Drogba, Magical and Chelsea win the Champions League

Photo credit: The Sun

 

The heavens are blue. Chelsea blue. The English team's first ever win of the UEFA Champions League was achieved through defense, magical moments and the right players. This is how they beat Bayern Munich today. For Munich, their run to the final in their home stadium was written in the stars when they defeated Real Madrid via penalties at the Bernabeu. But today it wasn't their time, their game, or their title. 

The sheer drive of Chelsea, a team working as a unit, and their masterful striker, Didier Drogba, eventually painted the Munich night blue. This was after the home team had had the bulk of the possession and chances throughout the match. Indeed, Munich was favored worldwide to win it all today because of their record in the tournament, their rich history and the fact that they were to play in their home stadium.

It was Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng, Mario Gomez and company pushing harder and further up the field until the masterful header by Muller brought Bayern Munich closer to the cup in the 83rd minute. After that, Muller and Ribery were subbed off for tactical and injury reasons, and this proved fatal when Drogba scored a precise header past Neuer in the 88th.

Fate seemed to smile for Munich when a penalty was given to them when Drogba fouled Ribery in the penalty area. Robben would try to bring it home in the 95th of stoppage time as the thousands of Munich fans expectantly watched the Dutch maestro. Chelsea has another not-so-secret weapon: Petr Cech. The Czech goalkeeper is a penalty specialist and, full of confidence from the Barcelona match, he stood his ground and stopped a powerful but lazily placed shot by the Dutchman.

Extra time was a whirlwind of Munich attacks and trademark Chelsea defense. This is why Di Mateo's club was able to oust Barcelona from the cup. Sheer numbers in the back and tactical marking. It would go on to penalties and Petr Cech showed his worth once more, bringing a 1-3 deficit to a final of 4-3 by stopping Olic and Schweinsteiger.

It is fitting, perhaps, that an interim coach would win it for Chelsea. Abromovich always went for the flashy managers in Mourinho, Hiddink, and Ancelotti but they never got him the Champions League. The other time his club made the final happened when another interim coach, Avram Grant, was at the helm. Will Di Mateo stay? One can't argue with a Champions League trophy, even if the club ended in 6th place in the Premier League.

Often we are treated with true spectacles in the beautiful game and oftentimes the flashy fantasy will win over. Such was the case with Barcelona in recent Champions League finals and Spain at the 2010 World Cup. But more often than not, true teamwork and defensive poise helps a squad succeed and bring home a trophy. Sometimes poetry is written on the soccer field. Today Drogba and Cech were our poets.

No Austerity: The 2011 Winter Transfer Market

There is no great recession. Not in sport. Not anymore. The Barclay's Premier League shelled out $345 million in order to revamp, reshape and restructure its major financial players: the big teams. It was Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea that ruled the direct deposit channels. Will this really change the way the game is played?

A few things are true: Fernando Torres ($79.5 million from Liverpool to Chelsea) was no longer happy with mid-table dwellers and Abromovich's Chelsea was ready to add oxygen to the fuel of its already-impressive attack (Anelka, Kalou, Drogba). Manchester City unhinged itself from under-used Adebayor only to snag Bosnian phenom Dzeko. We will hear that name more often now. But Liverpool didn't just lose one of the world's best strikers, they also made up for it with Newcastle's Andy Carroll and Ajax's Luis Suarez (yes, Mr. "hand of devil" versus Ghana). A better deal, given Torres' decline.

Real Madrid continued to splash the cash by snagging up Adebayor, but in the process they also lost their prize by falling far behind Barcelona for probably the final time this season. Mourinho, "the Special One" has some walls and isn't invincible.


Who's paying for all this? Abromovich is not the tycoon he once was and Chelsea reported a loss of 75 million pounds on this very day. Liverpool has a larger wallet now in the form of the New England Sports Ventures. A quick interview on Fox Soccer Channel showed just how serious the team was to John W. Henry. A toast to you.

Other "loan" moves included a few familiar names: Altidore (to Bursaspor of Turkey), Michael Bradley (to Aston Villa), Freddy Adu (Rizespor), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers). A loan implies part of the salary is paid by the lessee and the rest by the owner. In any case, a better chance for some of our compatriots. Other moves included Jefferson Montero (Villarreal to Levante) and Giovanni Dos Santos (Tottenham to Racing Santander). Read up on some other interesting deals here.

So, are we coming out of our austerity period? No, it's still the roaring 20s or surplus 90s.according to the soccer Gods. Is there a limit? MLS tries with its salary cap, but their "designated player" rule allows for 3 overpriced (a.k.a. Beckham) players in each team at their own discretion. This is, after all, a capitalist nation and a capitalist world, right? Sometimes it takes an idea, a special talent, to recognize that excess money doesn't always buy the best. Some teams sit still, sit quiet, spend gently and purposefully, and win championships.