Eight
years on from Chelsea's Champions League victory, Frank Lampard runs through
his memory of that famous day in the Munich, and the run-up to the final...
Under Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea won the Champions League for the first
time, defying all the odds along the way in dramatic knockout wins against
Napoli and Barcelona, and a final victory over Bayern Munich in their own
backyard.
Speaking to Jamie Redknapp on Tuesday's The Football Show, Lampard fondly
remembers what was to be the best year in Chelsea's history, as a
topsy-turvy few months culminated in triumph...
"You struggle to believe the story," said Lampard. "There were so many
sub-plots to what was the best year in Chelsea's history."
Breakdown in Naples
In the last 16 first leg, Andre Villas-Boas was under severe pressure
with Chelsea struggling domestically, and a 3-1 defeat at Napoli spelled the
end for the Portuguese boss...
"It was tough," Lampard said. "Now doing the job that I do, I now understand
it would have been tough for the manager.
"Looking back, I was disappointed on the night. You can see why the game
went the wrong way for us, it was a tough atmosphere to go into, and we
weren't solid, we weren't right."
Second-leg comeback
But in the return leg at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea turned it on under
interim manager Di Matteo, winning 3-1 in normal time to take it to
extra-time, before Branislav Ivanovic's winner sent Chelsea to the
quarter-final.
"One of the great nights at Stamford Bridge. To go in 3-1 down, with the
talent they had, and the circumstances of Robbie coming in. He spoke to the
players individually and garnered a spirit.
"Big names step up, and we stepped up that night with the help of an amazing
crowd."
A Nou Camp miracle - 'I was thinking
double figures'
Chelsea then got past Benfica 3-1 on aggregate in the quarter-final,
before being drawn against the current champions Barcelona, widely regarded
as the best team in world football at the time.
Didier Drogba's goal gave them a 1-0 win in the first leg at Stamford
Bridge, but a depleted Chelsea went to the Nou Camp a week later, losing
Gary Cahill early through injury and then captain John Terry to a red card.
Barcelona then raced 2-0 ahead, and though Lampard admits he felt at the
time it could have gone into double-figures for the hosts, Chelsea formed a
stunning comeback, scoring through Ramires just before half-time, before
defending deep for 45 minutes and grabbing a second through Fernando Torres.
"When we went 2-0 down, 10 men, with the reshuffle, I thought this could be
the worst night of my footballing life. I'm honestly thinking towards double
figures. I'd spent the first 20 minutes getting nowhere near Xavi and
Iniesta. It's not a joke, it sounds funny, but it's not a joke. I just
didn't see it. If we didn't score just before half-time, which changed our
feeling.
"I hardly got past my 18-yard box in the second half, we couldn't even get
up to people, if you got up to Iniesta he'd just go past you! It was a real
dig in scenario. It's easy said now, because we had Bayern at their own
ground, but at the same time, when those things happen, in a game you have
no right to win, then you do feel it's written in the stars."
Underdogs in Munich
Bayern, who had beaten Real Madrid in the semi-final, were favourites to
win the final at their own ground, but Chelsea had other plans. Another
reshuffled Chelsea side pulled off a miracle.
Going behind late on to Thomas Muller's header, Didier Drogba brilliantly
equalised at the death, before Petr Cech's penalty save from Arjen Robben in
extra-time. It then went to penalties; Lampard scored his, and Drogba scored
the winning spot kick after Bayern had missed twice. Cue "chaos".
"We were aware of being underdogs, and missing huge players. Robbie Di
Matteo called us in for a pre-game meeting, and he actually had videos of
all our family members sending good luck messages, whether it was our kids,
or grans, wives, mothers, we sat there and it was tear after tear, emotion
after emotion, and I thought it was amazing team management from Robbie.
"But we had something about us, and obviously we had the King in Didier. He
came up with a header that nobody I think in world football could have
scored, and then the winning penalty.
"Didier became a different person in those games leading up to the final.
Even in the warm-up, he was caged, and that confidence rubbed off on those
around him. That's why he's a Premier League great. He scored goals at the
right moment to win you games.
"When Cech saved Robben's penalty, I thought: 'This could seriously be it.'
I was nervous stepping up for my penalty, and Manuel Neuer looked huge in
the goal, with his arms up. I thought: 'Side to side he'll get this' so I
went straight for his face hoping he'd move out of the way! Straight down
the middle.
"Out-of-body moment is the best way to describe it. I never felt the crowd
at that point, but I did feel the pressure of the situation. It becomes a
bit about you at that point.
"When Didier scored, it was chaos. The best night of my footballing life. It
was an incredible night. For many a year, we'd be trying to win it, we'd
lost finals, semi-finals, and it felt like the last chance for this group.
Terry in full kit - 'He can wear what he
wants!'
Captain John Terry, suspended for the final, was mocked for wearing his
full Chelsea kit for the celebrations at the Allianz Arena, but Lampard says
a man of Terry's stature can wear whatever he wants...
"If there is one man at this football club who deserves that moment, it was
John. He was fighting along the way, sticking his body on the line in the
first leg against Barcelona.
"It's the modern day of social media, people want to jump on anything! The
main man of the club can wear what he wants. He can pick up that cup in
whatever he wants, and it's fully deserved!"
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