The key for Chelsea at the end of the day is Didier Drogba. Can he give Chelsea an out-ball? Can he occupy the Bayern last third, like only he can? And, can he score? Drogba is back to his beastly best because he has once again found a Chelsea manager that totally believes in him. At his best, Drogba offers so much flexibility because of his unique ability to establish a point of attack from virtually any situation, and his selfless work on the defensive side of the ball-game.

Like Messi and Cristiano, Drogba on his day in unplayable. He is a devastating physical phenomenon. He is Chelsea’s man for the big occasion. Starting with that final group game against Valencia through to the last 16 second leg tie against Napoli and to the semis against Barcelona, Drogba has been Chelsea’s match-decider.

Although Bayern have inconvenient selection posers of their own, they still are the favourites.

The absences of Basdtubber and Alaba do mean Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes will have to rejig his defence.

Experienced Ukrainian utility-man Anatoliy Tymoshchuk seems the first choice to step into defence, though Daniel Van Buyten, who recently played in a reserve match, could make a surprise return. The return of Van Buyten in place of Badstuber, in fact, wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing for Bayern. He is a big, rugged defender and doesn’t mind the physical stuff while Badstubber is a more refined defender, the type which Drogba thrives against in his close-quarter battles.

Heynckes, bidding to become only the fourth man to win Europe’s top club crown with two different clubs – joining Ernst Happel, Ottmar Hitzfield and Jose Mourinho – also has the option of playing Diego Contento in Alaba’s place or switching skipper Philipp Lahm to the left and starting Rafinha at rightback.

In midfield, the absence of Gustavo will likely mean a midfield base of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos, with Thomas Mueller in behind top-scorer Mario Gomez, and Franck Ribery and Robben on either flank.

That “front four” of Gomez, Mueller, Ribery and Robben are on their day is as potent as any in world football. They are the munitions room where slow, methodical moves crescendo in football explosions. Bayern love to work triangles in attacking areas and put in crosses for their big man Gomez, and with so much uncertainty over Chelsea’s line-up this cohesion alone gives Bayern a big edge.

Gomez by the way has an amazing scoring record, with 80 goals in 90 appearances for club and country over the past two years and 12 goals in the Champions League this season. Those stats would frighten even a fully fit defence.

Finally, who will win?

The match is almost impossible to call, especially in what has been one of most unpredictable European season in recent memory. There are so many intangibles at play that it really would take a brave soul to call a winner.

It really will come down to who take their chances. The first goal will be vitally important. History tells us that the scorer of the opening goal on such occasions more often than not wins.

It needs no reminding too that discipline and composure are imperative on occasions such as this. The last team to score first and fail to win was Arsenal, but they were down to ten-men. Chelsea, as the away team certainly can’t afford that on Saturday.

Bayern will have more of the ball, it has become their way. The German side have evolved into a cultured team that perhaps is only behind Barcelona in terms of their strategic and meticulous use of the ball. The orchestrator of this symphony is Schweinsteiger and it may be down to Lampard, or whoever is the furthest forward of Chelsea’s midfield three, to disrupt him. Mikel similarly will have on put the brakes the slippery Mueller.

This is a theme you may have noticed. Chelsea no doubt will have to be the disruptors. They have to diffuse the emotion from game and frustrate Bayern. They have to plant the seed of doubt in Bayern, who can be rampant once they are in the groove, as their 7-0 demolition of Basel in the last 16 stage demonstrated, but vulnerable when the script turns, as their 5-2 German Cup final defeat to Borussia Dortmund illustrated.

All the cards, though, seem to be in the hands of Bayern Munich. They are at home and have a more settled feel. They are young, hungry and talented and will be looking to write Bayern’s name into football history by winning a fifth Champions League title.

But, if there is one team that can do the impossible it is Chelsea.

This is a Hollywood movie script – the last chance for this wonderful group of Chelsea lion-hearts to win the Holy Grail.

Yes, it’s game time.

Champions League Final Preview – Part 1

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The Uefa Champions League final is the biggest stage of them all in club football – the “Grand Theatre” where a player can forge immortality.

Few ever get this opportunity, and this year the privilege goes to the players of Bayern Munich – the hosts, coincidentally, for this year’s championship game – and English survivors Chelsea, who few would have expected to get this far.

As is always the case on such occasions, it’s the want of those in the know to predict who the favourites are. In this regard the German hosts have to be favoured, even with Chelsea’s heroics this season.

Both sides, though, go into Saturday’s grand finale substantially hamstrung by suspensions to key players.

In all, seven players will miss the final. Bayern are missing exciting leftback David Alaba, German international centreback Holger Badstuber and midfield workhorse Luis Gustavo. Chelsea, on the other hand, will be without inspirational captain John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires as well as Raul Meireles – all of whom have been critical in the Blues’ unlikely run to the Allianz Arena showpiece.

For Chelsea, Saturday’s showdown – with its accompanying suspensions – is fraught with strategic riddles in the chess-match that is always a Champions League final.

Chelsea simultaneously not only have to employ a form of counterattack, but also have to somehow impose their style if they are to have any hopes of claiming victory.

As former Chelsea boss Avram Grant said in the build-up, this final will come down to who takes their chances and this truer for Roberto Di Matteo’s side, as most question marks surround them.

With so many suspensions and injuries doubts it has, for example, become a point of interest whether Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres will start up-front together. It has been mooted that Di Matteo has tried this in training. For the record, Drogba and Torres haven’t started together in the 19 games since Di Matteo took over at Stamford Bridge. In total the two have been on the pitch simultaneously on only seven occasions – for a total of 132 minutes.

That stat aside, it would represent a significant risk on the part of Di Matteo to experiment with two out-and-out strikers, especially in what is essentially an away match.

It is more likely he will go with a variant of Chelsea’s tested 4-3-3.

With both Ramires and Meireles out it’s intriguing how Chelsea’s midfield, where the game could be won or lost, will shape up. One would suspect Michael Essien will return to the fold, with Mikel sitting in front of the back four and Frank Lampard the furthest forward of the central midfield trio.

Mikel has been outstanding since his reintroduction into the team by Di Matteo and Chelsea’s rise can quite reasonably be linked to his commanding form. Teams have cultures, and Chelsea is the team of Claude Makelele fame. In his time Jose Mourinho established a blueprint that this current group of players are most comfortable with – that is, a midfield three with an anchorman at its defensive base.

This is always Chelsea’s most prudent option.

Having Essien in there as part of this trio will also assist leftback Ashley Cole.

The right flank is probably Bayern’s most productive channel with Philipp Lahm and Arjen Robben forming a world-class wing combination. If Juan Mata is, as expected, posted out on the left, consistently reliable protection for Cole will have to be sourced from somewhere within Chelsea’s setup. Mata is a responsible footballer but he doesn’t enjoy defending. When he does he isn’t a natural defender and could give away fouls in dangerous areas.

Mikel and Essien in tandem would also, crucially, allow Lampard to enjoy a less restricted role, a role that requires a little less defensive responsibility. Let’s face it, the deeper pair of Chelsea midfielders is unlikely to venture much, and if Lampard is one of the two it will diminish his strengths.

The defence is the real crisis area for Di Matteo.

All logic says David Luiz and Gary Cahill will start in central defence, even if they’ve both been struggling with hamstring injuries. There are simply no other viable options for a game of this magnitude. Of course, a worst case scenario would be starting both Luiz and Cahill and then 30 minutes into the game being forced into substitutions, a makeshift defence – with only one more change available over possibly 120 minutes.

But it’s a risk Di Matteo has to take such is the offensive power and mobility Bayern possess. Makeshift centrebacks are not an option.

Champions League Final Preview – Part 2

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The current Champions League holders drew a blank on Italian soil, as both teams failed to break down stubborn defenses in Milan. Barcelona will hold a slight advantage with the second leg at the Nou Camp, but on a night with few chances, Milan will be disappointed it didn’t make it count.

It was a frantic start. Barcelona looked half asleep, as it gifted the ball to Milan in the opening minutes, culminating in a great chance for Boateng, and an even better chance for Robinho, who volleyed over from no more than six yards. But Lionel Messi was beginning to get into his stride, testing Abbiati from the edge of the box and inter-linking nicely with his teammates.

Last year’s winners had a big appeal for a penalty turned down, when Alexis Sanchez was brought down by Abbiati after a neatly worked free-kick, but the referee waved the shouts away. Barcelona was getting on top though, and had a goal disallowed for offside minutes later, when Messi went too early to meet a Dani Alves cross.

Milan wasn’t taking the pressure lying down though, and almost went ahead, as the ex-Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ran through on goal but was denied by Victor Valdes. It was a typically fraught encounter between two attack-minded teams, but the away side definitely had the upper hand, as Milan failed to keep possession regularly enough to pose a threat.

The game was evenly poised as half-time approached, the world champions Barcelona threatened with no end product, whilst Milan had the odd opportunity on the counter-attack, but couldn’t find a route to goal.

The second half started much like the first had ended: Barcelona was doing most of the pressing, but Milan had to make a change when Robinho fell awkwardly and was replaced by El Shaarawy. Guardiola was beginning to grow frustrated by the lack of chances being created, and took Andres Iniesta off for youngster Cristian Tello, in hopes of getting a crucial away goal.

Urby Emanuelson was also thrown into the action with twenty minutes to go, and instead of the game becoming stretched, defenses tightened, as Milan looked even more likely to sit back and soak up the pressure, frustrating Barcelona further, as the 2011 winners failed to find a way through the stubborn defense.

As the clock ticked down, so did the chances of either team grabbing a crucial lead to take back to Spain. Messi came closest, forcing a good save from Abbiati, and Tello was denied by a last ditch block from Ambrosini, with the goal gaping. There were no more clear-cut chances, and the referee brought time on an anti-climactic second half, as both teams prepare to do it all again in Barcelona next week.

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Atletico Madrid drew at Sanchez Pizjuan against Sevilla on Saturday. Simeone’s team dominated the first half while Sevilla controlled the second half. The draw was a fair result for both squads who did not show enough ambition to claim the victory by maintaining the fight for the champions league place, which belongs to Malaga, four points ahead.

First Half

The Argentinean Toto Salvio connected a header into the bottom corner after a lovely delivery from the left wing by Gaby in the eight minute. Sevilla, despite their supporters, could not keep the ball and generate any danger to the Belgian keeper, Courtois.

Atletico Madrid won the battle to Seville in the midfield with four players (Tiago, Gabi, Mario and Koke) against Ratikic and Medel, who were unable to stop the charges of Salvio and Adrian from the wings.

Salvio was the biggest problem for the Sevilla defenders; The Argentinean had two more chances to extend Atletico’s advantage, but an inspirited Palop saved them. Atletico seemed to run out of stamina after half an hour.

Reyes, playing against his former club, tried a curly shoot from the right side but he missed the goal by inches in the 34th minute. Before the end of the first half, Kanoute came closer to making the equaliser but his header went away from the goal.

Second Half

Sevilla’s manager Michel introduced midfielder Trochoswki to balance his team and get more possession of the ball. Also Kanoute went to the top diamond position to give a hand creating more play for his teammate.

Soon the change improved Sevilla’s performance and Navas was the sharpest player in the right flank, creating many problems for Atletico’s defenders. Sevilla drew the match in the 53th minute when Navas whipped an excellent cross to stricker Baba who only had to choose side to score.

Simeone did not have any answers to stop the Sevilla offensive. Reyes shot a free kick from the right side but Courtois rejected it in the 60th minute. Twelve minutes later, Navas again delivery a perfect ball to Reyes’s head but the Atletico keeper saved it perfectly.

Sevilla almost got the win in the 89th minute, but the referee, Alfonso Álvarez disallowed correctly Manu del Moral’s goal for offside. The result left both Sevilla and Atletico Madrid levelled on 33 points in 11th and 10th respectively.

After the match, Simeone and Michel agreed that the result was fair for both teams and they still have their hopes to reach champions Leagues position.

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As expected, Spanish giants Barcelona cruised to a predictable, if somewhat unimpressive, win over Viktoria Plzen, recording a 2-0 score line over the Czech side, and strengthening their position in the battle with AC Milan for top spot in the group. The breakthrough came early for Barcelona, and was the result of excellent play from Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi.

The little maestro played a delicate ball into the box and to the feet of the waiting Andres Iniesta, who then calmly placed the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net, to the delight of the home crowd.

Despite enjoying near total domination over the visitors, Barca were unable to add their solitary goal in the first half, however the performances of players such as Messi, Iniesta and David Villa indicated that it was surely just a matter of time before they added to their lead after the interval.

Whilst Barca were enjoying a pass success rate of 93% and a total of 14 shots to Plzen’s 0, halfway through the second half, they were still unable to extend their lead over the visitors. Despite no change to the score line, home and visiting fans alike were treated to a show of exquisite football from Messi, with the player exhibiting his full range of tricks, nutmegs, and deft touches.

If Messi’s triumphant display wasn’t enough for Barca fans, Villa soon gave them something to cheer about with his side’s second goal of the game. Messi collected a neat through ball from Villa, and when tackled by the Plzen centre-back, the ball bobbled loose to the onrushing Villa who calmly stroked the ball into the bottom corner of the goal.

The home side came close to adding a third when Pedro broke into the box and instead of attempting a shot himself, passed the ball onto Villa, but the attacker did not have the pace to get to the ball in time, and the attack fizzled out.

Whilst many will be disappointed to not have seen Barcelona score more than their two goals tonight, the game was never in doubt, and Pep Guardiola will be happy enough with his team’s overall performance, if not with their ability to finish off chances.

The win does however keep them level with AC Milan at the top of the group, and sets up a match against the Italian side which will most likely decide the winner of the group.

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Champions League soccer has started up again, and last week showed great matches that foreshadowed how great the championship will get once we get into the knockout stages. Here is a quick recap of the matches played last week’s Tuesday.

CSKA Moscow 2:3 Inter Milan

Inter Milan fill in a second place in Group B after winning their second match in the group stages against CSKA Moscow. Lucio foreshadowed how the match was going to end when he put the ball in the back of the net six minutes into the first half. Giampaolo Pazzini added another goal to Inter Milan’s side in the 23^rd minute, while CSKA Moscow showed no signs of catching up.

However, CSKA Moscow was able to put a goal on the scoreboard just before the end of the first half, thanks to a shot from Alan Dzagoev. The second half of the match was a hard fought battle until the 77^th minute, when Vagner Love was able to tie up the match for CSKA Moscow at two goals apiece.

Although the tying goal seemed to give a shimmer of hope to the Russians, Inter Milan’s Mauro Zarate was able to score a minute later, securing Inter Milan the victory.

Bayern Munich 2:0 Manchester City

Bayern Munich was able to stay top of the lead in Group A after a two goal win against Manchester City. Mario Gomez scored two goals in seven minutes for Bayern Munich at the end of the first half, and the German side was able to hold the lead against a strong-sided Manchester City.

The English side was unable to control their discipline throughout the match, which led to stoppage of play that slowed the momentum of any Manchester City attack. The constant stoppage of play left the second half of the match uneventful.

Napoli 2:0 Villarreal

Napoli was able to convert two goals in the first 20 minutes and secure the win at home against a strong Villarreal team. Marik Hamsik was able to put a shot in the back of the net after 14 minutes of what seemed a close match.

Three minutes later, after a foul committed in the box by Villarreal player Gonzalo, Edinson Cavani was able to score on the penalty shot to double Napoli’s lead. The rest of the match was a struggle, with Villarreal trying desperately to capitalize on their attacking attempts and Napoli holding the fort down in defense.

Real Madrid 3:0 Ajax

Real Madrid continues to lead their group after getting a second win against Ajax. Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo was first to score within 25 minutes of the first half. The rest of the first half was an equal battle; however, Real Madrid would capitalize on another scoring chance four minutes before the end of the first half off the boot of Kaká.

This gave Real Madrid a two goal lead going into the second half. The final goal of the match came only four minutes into the second half, when Karim Benzema put the ball in the back of the net and secured the win for the Spanish side.

Ajax played strongly throughout the match, but was unable to capitalize on scoring chances. The Dutch team is still in the running to place for the knockout stages as long as they can pull themselves out of this scoreless draught.

Trabzonspor 1:1 Lille

Trabzonspor made their way to the top of their group by obtaining a necessary point in their draw against the French Lille. The Turkish team did not get off to a good start, with Lille’s Moussa Sow scoring the first goal in the 30^th minute of the match. Trabzonspor and Lille continued to battle throughout the first half, but both teams were able to put the ball in the net.

The tying goal came after a foul by a Lille defender in their penalty box, leading to a penalty kick. Trabzonspor’s Gustavo Colman stepped up and put the ball passed the Lille goalkeeper in the 75^th minute. After another 15 minutes of good soccer, no one on either side was able to capitalize on their scoring chances, leading to the 1-1 draw.

Manchester United 3:3 FC Basel

The match between Manchester United and FC Basel was one of the most exciting matches of last week’s Champions League matchups. With Manchester United needing a win and FC Basel hoping to secure their spot at the top of the group, both teams put on a show for the fans.

Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck came out flying in the first half, scoring two goals in the 16^th and 17^th minute. With the tension starting to show on many of the FC Basel squad, the first half ended with FC Basel trailing by two goals. However, FC Basel’s Fabian Frei was able to score in the 58^th minute.

Two minutes later, FC Basel striker Alexander Frei tied up the match after putting a shot passed Manchester United’s David De Gea. Alexander Frei would then come back 16 minutes later to score again, giving FC Basel the 3-2 lead.

With Manchester United frantically trying to recuperate and secure a point, the English were finally able to break down the Swiss defense and score in injury time off the boot of Ashley Young.

Lyon 2:0 Dinamo Zagreb

Lyon were able to get their first win of the Champions League season to bump them up to second place in their group, while Dinamo Zagreb lose for a second time to put them at the bottom of the group.

Lyon seemed to be the stronger side throughout the match, coming close on several attacking chances. The French side was able to capitalize on a scoring chance in the 23^rd minute off the boot of Bafetimbi Gomis, giving them the lead. The second and final goal of the match was scored by Lyon’s Bakary Kone in the 42^nd minute.

Dinamo Zagreb did not have many opportunities to score during the match; but when they did, the Croatian side was unable to get a good handle of the ball in order to get it passed the Lyon goalkeeper.

Otelul Galati 0:1 Benfica

The Romanian team Otelul Galati had a hard time trying to break down the Benfica defense, being unable to get many scoring chances by the visibly stronger side. Both teams went back and forth on the attack, testing each other, until Bruno César was able to find a weak point and get a goal in the 40^th minute for Benfica.

Otelul Galati and Benfica seemed evenly matched going into the game, but the Portuguese side was able to hold their ground and secure the win that brings them to second place of the group.
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Premier League title holder Manchester United had a record revenue of €334.1 million ($462 million) this past year. After paying off debts — including the €50 million owed for the purchasing of De Gea, Ashley Young, and Phil Jones, the Red Devils will have made a €110.9 million profit.

Wayne Rooney’s new €180,000 per week deal also takes a chunk out of the newfound profit, along with 16% rise in staff costs. The record-breaking revenue has been the largest revenue the team has seen since the early 2000’s. According to Andy Green, who spoke to The Guardian about this topic, the club has been fighting a long battle with debt since 2005.

According to Green, €478 million has been spent in order to pay of this debt, with most of it coming from interest fees. Along with winning the Premier League title, Manchester United also made it to the finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Although losing the match to a strong side in FC Barcelona, the publicity that the Red Devils received got them more viewers and more companies willing to spend money to get in the spotlight as well.
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Tonight the Champions League Final saw the English and Spanish domestic trophy holders clash for the undisputed title of being the best team in Europe. Both teams entered the Final with 3 Champions League trophies to their name; to win this 4^th trophy would mean that they could take their place in history alongside the European legends of Liverpool,  Ajax, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Manchester United had the majority of the possession in the first 15 minutes, white shirts hounded the Barcelona defence but their attacks came to nothing more than a few brief encounters in and around the box.

Finally Barcelona got up to operating temperature and Pedro sent the ball wide after some quick football from David Villa and Xavi – there was much more of that to come.

Two more shots came from David Villa which went even closer than Pedro’s effort and Manchester United must have been yearning to get back to the possession they had enjoyed during the early minutes – Barcelona were settling into their ominously predictable, unpredictable forays from midfield.

United were not going to be spared from the brilliance of Lionel Messi it seemed, his first real action was to make four United players look like statues as he dribbled the ball past them. Minutes after, he was denied a clear shot on goal only by a perfect tackle from Vidic.

At this point Sir Alex Ferguson had left his seat and joined Pep Guardiola on the touchline to try command his men back on course. Whatever he was ordering was not in time to stop Pedro scoring first. A pass from Villa, probably not the most dangerous of the night so far, found its way to Pedro who had plenty of time to slot the ball into an opening at the near post.

After half an hour Barcelona had completed 265 passes compared to a mere 100 from Manchester United, however Wayne Rooney was about to show that his team was not fazed by the Barcelona possession. Great link-up play between Ryan Giggs and Rooney led to a shot being fired from 16 yards out which sailed past Victor Valdes and into the net. It was back to level again and game on.

The goal did not mark the start of a United charge, Barcelona still threatened. Iniesta launched a shot from range which wasn’t far off, but an even closer chance was at the very end of the half when Villa supplied a pass across the goal mouth which Messi at full stretch narrowly missed connecting with.

The half time whistle blew dead on the 45 minute mark. It was a half that was relentlessly quick, neither side had sought to reduce the tempo of the game and I’m sure the break came as an unwelcome distraction to two teams who both looked incredibly focussed.

After the resumption of play there was clearly little change in either of the teams tactics, neither manager had made a substitution and Barcelona were back on the offensive with United trying to break their spells of possession.

It was at this point in the game that Barcelona looked most menacing. Their pressure was relentless and tiring for the Manchester United defence who could not anticipate what was coming from a team who did not use a striker but instead attacked from midfield.

Lionel Messi scored his 53^rd goal of the season in the 53^rd minute in spectacular fashion, firing a shot from 25 yards out and past Edwin Van Der Sar who, on a better day, would have saved it. It really was an excellent goal from Messi, a player who has made excellence a habit – his manager was jubilant but seemed unsurprised at his prodigy’s goal.

Messi was fouled for the 3^rd time by Antonio Valencia who seemed intent on keeping him on the floor, but in typical fashion, the most prolific scorer in La Liga returned to his feet without complaint and proceeded to terrorise the Manchester defence and midfield.

Dani Alves received a yellow card just before 60 minutes for tripping Patrice Evra and soon after Micheal Carrick was booked for a very late tackle on Andres Iniesta. Overall, it was to be a very good performance from the Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai.

Barcelona had Manchester United in the corner, their constant attacks and swift passing left the English Champions looking punch drunk. Dani Alves could have delivered the knockout blow at 64 minutes after a Barcelona attack had left the United defence dangerously exposed.

Sir Alex Ferguson tried change his fortunes by removing the flagging full back Fabio and replacing him with Nani. No substitution could have prevented Iniesta’s shot in the 66^th minute however, it was a 20 yard curling strike which looped into the top corner, Van Der Sar could have done nothing this time.

The trophy engraver had probably started carving FC Barcelona’s name into the massive Champions League cup at this point – Man United showed no sign of getting back into the game.

The remaining 20 minutes were a little more contested, Giggs threatened and Nani shot but their attacks were not carried out with the relentless conviction Barcelona had displayed throughout.

Puyol came on after 87 minutes, the captain had played no starting role in the final but it was only right that such a key figure in their Champions League campaign was on the pitch to savour the moment the final whistle blew.

When it did Sir Alex Ferguson looked dejected but you could see that he knew his team had been wholly outclassed on the night – he would have to wait another year to play Barcelona, who would almost certainly be in the final if they remain at this exemplary standard.

I don’t think anybody would have left Wembley tonight feeling short changed, a ticket to the final bought a seat to witness some beautiful football. It is hard to see how anyone can come close to Barcelona in the near future if they can dispatch Manchester United with such ease.

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