UEFA Super Cup Preview - Chelsea vs Bayern Munich

Mourinho faces familiar foe

Bayern, being the reigning 2013 Champions League holders, and Chelsea, the 2013 Europa League champions, are set for the high-stakes showdown Friday evening in Prague. The UEFA Super Cup, adding another chapter to an intriguing history, and bragging rights are all on the line.

On paper, this has all the makings to end up being a filthy, filthy match – and by ‘filthy’, I mean ‘mindmeltingly fantastic’. Let’s break it down.

For starters, this is a rematch of the “good god is this really happening!” 2012 Champions League Final, in which an 88th minute Didier Drogba power-header leveled the score (seriously though, how many times has he done that in his career?), only five minutes after Mueller’s strike had looked to spell another Champion’s League heartbreak for the London club.

Chelsea seemed destined for the same disappointment on 95 minutes, as Drogba turned from hero to villain with his rash tackle bringing down Ribery in the box. Luckily for the Blues, the choke-artist extraordinaire that is Arjen Robben stepped up to take the penalty. Cech was able to make the save and pounce on the rebound before Robben could finish. The tense affair continued as a stalemate, ultimately leaving it to a penalty shootout to decide the game.

After almost 10 minutes of maddening levels of stress (that only a penalty shootout to decide a final can bring), it was down to the final two kick-takers. The ever-classy Bastian Schweinsteiger followed by Mr. Clutch himself, Didier Drogba. Bastian’s shot somehow, (incredibly, mercifully!), ricocheted off the post and out.

I can’t think of a time when I jumped and screamed with more joy than that moment. Except maybe when I saw Drogba stepping up to take the final kick. I knew there was no way he was going to miss – he’d gone through too much (almost single-handedly beating Barca in the Semis, and scoring the equalizer in the final) and waited too long.

I wasn’t wrong. The tears of joy fell, the beers flowed like in the fabled “Land of Milk and Honey”. Heartbreak was Bayern’s this time. Chelsea could finally lift the trophy they’d sought more than any other.