Chelsea FC – The Only Team In London To Win The European Cup – A Thread

Group Stage

• Chelsea (England)
• Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
• Valencia (Spain)
• Genk (Belgium)

Game 1: Andre Villas-Boass’ men faced German side Bayern Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge on the 13th September 2011. A tough game but Chelsea won 2-0. With goals from David Luiz (67) and Juan Mata (90+3)

Game 2: The English side travelled to the Mestalla Stadium to face Valencia on 28th September. Valencia keeper made good saves however, he was beaten by a smart finish from Lampard to make it 1-0. On the 87th minute Kalou gave a penalty away which ended 1-1.

Game 3: 19th October 2011, Belgium side Genk travelled to the Bridge. Chelsea continued their unbeaten run in the group stages to 25 unbeaten after sending Genk on their way home by winning 5-0 with goals from Meireles, Torres x2, Ivanovic & Kalou.

Game 4: Chelsea travelled to the Cristal Arena to face Genk in the reverse fixture on 1st November. They carried their unimpressive form over and were held to 1-1 draw. Ramires gave Chelsea the lead but Luiz was unable to convert a penalty. Vossen scored on the 61st minute.

Group Standings:
1 – Chelsea (8 Points)
2 – Leverkusen (6 Points)
3 - Valencia (5 Points)
4 – Genk (2 Points)

Game 5: Chelsea tasted defeat for the time in the group stage to the hands of Bayern Leverkusen. Drogba gave Chelsea the lead and a win would’ve seen Chelsea qualify but goals late goals from Derdiyok (73) and Friedrich (90+1) saw Chelsea’s qualification hang In the balance.

Game 6: After beating Newcastle, a confident Chelsea welcomed Valencia on the 6th December. Chelsea reached the knockout stage by beating the Spanish side 3-0. Villas-Boas took a risk by dropping Lampard but Chelsea were too hot to handle. Goals from Drogba x2 and Ramires.

Group Final Standings:

1-Chelsea (11 Points)
2-Bayer Leverkusen (10 Points)
3-Valenica (8 Points)
4-Genk (3 Points)

ROUND OF 16

Already under pressure Villas-Boas didn’t help his case when his side lose to Napoli in a 3-1 defeat. Mata opened the scoring but the Italian were too much. Chelsea had chances but Drogba, who was brought in for Torres who failed to score in 20, couldn’t help out.

On the 4th March Chelsea sacked underperforming Villas-Boas and Di Matteo took charge. Lampard sent it into Extra Time after a penalty in the 75th minute & Ivanovic's extra-time goal sent Chelsea into the Champions League quarter-finals as they completed a superb comeback.

QUARTER-FINALS:

Di Matteo made a shock decision by dropping Drogba & Lampard for the match against Benfica where Chelsea travelled to the Estadio Da Luz. Cech was a busy man but It was Salomon Kalou who scored the late winner, helping Chelsea put one foot in the Semi-Final.

Benfica travelled to the Bridge on the 4th April. Chelsea got a hold of the game after Lampard smashed a 21st minute penalty home. Chelsea faced some nerve racking moments as Garcia made it 1-1 but Raul Meireles scored a thunderbolt to secure Chelsea’s spot in the Semi-Final.

SEMI-FINALS

Chelsea faced Barcelona on the 18th April 2012. Barcelona may have had 72% possession but that wasn’t enough to stop Chelsea going into the 2nd leg with a 1-0 lead after a fantastic team goal that Drogba finished of in the 45th minute.

Chelsea travelled to Camp Nou on the 19th May. The blues were in trouble after conceding 2 and Terry being dismissed. A Ramires goal on the 45th minute saw it 2-1 at HT. Messi hit the bar from a penalty but it was Torres who ran through on goal and sent Chelsea to the CL Final.

THE FINAL: Chelsea travelled to Bayern’s home the Allianz Area. Chelsea were on the back foot for the majority of the game and it was an 83rd minute header from Muller that had looked to see defeat for Chelsea. A Drogba header from an 88th minute corner saw Chelsea go to ET.

THE FINAL (Continued): Extra time came and the pattern of the game hadn’t changed. Goal scorer Drogba gave a penalty away in the 95th minute. Chelsea legend Cech stepped up to the occasion by saving former blue Robben’s penalty.

THE FINAL (Continued): The game went to penalties, Juan Mata missed Chelsea's first penalty but Luiz, Lampard and Cole all scored. Lahm,Gomez and Neuer were all on target. Cech denied Olic and Schweinsteiger hit the post. You know the rest