A most hectic season! How Chelsea shook off the Champions League curse to beat Bayern Munich in their own stadium
Between that rainy night in Moscow and the miraculous recovery in Munich lay four years of cumulative trauma for Chelsea’s players and fans. In 2009, referee Tom Henning Ovrebo’s infamous refereeing nightmare against Barcelona culminated in Andres Iniesta’s 93rd-minute knife into the hearts of the home fans at Stamford Bridge. In 2010, Jose Mourinho returned to dump them out in the last 16 on his way to winning the competition with Inter. A year later, English rivals United inflicted double misery on the London side by eliminating them at the quarter-finals and then beating them to the Premier League title. By the time the 2010-11 campaign ended, many believed Chelsea would simply never make it to the next level.
That summer, though, Abramovich believed he had found the mastermind who would turn them into the continent’s dominant force. Andre Villas-Boas arrived from Porto as a 33-year-old tactical prodigy, tasked with replacing the Blues’ counter-attacking style with a more entertaining, modern brand of football and, crucially, overseeing the transition of power from the waning golden generation to a younger crop of players.
Instead, his tenure triggered an existential crisis at Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese coach insisted on a high defensive line that exposed the declining mobility of the centre-backs, while simultaneously angering and marginalising the bigger egos in the squad. Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Drogba found themselves routinely benched, leading to heated confrontations. Instead of breaking into Europe’s elite with the Blues, the coach’s revolution started an ideological war between an unproven tactician and a group of winners and leaders who refused to be written off.
The conflict reached its peak at the Stadio San Paolo in February 2012. Before that round-of-16 fixture against Napoli, Villas-Boas was already under pressure and knew the tie would define his tenure.
“There’s been an obvious tendency for change to happen but from the messages [issued] by the club and the board in the recent past there’s a clear indication that there’s a change in the way we approach the projects for the future,” he told reporters. “The speculation is normal, given the cultural past of this football club, but you have to understand that there’s a different perspective now.
“We have great belief in what we will do next year, setting up a team to bring us the biggest amount of trophies we can have. I’m really confident about next year. That doesn’t take any responsibility for what’s happening now but we had a three-year project to change not only the team but the culture and structure of the club.
“There’s a lot we needed to do, a lot of plans, so that’s why I’m excited about the future. I have the full confidence of the owner. I am here to do my job and my job is for this year and the next two years.”
Facing a lethal Napoli side featuring Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik in the first leg in Italy, Villas-Boas made a contentious decision: he left Lampard, Cole and Michael Essien on the bench.
The gamble backfired. Though Juan Mata gave Chelsea an early lead against the run of play, Napoli’s front line repeatedly tore through the midfield of Ramires and Raul Meireles and exposed centre-backs Gary Cahill and David Luiz. Lavezzi scored twice and Cavani got one as the Italians ran riot, winning 3-1.
While Chelsea’s old guard sat stony faced on the bench, Villas-Boas stood isolated on the touchline.
Twelve days later, following a dismal defeat to West Brom, Abramovich scrapped his three-year plan and Villas-Boas was dismissed after 256 days in charge.
Sitting fifth in the Premier League and seemingly hopeless in Europe, Chelsea’s season was a write-off. Caretaker duties were handed to assistant Di Matteo, a quiet former Blues midfielder, who was asked to simply restore peace to a mutinous squad.
