Chelsea’s Champions League history is a rich one, and there are countless stories along the way that have been told a million times, and will be told a million more.
Our two finals were perhaps two of the most iconic of recent decades – and Didier Drogba was a key player in both.
In Moscow in 2008, there’s a always a huge focus on John Terry slipping and missing his penalty. But what few people remember is why the captain was taking the penalty at all.
Drogba would of course have been taking one of the 5, but his unbelievably stupid red card in extra time meant he was no longer around to take a kick.
That meant responsibility fell to Nicolas Anelka, who bottled it, and allowed Terry to step up in his place.
JT missed, then Anelka had to take after all. When he missed, it was all over.
Drogba had the chance for redemption 4 years later however. After being cheated another final by Tom Henning Ovrebo in the infamous “disgrace” game, the Blues were back in the final in 2012 in Munich to play Bayern.
Club icon Didier D then stepped up to make up for his past failures – let’s forget the penalty he gave away in this game too. First he thumped home the late corner to take the game to extra time, then after the longest 30 minutes in club history, he was there in his iconic boots to fire the ball past Manuel Neuer to win the the tournament and seal his place in the club’s history.
This Saturday we have the chance to see another Blue elevate themselves to legendary level by doing something similar.
The obvious choices are the academy kids like Mason Mount, already a fan favourite on the way to making himself a legend. Reece James would be a similar story.
But what about the redemption stories? Antonio Rudiger firing in the winning header just months after being totally frozen out? Andreas Christensen managing his first ever Chelsea goal after a decade at the club – on the biggest possible stage?
Perhaps best of all – Timo Werner bagging a ruthless hattrick after a season of facepalm level misses. That would be too perfect for words.
There’s the potential for so much narrative, from every angle. All that remains now is to sit down and enjoy the game – and hope that someone is making themselves a Drogba 2012, not a Drogba 2008.
