There's a few sore heads this morning here at 'FA Cup Vinyl' as the dreaded Monday has arrived, heightened by the fact that our heads are sore due to celebrating the incredible football event we witnessed on Saturday night in Munich. We thought we had seen it all in last weekend's Premier League title race when Sergio Aguero's 93rd minute strike helped end Manchester City's 44 year wait for the league title, but boy we were wrong.
For the three people in Berkshire who don't know the outcome of one of the most dramatic finals in Champions League history, Chelsea upset the odds and defeated the German Giants Bayern Munich in their own backyard, the Allianz Arena.
Unbelievable is a word that is thrown around a lot in football but it perfectly describes the events of what happened in Saturday's Champions League Final.
The team that finished 6th in the league behind the two Manchester clubs, their London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham and Newcastle are now Champions of Europe. It's hard to believe and while it's soul-crushing heartache for those Bayern fans to lose on your home ground, it's the sweetest of victories for the blue of London to win it in such an emphatic fashion.
Simply put, the reason of Chelsea's success on Saturday night is down to two words and they are Didier Drogba.
That's not to say there wasn't other star performers in Chelsea's team that night with the whole team putting in a great effort, but notable performances from stand in captain Frank Lampard, who put in an unbelievable shift and full credit to Petr Cech who's brilliant goalkeeping kept Chelsea in the match.
But Drogba showed what brilliant performers do in big games and that's score. The stats don't lie, Drogba has an amazing record of scoring nine goals in nine cup final appearances for Chelsea, and when Drogba scored that 88th minute equaliser to send the match into extra time it showed two things, Drogba never shys away from the big occasions and that goal showed Chelsea's sheer determination, they weren't going to give up.
But another reason Chelsea arrived home with another piece of silverware in their hands, is down to Bayern's poor finishing. 20 shots at goal, 8 shots on target with no success, and when they finally did score in the 83rd minute with a Thomas Muller header, they thought they had won the tie. Big mistake. In this season, we have been shown anything can happen and while Bayern tried to shut up shop by introducing humongous 6ft 6in Belgian defender and wannabe James Bond villain Van Buyten, Chelsea rallied and took the game to penalties.
That's not to say before penalties there wasn't some more drama, Drogba playing another part in deciding Chelsea's fate after removing the nearly engraved name of Bayern on the trophy with his equaliser moments before, he was then his own enemy when in the first half of extra time he fouled Frank Ribery in the box, it seemed all his hard work in rescuing Chelsea from the brink was about to be undone.
Arjen Robben stepped up to the spot, the former Chelsea man who could end his old club's hopes of claiming their first Champions League final if he scored from 12 yards. If he scored. But in a moment that probably summed up Bayern's night, his effort was saved by Cech.
Disheartened and in dismay not only Robben but the rest of Bayern and possibly Germany, they duly carried on and the world nervously waited for the outcome when penalties loomed.
Was this to be Chelsea's night after they bravely hung in for 120 minutes from a Bayern onslaught? It appeared not when Juan Mata, Chelsea's first penalty taker's effort was saved by Manuel Neuer. The Germans are known for their efficiency in penalties as England have experienced all too well. Once again the game was on a knife edge as déjà vu was rearing its ugly head as the event was all so similar to Chelsea's Moscow nightmare when they lost four years ago in the same circumstances to Manchester United. With Bayern then leading 3-1 in the shootout, it seemed Chelsea's nightmare was about to reoccur. But the thing with penalty shootouts is, one goalkeeper is always a hero, it wasn't to be Manuel Neuer.
Seemingly on the brink of devastation once again, Petr Cech emerged victorious in the goalkeeper battle, as he denied Ivica Olic, who had impressed since coming on and the turning point in the shootout, when he pushed Bastian Schweinsteiger's effort on the post and back out of danger, leaving the next Chelsea penalty taker the chance to be the hero for them after Frank Lampard's, David Luiz's and Ashley Cole's superb penalties had brought them even.
With all this drama surrounding this match after the extraordinary events that took place throughout some of the most nervous 2 hours of football we've seen, it seemed only right that Drogba had the chance to win Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich the coveted prize he has so desired.
Unlike his former team mate Robben, when Drogba stepped up to the spot with what may be his last ever kick for Chelsea, he scored, winning the Champions League for his team.
In a 8 year stint at Chelsea, Drogba has claimed an amazing trophy collection of 3 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups, 2 Carling Cups and 2 FA Community Shields, but none will have been sweeter than his spot kick winning the trophy in front of the Bayern fans.
Full credit to Drogba, who may have not been one of the most liked players in his illustrious career with the West London club, but he certainly commands respect and with this performance he has perhaps cemented his place as being one of the best strikers to have graced the Premier League and regardless of what you think about him, if he does leave this summer he will be sorely missed by everyone.
Credit to players but also to Roberto Di Matteo, who in a short time as 'interim first team coach' has not only delivered the prize that Chelsea and Roman Abramovich have wanted for so long but the FA Cup also, completing a brilliant cup double. If anyone deserves the Chelsea job it is him, who has remained humble and dodged questions about his Chelsea future while delivering success, not once but twice. 'FA Cup Vinyl' can only say it would be a travesty if he is not named Chelsea manager on a full-time basis. But if he isn't named Chelsea boss, he can leave with his head held high and surely walk into any top job knowing he has done himself and his family who he was celebrating with, proud.
As Jamie Redknapp summed up on Sky Sports 'Chelsea's season has defied logic', and as the cameras left the Allianz Arena watching Chelsea's celebrations, it seemed appropriate that Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' was playing, summing up Chelsea's unremarkable journey to being 'The Champions of Europe'.
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