We all knew the match was certainly not going to be easy. The boys of Mestalla had the advantage. We came as the underdogs. But our team is not the type to get fazed. We thrive under pressure; we win just when everybody else thinks we're on the verge of losing. If there was one thing the boys of Stamford Bridge know best, it is how to go against the odds.
The 1st leg draw last April 10 against Valencia at Stamford Bridge confirmed the disadvantage of having to play the first leg at home. It is one of the few times people would rather play away, at least for the time being. Because away goals act as tie-breakers, teams then prefer the 2nd leg to be at their home soil- where the explosive screams of fans fuel them to score one goal after another. The quarter final 2nd leg match between the Blues and Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium proves that point.
Valencia's 11 unbeaten home record against English teams in the Champions League was enough a threat to make the Blues fans worry, if only a bit, on Tuesday night. With an away goal advantage plus more than 50,000 hyped up Valencia fans, the Blues were sure up for a tough night. Looking back at the 1st leg, Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech wouldn't have been able to save David Silva's 30th minute goal in any way. It was inarguably a brilliant strike. Yet the Blues always know how to answer back in the second half as Didier Drogba's soft header in the 53rd minute prove enough to give us an equaliser. Many fans carried with them to the 2nd leg the emotions they were left with at the end of that first match- a fusion of fear, worry and excitement along with the questions: can we, the Blues, pull off a 2nd half winning performance, just like what we have been doing for the past several matches? Can we break Valencia's 11 unbeaten home match record? The night of April 10, the 2nd leg at the Mestalla Stadium, was another night to remember for the London team.
Nothing exceptional could be noted during the first half of the match except for a couple of chances our team created. First was Michael Ballack's downward header during the 21st minute, which lacked thrust allowing Santiago Canizares to save the shot. Then came Drogba's magnificent top corner header in the 40th minute, only to be saved once again by the Spanish goalie. For a team in 60% possession of the ball, a better first-half result was expected from our side. Instead it was the Spanish side which ruled the game allowing them to take the lead in the 32nd minute as Fernando Morientes quickly slid the ball inside the net through a cross from midfielder Joaquin, with Cech unable to save. Alongside that were also a couple of shots on goal from the same striker a minute earlier, which (fortunately) hit the sidebar, and in the 34th minute, only to be magnificently blocked by Blues left-back Ashley Cole. Both wouldn't have been saved by Cech. At the end of the first half, the score could've easily been 3-0. We could've exited the Champions League.
If only to be sarcastic, I could easily say, Chelsea always win by playing just the 2nd half. Our first halfs almost always just open the floor for people to question the team's credibility and criticize their capabilities as current champions and contenders for all 4 trophies this year. While other teams start to lose hope for being 1 goal down, it is instead the signal for Chelsea fans to fervently expect for a goal and for the players to get back to the game, prove and win. It is when the fiery team spirit comes to life, the defense becomes (almost) rock solid, and any other player turns into the man of the match.
Fast-forward to the 52nd minute. Former AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko once again shone as he took a shot from the Ivory Coast striker denied by center-back Roberto Ayala, to give the Blues the awaited equaliser. It was at this point when the Spanish side started to fumble. For the remaining 40 minutes, their play was in complete opposition to the massive noise in the stadium, which exploded when Morientes scored earlier in the first half- threats were almost, if not completely, inexistent, defense was loose, and the will to win seemed to have faded. There was silence. Despite that and and a couple of chances from us, the game still almost ended in another draw. Ballack's downward header from a Frank Lampard free kick in the 83rd minute seemed to be the 2nd away and winning goal we were waiting for. How Canizares managed to save that still eludes us. Then minutes passed and still no sign of the winning goal. Many fans were preparing for an extra time. Even Blues manager Jose Mourinho admitted to that. But seconds before 90 minutes was over, a sprinting Michael Essien from the right side of the pitch takes a pass from the Ukrainian striker and immediately shoots the ball inside the net giving Canizares no time to make a 3rd Cech-like save, for that winning goal of the night. The Blues advance to the Champions League semi-finals.
Roma's 7-1 loss (8-3 on aggregate) against Manchester United is simply preposterous. It was the result, not of an excellent play from the Red Devils but a horrible, horrible, defense from the Italian team. Not even a team in the Coca-Cola Championship Division, just awaiting formal relegation to League 1, lost that badly against them. In fact, Southend United managed an upset during a Carling Cup match against the Red Devils back in November of 2006. That loss is simply humiliating. Every single goalscorer from United breezed through the field undefended. Two of them, Michael Carrick and Cristiano Ronaldo, managed to score a brace. Alan Smith and Patrice Evra also managed to slip one each inside the net. Add to that a goalkeeper, Brazilia Doni, who looked clueless every single time. I believe I have just lost my respect for Roma.
Whether the finals will be a battle between blue and red, reds from Anfield and Old Trafford, or an English and Italian teams, we could only wait. Yet among all three possibilities, nothing beats the idea of a championship between the favorites and the underdogs, which I'm almost a hundred percent certain are to vie for the two other titles still up for grabs. Nothing beats the idea of a championship between the Blue and the Red (obviously, it's neither the boys of Anfield nor of Emirates Stadium, most especially). It is a battle between heaven and hell.
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