Bayern Munich finished an utterly disappointing domestic season with a 5-2 loss against Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup final. They had earlier lost out on the German League against the same opposition. A poor season for their high standards, one may think.
Bayern Munich Vs. Chelsea, 2012 UEFA Champions League Final
Chelsea, on the other hand won the FA Cup at Wembley beating Liverpool in a tense final at the Wembley. However a sacking of a manager midway through the season and finishing a lowly sixth in the League ensured that the Blues had a domestic season worth forgetting.
However the teams have had an absolutely contrasting run in the Europe so far.
After a fairytale comeback against Napoli, Chelsea stunned the world by knocking out Barcelona in the semis while the Bayern ensured that there would be no finalists from Spain as they knocked out Real Madrid after a dramatic penalty shootout. While Bayern aims to become the third team after Real and Liverpool to win the title five times, Chelsea are looking for their first ever European triumph after the heartbreak suffered in 2008 when John Terry slipped and put his penalty into the crowds to cost his team the title.
Bayern are no strangers to heartbreak in the Champions League final either. A double strike in injury time by Manchester United at Camp Nou robbed Bayern of the title in 1999. Bayern also reached the final a couple of years ago before being beaten by Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in the final.
John Terry wouldn’t be able to exorcise the ghosts of Moscow after he picked up a red card in the semifinal against Barcelona while Ribery would be looking to make amends as he sat out of Bayern’s loss to Inter due to a suspension. Chelsea will go into the match without their energetic midfielder Ramires and Raul Meireles, who misses out due to suspension. The Blues would also miss the presence of their influential right back Branislav Ivanovic while David Luiz returns from injury to take his place in central defence alongside Gary Cahill in the absence of Terry.
Munich have suspension problems of their own with Luiz Gustavo, David Alaba and Holger Badstuber all ruled out after bookings against Real while Tymoshchuk and Contento are expected to slot into defence. Bayern’s strength lies in their attack which comprises of a star line up in Schweinsteiger, Tim Kroos in midfield assisted by the duo of Robben and Ribery on the flank. “Super” Mario is in the form of his life having already netted 40 goals this season while Muller would look to influence the game as a secondary striker behind Gomez.
For the Londoners, Didier Drogba looks set to start, which in all probability, would be his Chelsea swansong. Since the departure of Andre Vilas Boas, Roberto Di Matteo’s faith in the Ivory Coast striker has paid rich dividends as Drogba scored the all-important winner in the home leg against Barcelona before playing an influential part in the return 2-2 draw. The absence of Ramires and Meireles along with the injury to Malouda will definitely weaken Chelsea’s midfield thus shifting the onus on Lampard to marshall the midfield.
Failure to beat Munich would also mean Chelsea would remain ineligible to play in the Champions League next season as they finished sixth in the league. A on and off season, poor domestic form, non-availability of key players and the 66,000 partisan Allianz Arena implies that Chelsea travel to Germany as the underdogs, but being the dramatic season that it has been, it would not be much of a surprise if Chelsea manage to pull off a trick out of their sleeve.
Probable Line-ups:
Bayern Munich (4-4-1-1): Neuer, Lahm, Boateng,Tymoshchuk, Contento, Robben, Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Ribery, Muller, Gomez.
Chelsea (4-3-2-1): Cech, Bosingwa, Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Kalou, Mata, Drogba.
Tags: Bayern Munich, Champions League, Chelsea, Football, Soccer
