The big show. An annual event that is beginning to outshine the World Cup as the pinnacle of competition in association football.
Yes, it’s the UEFA Champions League Final, and tonight it pits unexpected rivals Chelsea FC and Bayern Munich against each other to determine for good and all who’s the best team in Europe.
A battle between the 2008 losing finalists and the 2010 losing finalists.
You have here two teams with everything to prove. On a superficial level, Chelsea are the underdogs against a Bayern Munich squad who have a chance to win the biggest sports trophy in Europe in front of their fans at Allianz Arena.
Chelsea have a depleted roster, with suspensions to key defenders John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, as well as midfielders Ramires and Meireles, and remaining defenders David Luiz and Gary Cahill aren’t at peak fitness. But Bayern Munich also have holes on their roster due to suspensions for defenders David Alaba and Holger Badstuber and midfielder Gustavo. That leaves both teams thin on defense
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| Key Players, who will make the difference? |
When you take those metrics into account, the most likely winner is Bayern Munich, and many commentators agree. Even with the suspensions, they still have solid offensive contributors including midfielder Franck Ribery and forwards Arjen Robben and Mario Gomez. They’ll have a chance to break through a Chelsea defense that only has two healthy players including Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole… the latter a big threat, the former a defender often used as a substitute.
But I’d be wary of calling this game in favour of the German because of their offense.
Gomez, for one, isn’t quite the offensive threat he’s often cracked up to be. Sure, he’s scored 12 goals in Champions League play this year, but four of them came against FC Basel, a vastly inferior team. And the goal he scored in the first leg of the semi-final against Real Madrid could be chalked up a lot more to Philipp Lahm‘s set-up than his own skill. Lahm was there to pass it to him, and all Gomez had to do was touch it. Robben, meanwhile, didn’t score against Real Madrid despite numerous chances.
And now look back at Chelsea. Though depleted in midfield and on their back end, they showed in the FC Barcelona and Napoli series that they know what they need to do to get it done. In Barcelona they just crowded the box, forcing the Catalonians to make horizontal passes in the thin hope they could get a goal past. Barcelona managed only two goals that entire round, and one of them came from defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets.
Chelsea are likely safe if they play the exact same game. They have a few offensive weapons up front in Daniel Sturridge and Didier Drogba, and Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes has admitted that his players will have to be careful around the latter due to his theatrics on the pitch. Enigmatic striker Fernando Torres has also seen a recovery of sorts since Roberto di Matteo took over as interim coach, and his goal against Barcelona was among the year’s best.
In summary, you’ll find many in agreement with you if you call this match in favour of Bayern Munich. But Chelsea have plenty of tools, the wherewithal, the persistence and the resilience to win difficult games. I wouldn’t count them out so fast.
Also we need for forget the extra motivation of the only do-or-die chance Chelsea have of qualifying for next year's UEFA Champions League. The 6th place finish in the league is not good enough, meaning that a win in today's champions league final is the only escape route for Chelsea to make it into next year's competition as holders.
NigerianEye will also like to examine other factors that may affect the result of tonight's final.
The stadium
The spectacular 66,000-seat Allianz Arena was opened in 2005 and used as one of the main venues for the 2006 World Cup, hosting the semi-final between France and Portugal. It can famously light up in different colours, with the stadium red for matches hosted by Bayern Munich and blue for games when 1860 Munich are at home. As a ‘neutral’ venue for tonight, the stadium will be lit up with green and blue filters to represent the official Uefa emblem of the Munich final. Will the added home advantage be the 12th Man for Bayern Munich?
The referee
Portugal’s Pedro Proenca will take charge of his first Champions League final tonight, following a rapid rise up the European refereeing pyramid. A financial director from Pinhal Novo, he has refereed in the Champions League for the past four seasons, including taking charge of Manchester United’s semi-final win last year against Schalke. He was the fourth official in 2009 when England were beaten 4-0 by Germany in the final of the European Under-21 Championship. He will be under pressure to make major decisions tonight, his decisions (Right or Wrong) will surely have a major effect on how the game turns out.
What are you predictions for tonight's Final?
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it is going to be an interesting match, but i think it is going to be difficult a little bit for chelsea missing out on 3 key players.
ReplyDeleteThere as never been an easy match ,so to say, both teams will wear it out to champion the trophy. However,mine prediction is a win for Chelsea a lone goal over Bayern Munich.
ReplyDeleteB 2-3 C
ReplyDeleteThere is always GOD element in everything, many may not agree but the few that understand how nature respond to issues will know. How did Chelsea beat Barca,who will say Real Madrid will fall in the face of Bayarn. That's how Chelsea will carry the day. They will come from the rear and take the front seat, at the hopeless pooint. End Chelsea 2, Bayarn 1-SJ
ReplyDeleteBayern 5-0 Chelsea
ReplyDeleteGuy u had better stopped using this section as an advert medial its strictly for news and comments.
ReplyDelete