The anti-climatic demise of Chelsea
Seven months ago, Chelsea fans had it all. Battling their way to the final of the Champions league in Germany, before securing a memorable penalty shoot-out win over favourites Bayern Munich, it was the end of a nine-year hunt for owner Roman Abramovich.
The Russian Oligarch had landed the title trophy he had demanded from his previous managers since the day he bought the club from Ken Bates in 2003. With Roberto Di Matteo at the helm, good times were expected, especially with the amount of money pumped into buying new players over the summer.
However, after succumbing to a miserable 4-1 defeat at the hands of a Falcao led Atletico Madrid, it all went from bad to worse for the West London side. Losing ground in the title race, a 3-0 defeat away at Juventus signalled the end of the Italian’s reign at Stamford Bridge.
With the Blues on the verge of an early Champions League exit, Rafael Benitez came in and despite not being the fans favourite, was charged with bringing out the best in Fernando Torres and bringing further glory to the club.
Yet, having finished third in Group E, guaranteeing them entry into the Europa League, Chelsea became the first club in the history of the competition to exit at the group stage, having won the trophy the previous season.
Nevertheless, their success in Munich in May saw them entered into the Club World Cup. Victory over Monterrey set up a final meeting with Corinthians. It wasn’t to be in Japan, with the Premier League giants suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of their Brazilian counterparts.
It’s been a fairly significant fall from grace for the West Londoners, who had been touted as favourites for the Super Cup and Club World Cup and expected to make it through to the next round of the Champions League. Nevertheless, they’ll forever be remembered as the team who failed to put up a real defence of their European crown, a chapter in history that no team will want to be remembered for.
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