2011-2012 Champions League Final Preview

Let me first start by admitting that I didn’t have a clue as to how and from where should I start this preview. Then there was the dilemma of whether to keep it short and sweet or making you scroll down a lot till you reach the end. 

The 2005 Champions League Final at Istanbul was the first UCL Final I watched live. Watching the competition religiously from that day on I realized that here is a competition won purely on an emotional level rather than what happens during those 90 minutes on the pitch (extra time and penalties in some cases)

Regarding the Champions League, I have this ‘theory of destiny’ as I’d like to call it. Looking at the teams and players that have won the competition I doubt anyone can raise a finger remarking that these particular groups of players didn’t deserve to step on the podium and collect the winner’s medal. 

One thing common - They have a UCL Winners Medal

 I started watching football in the year 2002. That was the year where a bald man and another player who I rate higher than Lionel Messi stole my heart and made me ditch Cricket for good. Ten years down the line when I look at the winners of Europe’s top prize at the club level I see the names of Zidane , Raul , Pirlo , Nesta , Kaka , Maldini , Shevchenko , Henry , Eto’o , Deco , Rooney , Ronaldo , Ronaldinho , Gerrard ,    Iniesta , Xavi , Messi and I get this feeling that these players were born to lift this trophy. 

Such players come once in a generation and you get the feeling that they just couldn’t have retired from the game without having won the Champions League. It would be really heartbreaking for them if after years of playing the beautiful game with a passion, determination not seen by many they didn’t have a UCL winner’s medal on display in their trophy cabinet. 

And it is for this very reason that I think this year is Chelsea’s year. 

John Terry - Let's win it for him 

If there was ever a poll for the best team / best set of players never to have won the Champions League, Chelsea and its players would top it. The ‘nearly men’ in this competition have stumbled time and again before the finishing line in the form of crazy substitutions, ghost goals, bad refereeing. A penalty kick away from lifting the cup and still not crowned winners, this team has witnessed everything when it comes to how to snatch defeats from the jaws of victory. 

Time to right those wrongs once and for all

With defeat in 4 semi finals and 1 final in the past 8 years what is it that gives Chelsea a ‘ so near , yet so far ’ definition in this competition despite having the ‘ big game ’ mentality amongst its players is what I ask myself each team Chelsea crash out of the competition. But I won’t be asking myself this question this time round. A case of unfinished business reckons for the men in blue this time round. 

Chelsea's Old Guard - Just that one trophy needed 

Most of these players that’ll be playing the game of their lives have come a long way in their careers to be at such a stage. The ‘Old Guard’ or the ‘Spine’ of this Chelsea side led by their captain John Terry accompanied by Frank Lampard , Didier Drogba and Petr Cech have been through the up’s and down’s that this team has faced over the past 8 years. But it’s this one final piece that they need to complete the jigsaw. In this list we must not forget Ashley Cole who many rate as the world’s best left back in the past decade. Being on the loser’s side at two previous finals, he’d want to make it 3^rd time lucky. These players have a huge fan following the world over with one of them having a God like status in his country. They very well know that you don’t win silver, you lose gold. With most of these players being on the wrong side of 30, this could be the last European Cup Finals they’d be playing. This is their best chance to sign off in the best way possible. Nobody remembers the team that loses the final. For this group to be included in football folklore, they need to lift the ‘Holy Grail’ come 19^th May. 

Alliaz Arena - All decked up for the 19th

Bayern's Feared Trio - Ribery , Robben and Gomez

On the other hand Bayern Munich, the opponents, too have a date with destiny. Runners-up in the 2010 final, they now have a chance to silence critics by playing the final at their home stadium. The Allianz Arena boasts a capacity of 69,900 which will play a big role in making sure Bayern feels very much at home. This season has been one to forget for Germany’s most successful club, having finished runners-up in their domestic league and cup. They now are just a Final away from sending the city into a euphoria last witnessed in 2001. Talent flows in this team in the form of Neuer, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Robben, Ribery, Muller and Gomez. They are a neutral’s delight to watch when they are at their attacking best. 

But when it comes to who wants this trophy more, it’s the team in blue that’ll be more motivated. Chelsea shouldn’t be in the final in the first place. For many the last 16 tie was as good as over after the 3-1 defeat to Napoli, sacking the manager and appointing his assistant as interim manager between the two legs made matters even worse. The match at the Nou Camp was a foregone conclusion with the team facing a 2-0 defeat having to score a goal with 10 men. It could have been game set and match had Messi scored from the spot. I shouldn’t be writing this preview at all but I have, Chelsea shouldn’t be playing the final in the first place. But here we are. 

Needs the ' Holy Grail ' to complete his ' Roman ' Empire

From Chelsea’s point of view if there’s one man who wants Chelsea to win more than anyone, it is Roman Abramovich. The man changed the clubs fortunes in 2003 and has ever since set his eyes on winning the Europe’s biggest prize. A man who gives little or no importance to the manager’s past reputation with a ‘win something or you’re out’ manner of running the club now has the chance to get what he always desired. Millions has been spent on finding the man who would end this drought. Fans have seen a world cup winning manager fired before the season could even end. Master tacticians and past winners of the competition as managers in the likes of Mourinho, Hiddink and Ancelotti have failed to deliver for Chelsea at the continental level. 

Roberto Di Matteo - Will he succeed where others have failed ?

The club now has a man who two years back was managing a club in England’s second division and now is at the brink of being a club legend. 4^th March 2012 was the day the course of Chelsea’s faltering season would change. The team was staring at elimination from the competition at the hands of a 3-1 first leg defeat at the hands of Napoli, a top 4 finish was looking dead and buried. 

Fast forward to the 3^rd week of May and ex Chelsea player and now interim manager Roberto Di Matteo has led the club to its 7^th FA CUP win and 2^nd UCL Final. From a season to forget, the Italian has given fans new hope and a reason to download the 2011-2012 season review. He is on the verge of winning the club its first Champions League Trophy but despite this there's absolutely no guarantee if he'll be the manager for Chelsea's first game of the next season.

Besides pride and reputation , there is also a lot on money at stake. Unlike Bayern Munich, Chelsea isn’t assured of playing the Champions League the next season which brings a whole new dimension into their approach to the game. It couldn't be any simpler for them – win the competition and play it the next season. Winning Europe’s big prize would earn Chelsea 49.2m GBP plus another 5.8m GBP for qualifying and playing each group game of next season’s Champions League (5.8m GBP without the result bonus in the group stage). Should they lose to Bayern Munich, they’d be playing the UCL’s poor cousin The Europa League next season that offers peanuts ( Atletico Madrid got 6m GBP as prize money for winning ) compared to the UCL. With the Financial Fair Play coming into implementation, not playing the Champions League is something which a club like Chelsea can simply not afford. To attract players in the transfer market in the coming summer , the lure of the Champions League is something that Chelsea have to offer. 

Coming to the two teams now (Too much pre-match talk, I know) both teams have a whole lot of players suspended for the Final.  

 

Chelsea – Considering how much winning the UCL means to him, John Terry couldn’t have asked for a worse match to be suspended for. Besides their talismanic captain, Chelsea will be without defender Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and Ramires. David Luiz and Gary Cahill are winning the race to be fit for Saturday's grand spectacle, should they not recover in time, expect the likes of Bosingwa , Essien to play in the heart of defence . 

JT’s presence and Ramires’s energy is impossible to replace but Di Matteo cannot and will not think about the people who won’t be playing but instead make the best of the players that are available. 

The likes of Mikel and Kalou have taken to RDM like a duck to water and I’m expecting the duo to start. Luiz, should he start has the best occasion to hit back at those who question his defending. 

The reason why I have included Malouda is that RDM won’t change his formation for such a big game and start Torres and Drogba in the same game. Essien hasn’t been the same player since his return from injury. Sturridge has been the shadow of the player he was at the start of the season, plus he isn’t very good at tracking back. Malouda has the experience and is much better defensively than the Englishman. The Frenchman is rated as ' touch and go ' by Di Matteo due to the injury he picked up. Fingers crossed that he makes it

Chelsea's Starting 11 

Bayern Munich - Coached by Jupp Heynckes , the German giants will be without the suspended trio of David Alaba ( left back ) , Holger Badstuber ( center back ) and Luiz Gustavo ( midfielder ) . Alaba's darting runs down the left hand side will be sorely missed. His replacement should be in the form of Diego Contento . 


Without Badstuber , it should be Tymoschchuk who will play alongside Boateng . Van Buyten who made his return from injury in a reserve game may be short of match fitness. If there's an area for Chelsea to exploit it is their center back pairing. 

Heynckes has played Toni Kroos as an attacking midfielder playing just behind the forward for majority of their European campaign , but with Gustavo suspended , Kroos should start this game in a more defensive role by playing alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger as the two midfielders in front of the back 4. 


One cannot write a preview without saying what Ribery and Robben bring to Bayern's attacking play . The duo will provide the much needed width down the flanks . With tricks and pace up the duo's sleeve , Chelsea's full-backs have their work cut out .  Expect 22 year old Thomas Muller to get the nod and play as the supporting striker behind Mario Gomez . 


Bayern Munich Starting 11

With Both Teams playing a 4-2-3-1 , here's where the game could be won or lost. 

Drogba and Gomez - The Hitmen for the Final 

1) The Forward vs the 2 center backs 


a) Didier Drogba - Going by the reception that he received from the fans and Roman during Chelsea’s home game against Blackburn, this could very well be his last game in a Chelsea shirt. What better way to sign off than with a Champions league win. He knows how close he was to winning it on that night at Moscow and he now has a chance to right those wrongs. Has won cup finals on his own and will be up and running against Boateng and Tymoschuk. If there’s an Achilles heel in the Bayern side, it is their center backs. If on song, the 34 year old Ivorian could give the duo a game to forget.  He’s Chelsea’s best chance of winning the UCL for the first time.

b) Vice Versa for Chelsea , Mario Gomez goes into this game having hit 41 goals this season in all competitions. Should Luiz/Cahill or both not recover (we’re fucked then) in time, Gomez is very capable of giving Bosingwa and co a torrid time at Munich. 

2) The Battle in the Midfield 

a) Malouda and Cole vs Robben and Lahm – Cole will have to be at the top of his game to keep the Dutchman quiet. Malouda will need to work in tandem with Cole to neutralize Bayern’s attacks down the right hand side.

Franck Ribery - Mr Scarface would want to leave his MARK

b) Whoever marks Franck Ribery has to play one of his best games in a Chelsea shirt. The Frenchman has put his injuries behind and despite not having won anything this season seems to in the form of his life . He's my man to watch from the Bayern Munich team . Is an absolute live wire in terms of speed and dribbling and also has a good eye for goal . Could cause Chelsea a whole lot of problems if given the time and the space on the ball . 

Schweinsteiger vs Lampard - Who is going to come out on top ? 

c) Sitting Midfielders – On paper Schweinsteiger and Kroos look the better midfielders. Lampard vs Bastian is a duel I am eagerly awaiting. Two of the best box to box midfielders go head to head at the Allianz Arena.

 John Obi Mikel has improved by leaps and bounds ever since Di Matteo got over . Hoping that the occasion doesn’t get the better of him. One of the players who fans don’t rate that high but trust me when I say this that he has one of the most important roles to play for Chelsea on Saturday .

Could he be the ' JUAN ' to win it 

d) Juan Mata - CFC Player of the season in his debut year. Would want to go to the Euros in the best of moods with a win at the Allianz Arena. Chelsea’s most creative player in the side will have to have a good game and feed Drogba with those through balls. I hate to say this but I hope it’s Lampard who takes the corners and not him. One area where I think Mata is not up to the mark is his set piece delivery.

Thomas Muller - Mr Tap In 

e) I really like Thomas Muller. A player who no one would talk in detail in the pre match previews but the 22 year old just turns up at the right place at the right time to be spoken about in the post match reviews. Another reason why Cahill and Luiz starting is so important  With most of the focus being on Gomez , Ribery and Robben it is this fellow who could spring a few surprises at the Allianz Arena. Do not ignore him Chelsea defenders.




3) The Goalkeepers - Manuel Neuer vs Petr Cech

Neuer and Cech - Pillars between the sticks

With most of the talk been done about the attacking threat posed by both sides , Saturday's final also pits two of Europe's best goal-keepers against each other. Many consider the 26yr old Neuer to be the best in the business. Germany's number one goalkeeper is a commanding presence in the box .

On the other hand we have 29yr old Petr Cech who may be past his prime but would want to remind critics that he can never be written of. Without the presence of their captain John Terry , Cech will play a crucial role in keeping the defence organized . If asked to pick , it'll be him who'll be the busier of the two keepers

Prediction - With the prospect of an El- Classico Final been thrown out the window,  the football world has got the match of the underdogs. It's Red versus Blue as football's two primary colours go head to head at Europe's biggest stage. We’ve got a real good match on our hands. I don't need to say which team will I be rooting for. Chelsea play in a Champions League Final 1460 days after that night to forget in Moscow. It is their date with destiny . 2-1 to Chelsea with the man from the Ivory Coast signing off  in the best way possible.

And let's dump those Yids in the Europa League #freeluka

P.S - There will be two things that follow regardless of who the winner is - Alcohol and Tears