From Munich to Amsterdam: A roller-coaster Journey

Chelsea Football Club created history by winning their first ever UEFA Champions League trophy at Munich last year in May, but much has changed after that.

They say wealth can’t buy everything. This, however, may not be the case with Chelsea this season, at least in metaphorical terms. The reasons and justifications are straight-forward. I will attempt to analyse the club’s performance this season so far and give my verdict on whether this could still end up being a season to remember.

Everything Chelsea has achieved this season, good or bad, has come at a price; the latest of evidences being their comeback victory against Aston Villa three days back. The win sealed a top-4 spot for Chelsea, but they had to reflect on what will come as perhaps the biggest blow for them this season, as they lost their key player Eden Hazard to a hamstring problem and captain John Terry needed a stretcher to be taken off the pitch as a result of an ankle injury. All this has happened just four days before their season-defining Europa League Final against Benfica. While they head into this encounter on the backdrop of a morale-boosting top-4 finish, they’ll probably have to compete without the services of two players who have played a significant role in all their exhibits this season.

In the beginning, all of us termed Chelsea as ‘the team to beat’. We thought we’d won our bet this time round, before that trademark winter slump set in. That was the time when everything started to turn. The Blues boasted a personal record of competing in the most number of competitions in a single season but little did they know about the effects of under-achieving when the expectations were so high! The catalytic slump  resulted in the Blues’ surrender of the top PL spot and this looked like the beginning of the end. Soon, their attempt of becoming the first side to defend the UEFA Champions League failed and this resulted in Roberto Di Matteo becoming a slave under the Russian owner’s famous axe.  It became even more disappointing for most of the fans when ‘the unpopular one’ Rafael Benitez was announced as RDM’s replacement on an interim basis. The long flights to destinations all around Europe had also begun to take their toll on a team, which is still in transition. Rafa took charge of his first major finals with Chelsea when they traveled to Asia to play in the FIFA Club World Cup. After a narrow heart-breaking loss to Corinthians, the road ahead looked deserted and unconvincing. Soon, the London outfit bowed out of Capitol One Cup following a shameful defeat at the hands of Swansea City, who later went on to beat Bradford in the final. The burden of scoring goals was on Fernando Torres, the only striker they had at the time. This played a significant role in the club’s decline in form. A majority of the fans failed to back the team and constantly protested against the interim manager. It was all up to the latter to set things right.

He took steps to engineer a magnificent comeback, starting with a brave show of enthusiasm, commitment and management to repair the dents of the damaged ship he took charge of. Also on his priority list was to bring the best out of compatriot Fernando Torres. He went on to sign Demba Ba to share and reduce the workload on the Spain striker. With a squad ready to adapt to his management techniques for the overall good, he started to work mainly on the organisation and balancing of the team. He injected confidence into the players who needed it. Realising that his squad needed regular rest, he implemented his famous rotation policy which has worked very successfully till date. The results improved drastically and with this improved the response of the fans. Thus, a ship that was beginning to sink was steadied once again in time and Rafa deserves credit for this. There were still inconsistencies but it was only a matter of time before the club could write another success story. With the overall understanding growing with each game that rolled by, Rafa decided to experiment with his squad and his moves payed dividends. The most notable one was the projection of David Luiz to a more advanced defensive midfield role, and post that his impact from the middle of the pitch in terms of dictating the play and reading of the game has been unquestionable, so much so that he has become a strong contender for the captain’s post. With the rotation system in full swing, players took it as a challenge for themselves to earn a start and this improved each of their individual capabilities. As the final period of the season approached, Chelsea started to look dangerous again. With key men Fernando Torres, David Luiz, MAZACAR and Super Frankie all scoring regularly, it became easier for Rafa to steer his team in the right direction.

The story is not over yet, as there remains this dawning chapter in the history books. Europe is obviously bigger than England and Chelsea still have this glorious chance to make it a season to remember as they chase the Europa League trophy. They will become only the fourth side in the world(and the first English side) to have won all three European trophies, the Champions League, the Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup) and the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup, should they beat Portuguese outfit Benfica tomorrow at the very well-known Amsterdam Arena in a final that promises to be a tough nut to crack for both sides. Becoming the only side to win back-to-back European Cups in reverse order is no joke. Moreover, they approach the game as favourites  on the backdrop of an all-important win over Aston Villa at the weekend that has helped them achieve their primary target of Champions League football next season. The man who made this happen is our evergreen midfielder Frank Lampard, who became the club’s all-time top scorer in the process. Thus, winning the Europa League tomorrow would be an icing on the cake for a club destined to write successful scripts season after season. It will also be a chance for Rafa to claim the accolades once again on a bigger stage that will only help make his search for a bigger project easier. Therefore, with destiny at stake, it is now up to the players to deliver and give their best on the grandest stage of all, the one that will define their season.

The final verdict: a grueling and turbulent season may still end in joy for the Londoners with a European Cup and a UCL spot, but nobody in this world expected this journey for the reigning European Champions to be such a crazy and an uneven one.