It’s not easy watching two of your fierce rivals face each other in a champion’s league final. I still believe that Arsenal deserved to be playing this match, but for that fateful night in anfield where “the tale of two penalties” combined with some utter foolish defending put paid to our champion’s league dream. Anyways after a season which promised so much and which ended with so little I’ve sort of stopped expecting too much from my so called young team ;) so Man U went on to win the title too after we blew up a five point lead with ten games to go. Has been a lucky season for Man U too. Guess it’s the Munich disaster that’s acting as the catalyst. And I really hate to see that prick Ronaldo bask in the limelight. I know he’s talented, he’s got good skills and now he scores goals too. He is definitely the best in the world at present. But I still HATE HIM.
So the stage was set, in the capital of Russia for the greatest prize in Europe. Whatever the outcome of the match, the trophy was definitely returning to England. Man U vs Chelsea to crown the champions of Europe. A big match it was, the only reason that I didn’t wanna miss it. There were not too many surprises in the team selection with Man U opting for a 4-4-2 and Chelsea a 4-5-1 with Dogbra as their lone striker ;)
The match kicked off after the traditional opening ceremony and stuff and it was played on a slightly under prepared pitch with the players loosing their footing on more than one occasion. The initial exchanges were won by Man U with them taking a deserved lead in the 26th minute by who else (the footballer I hate the most). Chelsea somehow hung on for the rest of the half and as luck would have it found the equalizer thru Lampard in the injury time of the first half. The second half was evenly fought with Chelsea having a slight upper hand but nothing productive happened other than Dogbra hitting the woodwork once. So the match went into extra time. The tired legs of the players were clearly evident as the sheer intensity of this big match had started to take its toll on the players. Lampard struck the bar with a cute shot on the turn towards the end of first half of extra time and by then Chelsea might have started to feel that the trophy might just be theirs for the taking.
Then with minutes left on the clock and a shootout looking inevitable the worst happened. After 118 minutes of great entertainment for the 80,000 odd spectators inside the Luzhniki stadium and millions of them watching it from home, 2 minutes of absolute nonsense from the players of both sides spoilt it all. And from a personal point of view I hold one Mr. Innocent looking Carlitos Tevez responsible for the whole incident because it was truly a mark of unsporting behavior from his part which led to the provocation of many Chelsea players. A scuffle ensued with lots of pushing and shoving with most of the players getting involved. And as an end result Mr. Dogbra (another player I have a strong dislike for) got the marching orders for SLAPPING Vidic. A moment of absolute foolishness from a player who’s always been a fool ;) and I believe that might just have been his last match as a Chelsea player and it ended in disgrace.
So another Champions League finals heads to a shootout and the odds were heavily tilted in favor of Chelsea as they had one of the best in the world in front of their goal. But nothing is a guarantee when it comes to Penalties. The one who keeps his nerves comes out triumphant. Its fun to sit and watch the match as a neutral since there is no pressure whatsoever on you. I could imagine the tension and anxiety on all the Man U and Chelsea fans. The first few penalties were well taken and I was over the moon when my only prediction of the match came true. "That my dear Cristiano Ronaldo is going to miss his spot kick". I somehow had a gut feeling he will miss and so messaged some of my frens some of whom were Man U supporters and the others Chelsea, about my prediction. And when Petr Cech pulled off a brilliant stop to deny Ronaldo, I am sure every single one of those Man U supporters would have cursed me and I was elevated to the status of GOD by the Chelsea ones. That minute I thought the cup was now Chelsea’s to lose. And that’s exactly what they did. When Mr. Chelsea John Terry finally walked to take the decisive kick my memory went back a few years to the FA cup finals when the then Mr. Arsenal Patrick Viera took the final spot kick against Man U and sealed the cup for us. Never in my wildest dream did I think Terry would miss his kick. But that’s what happened. He wrong footed Van der Saar but lost his footing just as he kicked the ball and his shot skimmed off the outside off the post and Man U were given a reprieve. A lifeline which they used to their best effect.
“I said on the eve of the game that we wouldn’t let the memory of the Busby Babes down. I think fate played its hand, just as it has all season. We had a cause today and that’s important. Causes are hard to fight against. People with causes become very difficult to go up against. Fate played its hand today when Terry slipped.”
- Alex Fergusson, Man U Manager
That literally summed it all up and when Mr. Sulk Anelka missed his kick, that was the end of a Chelsea dream and I am sure every single Chelsea fan would have been in tears looking at Terry and Lampard weeping inconsolably. I was in a similar situation two years back and I for one know how it feels to lose in a champion’s league final. Well played guys. It was a great game to watch. Didn’t have the heart to look at Man U lifting another trophy. So switched off the television set and went off to bed even as my inbox was getting flooded wit lots of Hail Man U messages. Hehe
And I am really sorry if I hurt the sentiments of any Man U fan for referring to Man U as Man U in the whole post(read in an article that its like insulting the club by referring to Manchester United as Man U) hehehe… somehow I love to take a dig at Man U at every single opportunity I get. Arsenal forever.
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