CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 2012 – Chelsea v Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich host Chelsea in Saturday’s Champions League final. Chelsea arrived in the Bavarian capital hoping to become Champions of Europe at Munich’s sold-out Allianz Arena. The last time Chelsea reached the Champions League final in 2008 they lost on penalties to Manchester United with striker Didier Drogba dismissed in extra time for a slap on United defender Nemanja Vidic.
Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League after the club lifted the FA Cup and defeated Barcelona on the way to the Champions League final. New Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has breathed new life into the team.
Bayern won a penalty-shoot-out in Spain to beat Real Madrid in the last four.
Chelsea has a place in European football history, and next season’s competition, to play for on Saturday. After nine straight seasons among Europe’s elite, Chelsea’s sixth-place finish in the Premier League means its entry to next season’s Champions League is dependant on them winning their first European Cup.
Didier Drogba may start ahead of Fernando Torres in Chelsea’s upcoming clash with Bayern Munich.
Chelsea FC will be missing captain John Terry, who was sent off against Barcelona, and midfielders Raul Meireles, Ramires and defender Branislav Ivanovic are also suspended. David Luiz and Gary Cahill will be available as well.
Bayern Munich are bidding to become the first team since Inter Milan at San Siro in 1965 to win the European title on home soil. The Bavarians were defeated 5-2 by league champions Dortmund in last weekend’s German Cup final and finished second in the Bundesliga League. Bayern will be without suspended trio Holger Badstuber, David Alaba and Luiz Gustavo.
“After Moscow, most of us thought we were going to get into the final the next year. But you can see it’s very difficult to reach a final,” said Didier Drogba.
“It shows how much we deserve to be there this time because it’s been a few years.
“We did a great job to get past Barcelona but we have to do one more. Now it’s one more game to win.”
Likewise, Bayern winger Franck Ribery knows the pain of missing out: in the 2010 campaign, his red card in the semi-final against Lyon saw him suspended for the final as the Bavarians lost 2-0 in Madrid to Inter.
“It wasn’t a good situation for me two years ago and I felt bad about it,” said the Frenchman.
“I’ve often thought back to 2010. I can make up for the missed final because I have a second chance.
“The final in Munich means I can finally banish the memory of Madrid.”
“I didn’t think I’d get this second chance so soon,” Franck told magazine Kicker magazine.
“I wanted us to get as far as possible this season, but I never thought we’d really battle through to the final.
“The final in Munich, it’s unbelievable, but I think we deserve to be there.
“I hope we all join forces, turn in a great performance against Chelsea, and win the cup. That would be terrific.”
“I’m already 29, so who knows whether I’ll appear in another final,” added Ribery, with Bayern aiming to lift their fifth European title overall and second Champions League victory since 2001.
“If we win on Saturday it would be historic, so we have to give everything. We should be exhausted afterwards.”
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CHELSEA UPDATE
Chelsea FC attained Champions League victory over Barca moving them to the final clash. Chelsea secured their spot in the Champions League final on 19 May with a dramatic draw in Barcelona on Tuesday.
Chelsea v Real Madrid or Bayern Munich Tickets CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 2012 19 May 2012 20:45 Allianz Arena Munich, Germany
Fernando Torres passed by goalkeeper Victor Valdes of Barcelona to score the equalizing goal during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final second leg match between FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC at the Camp Nou stadium on April 24, 2012 in Barcelona, Spain.
With Chelsea’s improvement has come increased demand for tickets.
Chelsea want to leave Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea Pitch Owners, who have the freehold do not want to sell.
“Remaining in the elite is a challenge because our stadium is outside the top 30 at this time,” said Chelsea management who want the club to expand the current stadium, while Chelsea insist the £600m cost and three-year build-time make that unfeasible.
“The way Chelsea has geared ourselves up the last few years puts us in a good position to take the club forward.
“The money generated from matchday through the stadiums is considerable.
“It is no secret that while we are the fifth or sixth biggest club in Europe from a financial point of view but staying in the elite teams in the future is a challenge.
“If we are not able to take the money on matchday then we have to look at other parts of the business to generate the revenues and allow us to continue the circle of success to invest into the team.”
Chelsea lag behind clubs like Barcelona, who boast the 100,000 capacity Nou Camp and Arsenal’s recently built Emirates, which holds 60,000.
Due to Financial Fair Play, clubs require a large matchday income to allow them to spend more money on signing players and paying wages.
Chelsea’s finances will be boosted by the biggest-ever TV cash pay-out from the Champions League though as a result of beating Barcelona to a place in the final. They will earn at least £45m, with an additional £2.8m on top if they lift the trophy.
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Didier Drogba Goal Delivers Chelsea Victory v Barcelona FC
Didier Drogba has stepped up to fight for Chelsea’s rise back to the top.
Chelsea’s stunning, hard-fought 1-0 victory in their Champions League clash against Barcelona came just three days after Chelsea’s superstar striker, Didier Drogba scored a winner in Chelsea’s 5-1 FA Cup semi-final victory against Tottenham at Wembley last Sunday.
Drogba scored the only goal in the win against Barca. It was the 155th time he had scored for the Blues.
“It was one of the most important goals of my whole career — and it was good it came just before half time.”
“It was a difficult game for me because Barcelona had such a lot of possession,” said Drogba after the match.
“It’s quite difficult to play against them. They are a really good team, a very good team.
“Every time I got the ball I looked up and the goal seemed really far away, like on the M25.” Drogba remarked referring to London’s ‘The Road to Hell’.
On that basis we can assume he loves the big games. But he insisted: “No, I just love the game. I just love playing.
“Every time I have a chance to perform I want to do my best. I know I am lucky to be on pitches like Wembley and Stamford Bridge, because so many players want to be a professional and have the same career and don’t.
“So I try to enjoy it. I am really happy every time I go on the pitch.”
“I don’t think we had anything to prove. What we have done in the past few years is already a big achievement.
“We didn’t play to prove anything, we just play to qualify.
“We’ve played the first leg and won it. Now we have another leg coming. I hope we’ll be up for it.”
Chelsea defender Gary Cahill said, “It’s going to be really tough in the away leg. I think we can score in the Nou Camp — we’ll get a chance. The lads say the pitch is massive.
“It’s going to be tough, playing them on any pitch will be tough, but playing them on their massive pitch will be extra tough.
“But if we put in a performance like we did in the first leg then we will not go far wrong.
“It’s going to be tough to keep a clean sheet, so we will probably have to score.
“We’re under no illusions how tough it will be away from home but we’ve made a great start.”
Cahill said: “Drogba is in good form. He was fantastic in the Tottenham game last weekend, so he’s a big man for the big occasion.
“Whenever I’d played against Chelsea before, I’d never been on the end of a positive result.
“It’s hard against Drogba. To have him and Fernando Torres is brilliant for us.
“Drogba had a hard job in the first leg and maybe he was a bit isolated at times. But defensively he helped out.
“There were a number of times when he was in the box next to me, clearing headers out.
“We stuck to the plan and it worked out.
“Didier is unplayable at times, he’s one of the best forwards in the world.
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Chelsea FC 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea arrived in the English FA Cup semifinal with a 5-1 whooping of London rivals Tottenham Hotspur after a controversial call at Wembley Sunday centering around Chelsea’s second goal.
Both Chelsea and the Spurs are in the fight to secure England’s fourth and final European Champions League place for next season.
Leading 1-0 from Didier Drogba’s superb first-half strike, Chelsea went further ahead with Juan Mata’s contested shot.
Next was a Gareth Bale goal.
“I spoke to him. He says he feels worse than I do. I said: ‘I don’t think so,’ ” Redknapp said.
“He knows he’s made a mistake and he says he’ll have a bad week as well.”
Chelsea responded with a superb third goal by Ramires and midfielder Frank Lampard got the fourth.
Florent Malouda scored the fifth as a dispirited Tottenham continued to make defensive errors, putting Chelsea into the final against Liverpool next month and boosting the team ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal first leg against Barcelona .
Liverpool beat archrivals Everton 2-1 in Saturday’s semi-final and will clash with Chelsea in the FA Cup Final at Wembley on May 5th.
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UEFA Champions League Quarter Final
Champions League: Chelsea 2-1 Benfica (agg 3-1)
Chelsea FC defeated Benfica to set up a Champions League semi-final against Barcelona as the Blues reached the last four for the sixth time in nine seasons.
Frank Lampard opened the scoring after a hotly-disputed penalty, one of several debatable decisions that included the first-half dismissal of Benfica captain Maxi Pereira.
Javi Garcia managed a 85th-minute equaliser, before substitute Raul Meireles scored to seal the home win under Roberto Di Matteo.
After winning 1-0 in Lisbon last week, the Blues’ victory under boss Di Matteo will face Barca the holding champs.
A superb Petr Cech save from Cardozo’s first-time shot kept Chelsea ahead. Cech came to the rescue again to tip Djalo’s header behind but could not stop Garcia from heading in Aimar’s corner.
In stoppage-time Meireles ran 40 yards and scored.
Chelsea are in sixth place in the Premier League battle for top tier placement.
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Fernando Torres, Chelsea FC
Benfica 0-1 Chelsea FC – 2012 Champions League Quarter-Finals
Chelsea won 1-0 win over Benfica in their first leg of the Champions League Quarter-Final today with a powerful assist from Fernando Torres aiding a goal from Solomon Kalou.
Chelsea is ahead going into their second leg fixture in their fight for the Champions League title.
Interim Chelsea boss, Roberto Di Matteo, left veterans Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien on the bench, with Torres starting up front and David Luiz at centre-back in place of Gary Cahill.
Paulo Ferreira made his first start of 2012.
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Fernando Torres, Chelsea FC
Torres Scores Double – Chelsea in FA Cup Semi-Finals
Fernando Torres shone on the pitch for Chelsea scoring a double as Chelsea FC moved into the FA Cup semi-finals. Last season, Torres made a £50million move from Liverpool-Anfield.
Torres had a part in all five goals against Leicester City. El Nino scored two, played the final pass for goals by Salomon Kalou and Raul Meireles and won the corner that led to Gary Cahill heading a winner.
Fernando Torres ended his goal-drought with a brace against Leicester City!
Torres’ barren spell lasted 25 hours, 41 minutes and stretched a staggering 151 days – since a double for Chelsea against Genk in the Champions League.
‘I needed those goals, I’d been working so hard. I found the net so it’s a good day for me, I feel happy.
‘I think maybe this season I am playing at a very good level but I was not scoring goals in this period and the job of the striker is to score goals.
‘So if you don’t do it then the people think you are playing badly but for me the main thing is the support of the people.
‘They have all been with me. The team-mates, the staff. I feel the confidence of the manager now and obviously it’s a good time for me and for Chelsea.’
Roberto Di Mateo, Chelsea FC Interim Manager
“He’s a tremendous player, a fantastic guy too. A team player who we value very much. He plays hard and tries hard; he had a great game on Tuesday and the only thing missing was a goal, but I don’t really care about that as long as the team win,” said Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo.
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Stamford Bridge Stadium
STAMFORD BRIDGE STADIUM
Home to Premier League top-tier Chelsea FC, Stamford Bridge is one of the oldest stadiums in England. It has a current capacity of 41,837 seats.
Capacity: 41,841 (all seated)
Address: Fulham Road, London, SW6 1HS
Pitch Size: 113 x 74 Yards
Club Nickname: The Blues
Year Ground Opened: 1905*
Undersoil Heating: Yes
Fernando Torres, FC Chelsea
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John Terry, Chelsea Captain
Chelsea FC Update
Chelsea are in fifth place in the Premier League, close behind Arsenal and the Spurs – with Man Utd on top and Man City in second.
Andre Villas-Boas has been fired as Chelsea manager by billionaire owner Roman Abramovich after just eight months.
After taking over from AVB, interim first team coach Roberto Di Matteo has overseen two successive victories, keeping two clean sheets. Di Matteo has had an instant impact since taking charge little over a week ago. The club’s confidence among the players seems to have returned, after being shattered following Chelsea’ defeat to West Bromwich Albion.
The Blues will attempt to become only the third side in Champions League history to overturn a two-goal deficit from the first leg v Napoli.
Chelsea captain John Terry believes his club will overcome Napoli and secure a place in the quarter-finals.
‘It will be very tough, they scored six at the weekend and we saw over there how good they can be,’ Terry admitted. ‘Defensively we need to be very solid, but at the same time have the players going forward without leaving ourselves too open at the back, so it will be a bit of a mixed bag.
‘What will be important is the way we start, to get the fans ready and to make ourselves believe as well which we had against Barcelona [in 2005]. Getting off to a good start could be a key factor but, if not, we have the patience and experience to know that it only takes a couple of minutes to score two goals.
‘I think the players know what we need to do, we should be in a better position in this tie, there’s no need for me to say we need to do this and we need to do that, we know as a group of players what we need to do.’
‘I know what I need to do as Chelsea captain in the dressing room and on the training pitch which I maintain to do, and I’m sure Robbie and Andre [Villas-Boas] if you speak to him will back that up,’ said Terry.
‘Nothing’s changed from my point of view. We were talking on our way here that if you said 10 years ago myself and Robbie would be sitting here with a big night in front of us, we would have laughed and joked about it.
‘But we’re here and this is the reality, we realise with Chelsea through our blood what it means to this football club and the fans, and no two other people care about the club like us. What we represent is Chelsea, we need that fiery atmosphere in the dressing room and hopefully everybody feeds off that.’
‘I don’t think we feel cursed but we have been unfortunate,’ he admitted. ‘To win this tournament you need a quality team and a bit of luck, which maybe we haven’t had in the past.
‘We still have the quality in abundance and we realise how important tomorrow night is. Robbie and the guys have got us ready for the game off the pitch and it’s now in the hands and responsibility of the players.
‘We are the last English side left in, Arsenal pushed it as close as they could but they’re out, we are the last side in and we need to maintain that. Napoli are a good side with some good players who will be on the shortlist for a number of clubs. All we can do is focus on ourselves and be ready, which we are.’
‘It’s difficult when you don’t win, as a player you want to win and when you’re not winning matches you’re not happy,’ said Terry.
‘I was glad to come back from my operation so early and play the full game at the weekend which did me the world of good. I’m not happy with where we are in the league but there’s a long way to go. If we can put a run together we can turn it around, we’re still in the FA Cup as well and it could yet be one of our best seasons ever.’
Tickets are still available for tomorrow night’s game and for Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea Football Tickets
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Feb 12
21
Chelsea FC – FA Cup Update
AVB, Chelsea FC Manager
FA Cup Results – February 18-19 2012
Chelsea FC earned a draw against Birmingham, Liverpool whalloped Brighton 6-1, and Arsenal lost to Sunderland as the FA Cup moves into the sixth round.
AVB says Roman Abramovich’s support remains “unconditional”.
Chelsea face Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday before the return leg three weeks later in west London.
Asked if he believed that whatever happens in the last-16 tie he will still be head coach, the 34-year-old said: “Yeah. But it’s not up to me to decide that – you have to ask that question to the right person.”
“Bearing in mind the quality of the Napoli side we’ll think of that game now, focus our heads on the Champions League tie that is extremely important and hopefully do well or do much, much better. I think we are ready for any challenge, to be fair.”
“No the situation at the moment is that we don’t have enough good results. But we are still in all of these competitions so we will continue to push for them.”
Asked if Chelsea’s season hinged on beating Napoli on Tuesday, Villas-Boas said: “No, because Napoli is the first leg of that tie and we will have to wait for the second leg at Stamford Bridge. Regarding the FA Cup we have to wait for the replay.”
”I think we have a possibility. Yes, Napoli are a strong team but we are a strong team.”
When asked to comment on the Premier League, AVB repliled, “It’s important to finish fourth at least,” he said.
“Third place is 10 points away, we play the third-placed team at home. The rest of the teams from fourth to seventh are competing for that spot. We will continue to push on to try to get it.”
Chelsea FA Cup tickets are available for all upcoming FA Cup football clashes:
Saturday 18 Feb
•Chelsea 1-1 Birmingham
•Everton 2-0 Blackpool
•Millwall 0-2 Bolton
•Norwich1-2 Leicester
•Sunderland 2-0 Arsenal
Sunday 19 Feb
•Crawley 0-2 Stoke
•Stevenage 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
•Liverpool 6-1 Brighton
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