Yup, just as predicted, the FA Cup was won by a black swan event. In fact, the blackest of swans, in the form of a refereeing call which was milimetres (literally) in favour of Chelsea. And with that single call of "no goal" even as Andy Carroll reeled off to celebrate what he thought was a deserved equaliser, the Boys in Blue were able to hang on to their 1 goal lead for much of the 2nd half which saw Liverpool's onslaught gaining strength with each passing minute.
But held on we did and the team with the caretaker manager emerged triumphant to claim England's biggest prize in Cup competitions.
Nice one, boys.
3 days later in a league match which clearly didn't matter for either teams, Liverpool got their revenge as they thumped Chelsea 4-1. The consolation to that defeat, if any could be inferred, was that the FA Cup was won immediately after a defeat to Newcastle in the league. Let's hope this setback is the catalyst to us winning the other Cup competition. You know, the one that will be fought at the Allianz Arena on May 19th.
Yeah, all Blues fans are holding their collective breaths in anticipation of the biggest game of the season for them. With their incredible fightback to dump Napoli out of the competition, their ruthless overcoming of Benfica and the remarkable ability to mastermind a knockout of Barcelona, it would appear written in the stars that this was to be their year.
Yet the final obstacle that stands between them and fulfilling the call of destiny is none other than the hosts of the Allianz Arena, the indomitable, industrious and highly organised Bayern Munich. Make no bones about it, the Germans would, in my humble opinion, be a tougher proposition than the Catalans. For whilst Barcelona are the best team on the planet, they are quite a 1-dimensional team whose gameplan is as open as a book. Chelsea merely avoided playing to their strengths and instead chinked at their weakest link until the lucky breaks came.
Bayern, on the other hand, are a more rounded team. They are solid at the back, have experienced players, hardworking, have strength playing wide and have a striker who is arguably the most feared in Europe at the moment. Bayern are the form team and with the backing of a home crowd, present the toughest opponent Chelsea could come up against.
Well, Di Matteo has about 1 more week to come up with yet one last miracle. 1 week to come up with a masterplan to stifle zee Germans and 1 week to come up with a way to land the Holy Grail which Roman, together with countless big name managers before him, have tried and failed to obtain.
Come next Saturday, Chelsea will go a-hunting for Germans.
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