I just wonder if I should bother putting up the team of the Champions League this season given that a lot of the form players didn't even feature in the centrepiece Final. Much as Didier Drogba was the man of the match, his poultry goal tally this season doesn't even compare to the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and even Bayern's Gomez who would be my forwards of the year, even if admittedly he showed a bit more bottle than the two best players in the world.
It just shows you how crazy, exciting and unpredictable this edition of the UEFA Champions League has been and why I'm actually a bit glad it hasn't been totally dominated by the Premier League clubs as it has been in recent times.
Heck, at one stage, it seemed that this was going to be the worst Champions League for Premier League clubs in a long time when both Manchester clubs crashed out in the group stages and Arsenal and Chelsea who were both struggling domestically at the time were left to fly the flag. Chelsea's latest triumphs over Barcelona and Bayern Munich have certainly made me sit down and put my gun away.
It's a huge credit then to Roberto di Matteo really that Chelsea have been able to master such a remarkable and unbelievable turnaround that suddenly turns Chelsea's season into a rather successful one. After all, even the Special One couldn't win the Champions League for Real Madrid and Chelsea.
By the way, Chelsea's handsome trophy win means that Tottenham are sadly out of the Champions League and no English clubs will have to take part in a two-match playoff to make the group stages next season.
Anyway to the Final of course and it was hard to believe from the first half that Chelsea would be victors. In fact even as late as the 80th minute, it was hard to pick anyone but Bayern to win given the amount of possession, territory and shots on goal that they had. Yet, despite dominating the stats, the Germans weren't dominating where it mattered on the scoreboard thanks to some profligate finishing. Eventual goalscorer, Thomas Mueller, was guilty of missing plenty of clear-cut goal scoring opportunities.
It beggared the thought that the club often known as FC Hollywood were being their usual arrogant selves thinking they could afford to miss a few sitters knowing the one that would hit the back of the net would come. Or maybe the pressure of playing in front of their home fans in their swanky new stadium had engulfed the usually stoic players.
Nevertheless, when Mueller scored, most would have thought the game was dead and buried. Then out of nowhere, Drogba stepped up to score the most important goal of his life that would send the game to extra-time once again.
Drogba has been a lucky charm for Chelsea and will be sorely missed when he goes. Even the penalties he concedes have been pretty safe - Messi's and Robben's all unsuccessful in the last two games after Drogba had conceded the original penalties. He duly repaid the luck factory kindly, slamming home the penalty that would send the Champions League trophy to a London trophy cabinet for the first time ever.
As I said, Chelsea could either go out and play or park the bus in front of the Bayern goal. Once left back Ryan Bertrand was asked to play at left midfield ahead of Florent Malouda, you could guess what Chelsea's tactics were going to be. Mind you, they did play the role of spoiler so well even with all those chances Bayern had. And they could switch quickly to a more attacking formation to get that goal very easily.
Again, it was a masterclass from Roberto di Matteo who must surely get the Chelsea job now. Even if for some inexplicable reason he doesn't, he can forever look back on this bright spot of his emerging managerial career with a smile.
Whether di Matteo gets the job or not, Chelsea will be facing quite a radical cleanout of players this summer. Cech, Terry and Lampard should be there but there are question marks over the futures of Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda who may have played their last games in the Final - if so, what a way to go out. Players like Ryan Bertrand and Josh McEachran will be key to Chelsea's future and the club will be hoping to add Eden Hazard in the summer to support Juan Mata and create two attacking flankers.
But for now, much of SW1 can enjoy this triumph that has come at the most unexpected time just like a girlfriend. Even Liverpool fans should be impressed with the way Chelsea performed in the Final - it was heroic and not too dissimilar from the way Liverpool played in their Final in 2005.
So well done Chelsea and good luck RDM! By the way thanks for AVB!
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