So it will be the Final everyone wasn't quite expecting - Chelsea and Bayern Munich pretty much upset everyone's tips and expectations to make the Final at the expense of Real Madrid and Barcelona, who were apparently odds-on favourites to meet in an El Classico of a final.
And in the most unlikely twist of them all, both stars, top-scorers in La Liga and shoe-ins for the European Golden Boot, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo missed critical kicks from the penalty spot just over 24 hours of each other. It was reminiscent of Dan Carter missing a kick at goal right in front of the posts. Oh well, one of Messi and Ronaldo will have that Golden Boot to console themselves with.
Meanwhile, Manuel Neuer might have become the new Ollie Kahn at Bayern Munich after his heroics from the spot. In fact, Alonso's penalty really shouldn't have counted as he placed the ball off the mark - so Real Madrid did not score a single legitimate penalty kick in the shootout.
The interesting thing now is that both Chelsea and Bayern are sporting wounds from their brutal and heroic slayings of the Spanish giants. Chelsea will be without Ivanovic, Terry, Meireles and Ramirez for the Final while Bayern will be without Alaba, Badstuber and Gustavo.
You could say both teams will be missing quite a bit of their backline and midfield especially if Cahill's injury is a bit more serious than expected - we may see Paulo Ferreira or a midfielder like Michael Essien or John Obi Mikel play as a makeshift centre back.
So in what is set to be the Final with the Last Man Standing, what sort of teams will Chelsea and Bayern play in Munich?
Chelsea -
Cech(GK); Bosingwa, Cahill, Luiz, Cole; Mikel; Kalou, Lampard, Mata; Drogba
Bayern Munich -
Neuer (GK); Rafinha, Boateng, van Buyten, Lahm(c); Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Muller; Ribery, Robben; Gomez
By the way I actually really don't know who to cheer on in this game.
wher's the 10th player for chelsea?
ReplyDeleteI have to say I was really impressed with Bayern. Chelsea for how bravely they defended were still a touch lucky to go through.
Bayern though were definitely the better team in both legs against Real. As they beat Man City and Napoli too just to get through to the Knockout stages I would say they deserve the title.