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English Angle: The Champions League Blues - Cash Can't Buy Chelsea Luck In Europe
Whether Ranieri, Mourinho, Grant, even Scolari or Hiddink, it always ends the same way for the Blues as the grandest prize of all continues to elude Abramovich & Co. Goal.com's Greg Ptolomey wonders why...
07-May-2009 8:35:00 PM
All the conspiracy theories are starting to creep out of the bag in the aftermath of Chelsea's latest Champions League tumble.
Didier Drogba's wild and furious cries after Barcelona's late, late strike had eliminated the west London side from the semi-finals of Europe's elite competition seemed to sum up years of frustration at Stamford Bridge; living room and public house mutterings amplified by an unhinged Ivorian striker, lunging after the Norwegian referee, Tom Henning Ovrebo, who'd decided that each of Chelsea's penalty claims on the night were invalid.
There are those who have come to the conclusion that UEFA are embarrassed by the Premier League's dominance of Europe's elite competition, and thus manipulated events to help ease 'foreign' element Barca into the Rome show-piece. There are others who say that football's higher powers are trying to protect the beautiful game from the mind-boggling amounts of money spent by Chelsea this decade in order to 'buy' a continental crown.
Some say Chelsea have been desperately unlucky not to win the Champions League in recent times; some say they're nothing but big Blue bottlers and cry babies.
The one thing we know for certain is that this club has been there or thereabouts on several occasions, and are yet to get the trophy onto an open-top bus, where Drogba would shout, "It's a ******* triumph!" and everyone would agree.
It all started before Roman Abramovich's mega-money Russian revolution. Gianluca Vialli led the club to the Champions League for the first time, and Barcelona brought them crashing down to earth by eliminating them at the quarter-final stage, sending them spinning out 6-4 on aggregate after Camp Nou extra-time.
Claudio Ranieri then managed Chelsea to the last four in 2003-04, following an unprecedented £100 million cash injection from new supremo Abramovich. They fancied their chances against massive underdogs Monaco, but the Didier Deschamps-coached side ousted Chelsea after a roller-coaster tie.
'Special' Jose Mourinho was brought in with a view to a golden era. Things were rosy domestically, but the Portuguese tactician couldn't bag the grand prize either. Redefining the squad – John Terry as captain, Drogba, Petr Cech – the club had to settle for another run to the semi-finals – having thrillingly ousted Barca and Bayern en route – as Liverpool progressed at their expense.
A Samuel Eto'o winner gave Barcelona the edge in 2005-06, and Chelsea could only muster a draw at Camp Nou, meaning an exit at the first knock-out hurdle.
The following year, Liverpool were again their conquerors as the Pensioners had their first taste of defeat via the Russian roulette of the penalty shoot-out.
Last term, Mourinho made a bitter exit and many believed that the Chelsea they'd become accustomed to was dead, but not so: unknown Avram Grant led them past 'Pool, finally, and to the final in Moscow. It couldn't have been written any better for Abramovich, but Manchester United hadn't read the script and forced penalties. Terry slipped (pictured), the trophy slipped out of their grasp and tears flowed instead of champagne.
That takes us to that stunning Andres Iniesta strike on Tuesday evening, after which the tears turned to anger. The nearly-men have come oh so close again.
This season started with Luiz Felipe Scolari at the helm, but he was quickly removed after failing to win the dressing room. Guus Hiddink swanned in for his temporary spell, and has quickly helped to round off a decade of incredible European heartache.
Okay, Scolari's side were dreadful in the group stages, and Hiddink was perhaps lucky that his side pulled up their socks in time to fend off the likes of Juventus, who certainly had their chances to eliminate the English side.
And yes, these are multi-millionaire mercenaries we're talking about, not a non-league side in the big cup final. At some point, though, when emotions are completely shot and another year slips away, they revert to being just men.
There is a cloud of bad luck following them - there must be. Look at Michael Ballack, another criticised for chasing the referee after yet another alleged handball. He's been a runner-up more times over the last couple of years than he can probably remember. It's a big silver pool that these guys are drowning in, and soon this generation of Blues will be forgotten outside of England if the can't get the job done.
Buying success? Blame them of that when they win the blasted thing.
The point of assembling a football team for the world's best competition is to lure the best players, the best staff, and have a go at winning it. Yes, Chelsea have spent obscene amounts of money - so have their European competitors. These mega-clubs are all cock-fighting with golden hens, it just so happens Abramovich has more than anyone else.
He felt the need to bypass a century of relative mediocrity with his roubles, and they've surely now helped shape the recent history of the competition enough that they deserve a bit of a break.
Greg Ptolomey, Goal.com
Didier Drogba's wild and furious cries after Barcelona's late, late strike had eliminated the west London side from the semi-finals of Europe's elite competition seemed to sum up years of frustration at Stamford Bridge; living room and public house mutterings amplified by an unhinged Ivorian striker, lunging after the Norwegian referee, Tom Henning Ovrebo, who'd decided that each of Chelsea's penalty claims on the night were invalid.
There are those who have come to the conclusion that UEFA are embarrassed by the Premier League's dominance of Europe's elite competition, and thus manipulated events to help ease 'foreign' element Barca into the Rome show-piece. There are others who say that football's higher powers are trying to protect the beautiful game from the mind-boggling amounts of money spent by Chelsea this decade in order to 'buy' a continental crown.
Some say Chelsea have been desperately unlucky not to win the Champions League in recent times; some say they're nothing but big Blue bottlers and cry babies.
The one thing we know for certain is that this club has been there or thereabouts on several occasions, and are yet to get the trophy onto an open-top bus, where Drogba would shout, "It's a ******* triumph!" and everyone would agree.
It all started before Roman Abramovich's mega-money Russian revolution. Gianluca Vialli led the club to the Champions League for the first time, and Barcelona brought them crashing down to earth by eliminating them at the quarter-final stage, sending them spinning out 6-4 on aggregate after Camp Nou extra-time.
Claudio Ranieri then managed Chelsea to the last four in 2003-04, following an unprecedented £100 million cash injection from new supremo Abramovich. They fancied their chances against massive underdogs Monaco, but the Didier Deschamps-coached side ousted Chelsea after a roller-coaster tie.
'Special' Jose Mourinho was brought in with a view to a golden era. Things were rosy domestically, but the Portuguese tactician couldn't bag the grand prize either. Redefining the squad – John Terry as captain, Drogba, Petr Cech – the club had to settle for another run to the semi-finals – having thrillingly ousted Barca and Bayern en route – as Liverpool progressed at their expense.
A Samuel Eto'o winner gave Barcelona the edge in 2005-06, and Chelsea could only muster a draw at Camp Nou, meaning an exit at the first knock-out hurdle.
The following year, Liverpool were again their conquerors as the Pensioners had their first taste of defeat via the Russian roulette of the penalty shoot-out.
Last term, Mourinho made a bitter exit and many believed that the Chelsea they'd become accustomed to was dead, but not so: unknown Avram Grant led them past 'Pool, finally, and to the final in Moscow. It couldn't have been written any better for Abramovich, but Manchester United hadn't read the script and forced penalties. Terry slipped (pictured), the trophy slipped out of their grasp and tears flowed instead of champagne.
That takes us to that stunning Andres Iniesta strike on Tuesday evening, after which the tears turned to anger. The nearly-men have come oh so close again.
This season started with Luiz Felipe Scolari at the helm, but he was quickly removed after failing to win the dressing room. Guus Hiddink swanned in for his temporary spell, and has quickly helped to round off a decade of incredible European heartache.
Okay, Scolari's side were dreadful in the group stages, and Hiddink was perhaps lucky that his side pulled up their socks in time to fend off the likes of Juventus, who certainly had their chances to eliminate the English side.
And yes, these are multi-millionaire mercenaries we're talking about, not a non-league side in the big cup final. At some point, though, when emotions are completely shot and another year slips away, they revert to being just men.
There is a cloud of bad luck following them - there must be. Look at Michael Ballack, another criticised for chasing the referee after yet another alleged handball. He's been a runner-up more times over the last couple of years than he can probably remember. It's a big silver pool that these guys are drowning in, and soon this generation of Blues will be forgotten outside of England if the can't get the job done.
Buying success? Blame them of that when they win the blasted thing.
The point of assembling a football team for the world's best competition is to lure the best players, the best staff, and have a go at winning it. Yes, Chelsea have spent obscene amounts of money - so have their European competitors. These mega-clubs are all cock-fighting with golden hens, it just so happens Abramovich has more than anyone else.
He felt the need to bypass a century of relative mediocrity with his roubles, and they've surely now helped shape the recent history of the competition enough that they deserve a bit of a break.
Greg Ptolomey, Goal.com
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