Chelsea's 2012 UCL win was peak black magic, by far the luckiest and most freakish UCL title in this century. Di Matteo must have sold his soul to the Devil to win that UCL title in 2012, I haven't seen other so ridiculously lucky team in my life. They weren't even that good at parking the bus (unlike Greece 2004), their adversaries were just extremely wasteful. Just watch the highlights in both games against Barcelona in the semis and, specially, the final against Bayern. And Chelsea had already rode their luck a lot in the UCL KO before they faced Barcelona and Bayern. Maybe Chelsea was overdue to have all that luck, though, after being so unlucky to not win the UCL in the 2000s with far, far superior teams, so their luck in 2012 was probably warranted and deserved, no hard feelings against that 2012 UCL title, I don't mean any disrespect to Chelsea fans.
Chelsea 2012 was peak black magic and Di Matteo selling his soul to Satan!
- Thread starter matbezlima
- Start date
But yeah, that was the flukiest cup run. Barcelona away was incredible though.
They'd been screwed out of enough finals to earn a bit of luck in my opinion.
the only team in recent memory ( you could also say liverpool 2005) where an average team has won the CL. Normally every season one of the 2-3 best teams win the Champions league.
I agree
Di Matteo is a Champions League winning manager. Still bizarre.
They got done previously in 2009 semi final against Barca, which for me is the worst refereeing I've seen in my life time.
So while I didn't like how They won the CL. I wasn't particularly bitter about it.
I guess his contract with Satan was over when He got sacked by Roman.
So while I didn't like how They won the CL. I wasn't particularly bitter about it.
I guess his contract with Satan was over when He got sacked by Roman.
To be fair, they more than deserved a bit of luck. In 2008, they were a Terry not slipping from winning it, in 2009 they would have reached the final if it wasn't for the worst refering performance in the history of the competition. In 2010 and 2011 they lost fairly to better teams (though were competitive in the ties).
Thing is, in 2012 they were crap. That wasn't even an average team, it was a really bad team instead. They finished sixth or seventh in the league and in the next season finished third in their group below Shakhtar and Juventus. They were a totally mediocre team, with a meh defense, an okayish midfield and a past it Drogba in attack. Somehow, karma intervened and they defeated Barcelona despite playing an hour with 10 men and Barca having countless chances, losing a penalty and having a goal not counted for a marginal offside.
The final in many wats was a carbon copy of the semis, though this time Bayern was even more dominant than Barca. Chelsea was under siege, with Bayern losing chance after chance. Then Drogba causes a penalty (similar to that against Barca), with Robben missing (tbf, unlike Messi, he at least shot in the target). And then Chelsea scoring at the last minute, from nothing. Then the penalties, with Chelsea missing the first penalty, but in the end winning the competition.
Thing is, in 2012 they were crap. That wasn't even an average team, it was a really bad team instead. They finished sixth or seventh in the league and in the next season finished third in their group below Shakhtar and Juventus. They were a totally mediocre team, with a meh defense, an okayish midfield and a past it Drogba in attack. Somehow, karma intervened and they defeated Barcelona despite playing an hour with 10 men and Barca having countless chances, losing a penalty and having a goal not counted for a marginal offside.
The final in many wats was a carbon copy of the semis, though this time Bayern was even more dominant than Barca. Chelsea was under siege, with Bayern losing chance after chance. Then Drogba causes a penalty (similar to that against Barca), with Robben missing (tbf, unlike Messi, he at least shot in the target). And then Chelsea scoring at the last minute, from nothing. Then the penalties, with Chelsea missing the first penalty, but in the end winning the competition.
I think they deserved abit of luck. they should have won CL at least once during their prime years anyway.
I know that Gomez scored the winning goal against Real Madrid in Munich, but in both semi-final matches and then the final itself he missed so many clear-cut chances. He wastefulness in front of goal came close to costing Bayern in the semis when they were clearly the better team over both legs (they should have been through to the final without extra-time and penalties at the Bernabeu), and then actually cost them in the final again with them dominating. It was no wonder that they signed Mandzukic from Wolfsburg during the summer, and Gomez was relegated to the bench the next season.
I was happy for Chelsea though as they should have won the tournament in their prime years, so this balanced things out. In the CL era, the only first time winners have been Marseille in 1993, Dortmund in 1997 and Chelsea in 2012.
I was happy for Chelsea though as they should have won the tournament in their prime years, so this balanced things out. In the CL era, the only first time winners have been Marseille in 1993, Dortmund in 1997 and Chelsea in 2012.
Not just luck, they were helped by abysmal refereeing decisions against Benfica and Napoli I think it was. Absolute travesty of a cup run.
To me one of the main highlights of the 2011/2012 CL, was APOEL Nicosia coming through 3 rounds of qualifying and reaching the quarter-finals (beating teams like Zenit, Porto and Lyon who all had significantly larger budgets than them), and then shutting out Real Madrid for more than 70 minutes in the first leg despite losing their best defender to injury inside the first 10 minutes. A modern CL fairytale.
In 05, 06, 08 and offcourse 09 they were screwed by ghost goals, dodgy ref decisions and general lack of luck. So by winning it in 2012 a small amount of justice was restored. And I really don't even like the club
I recall Benfica missing a sitter in the closing stages at Stamford bridge. And Cole blocking a pretty easy chance for Napoli on the goal line.
What I find crazy is the following season they played in 8 different competitions!
I would say it's Di Matteo's good karma for having his career cut short with a bad injury.
And he returned to troll Spurs one last time (who he's never been beaten by as a player or manager, not even at West Brom).
And he returned to troll Spurs one last time (who he's never been beaten by as a player or manager, not even at West Brom).
The key was not conceding to Barca at Stamford Bridge. Think Barca had loads of chances they wasted and then Drogba kincked one right on half time from one of their breaks.
Still made Barca couldn't score even one goal past them when they were down to 10 men (Messi missed a penalty in the second half). It's all they needed as the famous Torres goal wouldn't have happened if Barcelona were 3-1 up.
Was at a gig on the night of the final so never fully watched it but was simply a game Chelsea were destined to win. Bayern wasting countless chances and again Drogba scores from I think Chelsea's only corner of the game in 89th minute.
Then Cech who was never much a penalty saver keeps one out from Robben in extra time. Even in the shoot out I think Bayern were 3-1 up (can remember Neuer putting his away no problem and it seemed over) before Cech saved again from Schweinsteiger and someone else and it completely turned around for Chelsea, completely opposite of 2008 shoot out).
I can still remember the Napoli tie which was last 16. That was an epic one, Napoli wasted so many chances in the second half and Chelsea punished them from set pieces as can remember Ivanovic steaming in with a header.
Still made Barca couldn't score even one goal past them when they were down to 10 men (Messi missed a penalty in the second half). It's all they needed as the famous Torres goal wouldn't have happened if Barcelona were 3-1 up.
Was at a gig on the night of the final so never fully watched it but was simply a game Chelsea were destined to win. Bayern wasting countless chances and again Drogba scores from I think Chelsea's only corner of the game in 89th minute.
Then Cech who was never much a penalty saver keeps one out from Robben in extra time. Even in the shoot out I think Bayern were 3-1 up (can remember Neuer putting his away no problem and it seemed over) before Cech saved again from Schweinsteiger and someone else and it completely turned around for Chelsea, completely opposite of 2008 shoot out).
I can still remember the Napoli tie which was last 16. That was an epic one, Napoli wasted so many chances in the second half and Chelsea punished them from set pieces as can remember Ivanovic steaming in with a header.
Ugh, this thread just reminded me of the sex noise Gary Neville made when Torres scored.
He got the job at Schalke two seasons later because of this and then almost beat the eventual winners Real Madrid in the UCL, beating them 4-3 at the Bernabeu and ending up just one goal away from going through.
Wouldn't find it hard to believe that he did sell his soul.
Wouldn't find it hard to believe that he did sell his soul.