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| Photo: theguardian.co.uk |
Last night, as you by now must surely know, Chelsea lifted
the Champions League Trophy at the Allianz Arena in a thrilling encounter
against Bayern Munich, which was decided by a dreaded penalty shootout after a
1-1 stalemate, with the winning penalty scored by, as though fate decreed it,
Didier Drogba.
It is impossible to underestimate the influence of the
Ivorian on Chelsea’s turnaround since Roberto Di Matteo took over from AVB. It
was more than clear that Drogba was not motivated to play under Villas-Boas,
resulting in few and far between appearances with only a handful of goals.
However, under the stewardship of the Italian Drogba had come to life, and without
doubt if Chelsea didn’t have him playing at the top of his game in the
Champions League run-in, it is almost incomprehensible that they would have
made it past Napoli, let alone all the way to the final.
As he has been throughout the tournament, Drogba was once
again the key man for Chelsea in Munich last night. In the attacking sense, he
had relatively nothing to do, with chances few and far between, but the outlet
defensively that he provides allowed Chelsea a second or two to regroup before
preparing to deal with the Munich artillery once more. The one chance at goal
he did get however, he grabbed with both hands, sending a headed-bullet past
the enormous Manuel Neuer in the 88th minute to send the game into extra-time
from Chelsea’s one and only corner.
He did however, almost lose Chelsea the game. Such as in
Barcelona, he gave away a penalty for what can only be described as a ‘forward’s
tackle’, though once more, he got away with it with a save by Cech. As
extra-time came to a close, and the shoot-out began, it soon looked inevitable
that Chelsea’s talisman would be the one to clinch the trophy, and he did with
aplomb, sending Neuer the wrong way.
So what now for the Ivorian? Having written himself long
into the hearts and minds of the Chelsea following, should he leave the club
where he is now so much adored? Or perhaps leave now for pastures green and go
out on a high? Personally, I couldn’t see him staying prior to last night’s
game, but now, I see no reason why he should want to leave a club where he is
valued so greatly, and will be forever remembered for that final winning
spot-kick.
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