Anyway lets dust myself off and state my seventh 2012 Sporting Memory of 2012. It's one that will linger in the mind for years to come, big and blue: Chelsea's UEFA Champions League title.Stamford Bridge certainly wasn't a happy place early on in the tournament, with Andre Villas-Boas' team struggling to adapt the Portuguese gaffer's preference to 'beautiful', carpet-football, Barcalona-esque. Their struggle finally reached breaking point in their first leg final-16 tie against Napoli, with the Italians running out convincing 3-1 victors, leaving Chelsea in turmoil, and AVB's head rolling after a stuttering 6-month campaign at the helm.
And so, enter Roberto Di Matteo. A man who not only boasts a solid managerial record after spells at West Brom Albion and the MK Dons, but also an affinity with the Chelsea-faithful, after a prolific playing career at Stamford Bridge. It's a culmination of these two aspects to Di Matteo that vitalised Chelsea, and saw them waste no time in overturning a two-goal deficit to Napoli in the second-leg, to reach the Champions League Quarter-final; a feat almost unbelievable after such a turbulent season.
Having put Benfica to bed in the Quarter-Final round, The Revolution soldiered on into the Semi-Finals. Their opposition? Barcalona. Just the name sends a shiver of disappointment down any awaiting teams spine, but despite this, Chelsea held out in the first-leg to ensure a goalless affair... or at least they would have had they not fielded a certain Didier Drogba, who put the home side ahead on the brink of half-time in the only goal of the match. This left it all to play for in the second-leg at the Nou Camp... John Terry sent off, a full-strength Barca side, a Messi penalty... All of these factors would surely equate to to an absolute riot in the home-sides favour, right? In a game that for me, matched the excitement of any Champions League match previous, Chelsea dug deep, defended admirably, held possession, and struck on the counter-attack without panic, to do the unthinkable and draw 2-2 courtesy of a Ramires wonder-goal and a calmly taken effort by under-fire striker, Fernando Torres. Two vital away goals, in a game that for me, remains the second finest football match of 2012.
...So what's the finest match of 2012 I hear you say? Surely it doesn't get bigger than defeating Barcalona on their turf? Oh it did. In a Champions League Final, with a severely weakened team absent of Terry, Ivanovic and Ramires, Di Matteo's transformed men faced Bayern Munich, in Munich. Surrounded by Chelsea fans, I watched the game with my eyes firmly on stalks, heart in my mouth and an alcohol-solution the only antidote. Two late goals left the game in the balance going into extra-time, with Drogba's late headed effort the savour for the Blues in a 90 minutes that Bayern absolutely dominated.
Extra-time proved ineffective, with neither team able to successfully unlock one-another, with tiredness, a degree of desperation, and conflict between ranks leaving the players, fans and management at their absolute wits-end.
With England watching with baited breath, the shoot-out began, and distributed it's usual dose of pandemonium and mental-fraying, until two men rose to the fore: Petr Cech and Didier Drogba. The latter of which, calmly tucked away THAT penalty to the left of the goalmouth, in a shot that will be be remembered, savoured, and idolised as one of the greatest of all-time in club football history. As for Cech? He was the architect, saving two penalties from Sebastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben, to set the stage for Drogba to send Di Matteo's Chelsea F.C to Champions League stardom.
You'd be forgiven for titling Chelsea's Champions League victory a 'fairy-tale', but from my perspective, Stamford Bridge's hold on European football's most sought after trophy, is down to one man who stepped-in, took control, and restored order to such an extent that bought eventual success. Hats-off Roberto Di Matteo.
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