That Fateful Night: Champions League Final 2011/12 recap
This article is purely based on what I still remember about what happened on 19th May 2012. No Google or wiki.
My board exams begin in two weeks, so this will be the last article I’ll be writing for a while now. Being a Chelsea fan, I found that writing about the fateful night in the middle of May last year was the best thing to do before my ‘temporary exile’ begins.
19th May 2012 – the best night of my life
The excitement began as soon as I woke up and time was playing games with my patience. My summer vacations were on, so there was nothing much to do. There were guests coming over late in the evening; when they arrived at around 9 pm, I made it clear to them at 10 that however late they stayed, this was a game that I would not be missing. Kick-off was at 12.15 am but I was perched in front of the TV by 11, with the official miniature match-ball I had bought from Johannesburg, South Africa, just a day after I watched Chelsea win the FA Cup from my hotel room.
I remember the FA Cup final as well. It was on the day I landed in Johannesburg; by the time the match started, I had a massive headache and was jet lagged. But it all went away after Ramires scored the opener in the eleventh minute and Drogba got the second soon after. Carroll pulled one back for Liverpool but was denied a second after Cech made an outstanding save off the line ad ensured that the match ended 2-1 in favour of Chelsea. Staying back in the hotel room and watching that match was well worth it.
Back in front of the TV, the kick-off was just 15 minutes away. The lineups were announced. Torres not starting was a relief, but Bertrand making his UCL debut, that too in the LM (left midfield) position, took me sometime to realize that RDM made this move only to counter Bayern’s dangerous attack force of Ribery and sometimes Robben and Muller too, down the right wing. Everyone wrote us off. Even I knew it was difficult, but not impossible. The 4-1 comeback against Napoli gave me something to look back on.
The players came out finally at 12.10. No one looked at the trophy as they passed by it. The game kicked off, Bayern dominated from the start, as expected. After the first half ended, Bayern had some 10 shots on target, compared to the one by Kalou. Chelsea were defending very well, that’s the reason Cech didn’t have to make those many saves. It remained the same in the 2nd half, Bayern attacking, Chelsea defending. Ribery finally scored somewhere around the 70th minute, but the goal was ruled out as offside. Huge sigh of relief. Chelsea looked in no position to score, considering the number of bodies that were always in Chelsea’s half. The deadlock was finally broken in the 83rd minute, when Muller headed past Cech. The commentator said, “No club has scored as late as this.” (Muller’s goal). Muller was taken off just after that goal. Everyone congratulated him as he reached the dugout. I lost hope after that. Just then, Chelsea won their first corner of the game in the 87th minute. Juan Mata took the corner, it fell straight to Drogba who headed past Neuer, straight into the roof of the net! I ran around the hall, jumped around with a huge smile on my face and screamed all I could.
The game then went into extra time. Ribery was also taken off soon after, due to an injury. In the 2nd half of extra time, around the 112th minute, Drogba fouled Robben and a penalty was awarded to Bayern. It wasn’t the best of penalties, but I’ll take it as another excellent save by Cech, considering the tension and pressure around the stadium. No one scored again and the game went into penalties. I don’t remember the order of the penalty takers now, but Chelsea started off badly. Bayern scored their first two and Mata missed, which was Chelsea’s first. So it was 2-0 to Bayern. This is when I went cold, started sweating even though the A/C was on and went down on my knees, praying to god. Lampard scored in the center to make it 2-1 after two penalties each. Bayern then made it 3-1. Cole made it 3-2 with an excellent penalty, which went to the left of Neuer right into that side netting. It stood 3-2 after three penalties. It was all going Bayern’s way. I became even more nervous. That’s when Olic stepped up. His shot was on target, but he was denied by another excellent save from Cech, who dived to his left. It hit the tip of his fingers, nicked the post and then went behind the goal. Then came Luiz, who made a 20 yard run before converting and didn’t stop running till it went into the top right corner (Neuer’s left). This squared it, 3-3 after 4 penalties each. Schweinsteiger made the long walk for Bayern’s final mandatory penalty. To my surprise, Cech saved his penalty too! Schweini hid his face in shame. The commentator said “He thinks he has lost it for his team.” Then stepped up Drogba, who scored, sending Neuer the wrong way. I fell down on my sofa, lying there, staring at the ceiling in disbelief, before I got myself together after 5 minutes and saw Luiz sitting above the crossbar.
The attention was all on Drogba though, who ran from one end of the field to the other, with the UCL trophy. Before that penalty of Drogba’s the commentator said, “This may well be the last kick of the ball in a Chelsea shirt for Didier Drogba.” And it indeed was. What a legend! And what a time to leave the club! Fairytale ending. 19/05. KTBFFH!