawn in the same group as defending European champions Liverpool, which meant they finished second in the group to Liverpool. This led them to a last 16 draw with the team Chelsea had knocked out the following season FC Barcelona, only this time they were set out for revenge. After a 2-1 loss in the first-leg at The Bridge, the Blues achieved a credible 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp, however this was not enough, as the Catalans went through 3-2 on aggregate. The following season was Jose Mourinho’s third attempt at winning the Champions League with Chelsea, finishing first in the group stages, with 13 points, which dealt them a favourable draw with Jose Mourinho’s former team Porto. They triumphed against Porto and marched on to the Mestalla to play Valencia. Many believed that this could be Chelsea’s year to win the competition, as they proved a tough side to crack; however they were drawn against Liverpool once again. With the tie leading to penalties at Anfield, the slice of luck that you need to win the Champions league eluded Chelsea after being knocked out on penalties, with heart-ache and misery felt for all the Chelsea fans, players and the head coach Mourinho. This would prove to be Chelsea’s last full Champions League tournament with Jose Mourinho as he left by ‘mutual consent’ in September 2007. This left them with an unlikely choice of manager, Avram Grant. Although the fans struggled to warm to Avram at first, he would prove to be the manager who would take them all the way to the Champions League Final in Moscow, the first in Chelsea’s history. This campaign would see them beat Olympiacos, Fenerbache and finally Liverpool, who were dealt a much needed revenge win after the previous years when they had captured the wins against the London side. This led Chelsea to the final in Moscow; the Holy Grail was finally insight, as JT led the boys out, in what is the biggest night in the clubs history. However after the tie ended 1-1 after 90minutes, extra time had to be called upon, with all Chelsea fan’s desperately hoping it wouldn’t have to go to penalties. It did! Didier Drogba was sent off late into extra time, meaning he wouldn’t be available to take a penalty, leaving certain brave Chelsea players to step up and take one for the team. It got to Chelsea’s fifth penalty with their captain, leader and a legend of Chelsea Football Club John Terry standing up and taking a penalty. We all know what happened after JT stepped up, a moment many Chelsea fans will love to forget. After the disappointment and heartbreak of the Final, Avram Grant was relieved of his post and Scolari was to take over. However we all know what happened with Scolari, what we really want to talk about is the man who took over Chelsea on a temporary basis, Guus Hiddink. Hiddink will always be thought of very highly around The Bridge despite the fact he was only with them for a short period of time. Under Hiddink results improved, which came at the right time for a visit to Anfield, a place Chelsea had come to know so well. After an excellent performance at Liverpool, which saw the Blues win 3-1, they took them back to The Bridge, in what would be one of the most exciting matches in Chelsea’s Champions League history. After they played out a 4-4 draw on the night, Chelsea went through to the next round on an amazing score line of 7-5 on aggregate. Confidence was high and with the new leadership of Guus Hiddink and Chelsea legend Ray Wilkins working well; Chelsea lined up to face a resilient Barcelona side. First was a trip to the Nou Camp, as they became the first team not to concede there all season with a 0-0 draw. Chelsea took the lead in the second-leg after a perfect Michael Essien volley and led until the dying moments. An Iniesta strike, gave Barcelona the crucial away goal that they needed, which meant they went through to the final. However this night will not be remembered for the great goals or performances, it will be remembered for the abysmal refereeing decisions by Tom Henning Øvrebø. The Norwegian missed numerous penalty shouts, which would have given Chelsea (if converted) a 3-1 or perhaps even 4-1 win. It left the Chelsea fans, pundits, journalists and football managers shocked to see such poor refereeing in such a high profile, important match. A night that no one will forget for all the wrong reasons… Another year, another manager for Chelsea as Carlo Ancelotti was announced as the new manager in the summer. He won 2 European cups as AC Milan manager and Chelsea fans hoped he’d do the same for them. Everything went to plan in the group stages but they were then drawn against Mourinho’s Inter Milan, the first time Chelsea would meet Mourinho since he left in controversial circumstances in 2007. The tale of the two legs in these matches will be remembered by me personally for how tactically outclassed Chelsea were against Inter and how the Blues were made to look like a Conference side at home. Chelsea did not deserve to progress this year and were left more disappointed with their performance in the second leg than anything else. With the final at Wembley Stadium, Chelsea had their eyes fully on the prize again in 2011. However Manchester United would ultimately stand in their way and eventually knock them out yet again. Chelsea had been on a downward spiral ever since Ray Wilkins was dismissed as Ancelotti’s number two, undermining Ancelotti’s management and leaving him a lonely figure on the Stamford Bridge touchline. Yet another Champions League disappointment and yet another sacking of a Chelsea manager, the ‘Double Winning’ Carlo Ancelotti met his fate in the tunnel at Goodison Park immediately at the end of the season. Where would the Chelsea board turn to now? They have sacked previous European Cup winners, previous league winners, managers with real footballing pedigree but none seemed to be good enough for the ruthless Russian owner. The club now in a state of downfall with an ageing squad and a transition period that should have begun a season ago. All of these elements paved the way for the young Porto manager Andre Villas-Boas to take charge at The Bridge. So here we are, a week before Chelsea’s crunch match with Napoli, at home, after being beaten 3-1 in Naples. Will they defy the odds or crash out yet again? Manager Andre Villas-Boas has been sacked after less than 10 months into the job, his very own Chelsea ‘project’. This leaves Roberto Di Matteo in charge of Chelsea until the end of the season. Will the Chelsea legend be able to do what all managers before him have failed to do and finally win the Champions League or join the long list of managers and coaches that ruthless Abramovich has sacked? |
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