Bayern Munich will meet Chelsea in the Champions League final on 19 May after they both knocked off favored Spanish opposition.
Amazingly, Chelsea and Bayern have only met once before in the Champions League and that was in the quarter-final in 2004/05 which Chelsea won 6-5 on aggregate.
When this match-up was first set, the consensus was that Bayern would win easily. They had just beaten Real Madrid and were playing at home in the final.
{ 8 comments }
Roberto Di Matteo says that he is “very hopeful” Gary Cahill and David Luiz will be fit to start Saturday’s Champions League final.
The defenders returned to training ahead of the match against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.
Cahill and Luiz have both been missing with hamstring injuries while Florent Malouda will train on Friday night after a hamstring problem of his own.
Despite Chelsea captain John Terry missing the game through suspension, Cahill believes that JT will play a significant role in motivating the squad on Saturday.
{ 4 comments }
Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo talks about Saturday’s Champions League Final against Bayern Munich, playing Bayern in Munich, the fitness of Gary Cahill and David Luiz and getting the Chelsea job on a permanent basis if Chelsea win:
{ 1 comment }
Chelsea stars Gary Cahill, Didier Drogba, and Petr Cech all talk about Saturday’s Champions League Final match against Bayern Munich.
Gary Cahill
Petr Cech
Didier Drogba
{ 1 comment }
Roberto Di Matteo is intent on masterminding “something extraordinary” in Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final and has brushed off the prospect of it being his last match in charge of Chelsea.
The interim coach again today admitted he thought becoming the first manager to lead the club to glory in European football’s most prestigious club competition would not affect his hopes of being appointed on a permanent basis.
Di Matteo, who has enjoyed a rollercoaster ten weeks in charge, said:
“I have a big drive and a big motivation to do something extraordinary for this club. That’s all I want to do. Whatever comes afterwards, there’s always a reason why things happen.”
{ 0 comments }
Gary Cahill completed his first full training session for three weeks on Tuesday ahead of Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League final and declared: “I will be fit.”
Cahill and David Luiz both appeared to come through unscathed as they stepped up their comeback from hamstring injuries just four days before Saturday’s showdown with Bayern Munich. It was a huge boost for Chelsea, who were in danger of going into the Allianz Arena clash without any recognised senior centre-backs.
England defender Cahill, who suffered his injury during last month’s epic semi-final second leg at Barcelona, said:
{ 4 comments }
Not the best time for Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck to fire a shot at the club’s manager, with Chelsea’s biggest game since Moscow less than a week away. But that is what he did, and the Chelsea chairman did not hold back on his dissatisfaction over how this season has went.
Chelsea were three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal when Andre Villas-Boas was fired, but they ultimately finished five points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham as Newcastle also leapfrogged them.
“We do not consider [finishing outside the top four] to be satisfactory and Roman [Abramovich] and the board will be working over the summer to try to ensure that doesn’t happen again,” Buck said.
{ 4 comments }
Juan Mata joined Gigi Salmon on Chelsea TV’s Friday Night Live and here are some excerpts from the conversation.
{ 0 comments }
Roberto Di Matteo reflected on a Sunday afternoon mission completed more or less satisfactorily after the final home game of the season.
His target prior to kick off was the beat Blackburn Rovers while avoiding any fresh injuries to players eligible to face Bayern Munich next weekend. Following the 2-1 win over the relegated side thanks to goals from John Terry and Raul Meireles, the only problem to report concerned Florent Malouda who came off shortly before half-time.
{ 0 comments }
