Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool | Moscow, Here We Come!!! | Blue Champions

Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool | Moscow, Here We Come!!! - [BlueChampion]

Wed, Apr 30, 2008

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What a night! What a performance from the Blues! This would be one of my most memorable matches as a Chelsea fan. Didn’t you love that celebration from Drogba? Didn’t you love his crazy dance with Steve Clarke? How about that penalty from that English footballer who won’t make it to the Euro?

Who in the wildest of their dreams, would have thought that Chelsea would be managed by Avram Grant when they reach their first Champions League finals? May be, that’s the icing on the cake! Now that’s like showing my middle finger to those never winning arses, once won pools and will-we-wont-we mancs. Hey wait, this pops up, does YNWA mean ‘You Never Win Anything’ or may be ‘You Never Win Anymore’ sounds better. Yay, this is our time to taunt and haunt these buggers and I’m sure you’d ensure that every single Liverpool and Arsenal fan you know, are ridiculed and made to weep.

Okay, onto the match now. Right from the start, Chelsea was quite strong in their approach. I see the difference of having the second leg at home. I knew it is a massive one, but I just realised this draw has played an incredibly important role in our march to Moscow. The atmosphere was amazing. I don’t think I’ve heard such loud support at Stamford Bridge in recent times.

I’m not going much into the finer details of the match. There were some amazing five-star performances in this match which finally put that look on tubby’s face. I think Rafa blundered big time by provoking Drogba. Didier was immense last night and was very unfortunate not to get a hattrick. His first goal was awesome. From a tight angle, to the near post, with Reina being closer to the near post, he blasted the ball at the speed of light. Watch this goal from the goal net camera angle, wow, it looks bloody frightening. And then his second goal. That ball from Anelka was a poacher’s delight. Drogba, in his current form and spirit, is never gonna miss out on those. No one else had a chance when Drogba had made up his mind. That’s how I like it!

Frank Lampard - another episode in his Chelsea legend. I thought Lampard was fantastic last night. He was quick on the ball, made neat passes and was very much in the thick of things. Then came the penalty. It would take tremendous about of guts and belief to take that crucial penalty that would send us to the finals. And boy, didn’t he take it well? The power and the conviction and the execution of the penalty on the whole, was more Ballackesque. Lampard had to take the penalty and had to score. That was the script. It was not going to be anything different. He wanted this. The team wanted this for him. This was the sequel to the Ballack header against Man Utd.

Michael Essien once again in the right back. I’m still not comfortable with this decision. He left his zone unmanned too many times and invited pressure from Liverpool. But he did one thing right and that was not in defence. The Bison was back to being the engine that we all are familiar with. Ashley Cole was brilliant. So was Terry and Carvalho. I thought Kalou was very good last night. Regular readers would know that I’m a fan of Kalou, I mean his potential rather than his performance. Last night, he troubled Liverpool with his dribbles and movement and it was his move that led to the first goal.

Joe Cole was a bit of a disappointment. He was just walking while I expected him to fly. Playing Liverpool, at Stamford Bridge, in the second leg of the semi finals, I expected him to rip the scousers apart with his step overs and rabonas. He wasn’t bad though. It’s just that he didn’t meet my expectation for the stage. Where would we have been if Ballack had played all through this season? Such situations have always been there. In 05-06, I was forever waiting for Robben and Joe Cole. In 06-07, I was waiting for Petr Cech, John Terry and some more. This season, may be it was Ballack who we missed. I wish his free kick had gone in. May be he was inspired by the Paul Scholes goal against Barca, that he kept peppering Reina with his long shots. Maka was good too. But certainly, I don’t see him playing for Chelsea next season.

One crucial thing last night, in my opinion, was also the pitch. The Stamford Bridge pitch was not the smoothest surface and it was not helped by the rain and storm. Many times, Liverpool could not play their natural game due to the slowness in the pitch and that meant intercepted passes or player over runs. While Chelse were playing comfortably, Liverpool were struggling with their long ground passes that they are normally good at. That’s where the ‘playing-the-second-leg-at-home’ thingy came handy.

One last thing. I loved the post-match celebrations. The players doing all their crazy stuff while Rafa was back in his room crying out loud. Ooh! I love Steve Clarke more than ever after his little jingle with Drogba. Why weren’t the players celebrating with Grant? His absence was incredibly glaring. I was expecting him to run onto the pitch and merge with the group of players. C’mon guys! At least for the cameras.

I’m running short of time but I got enough time to deliver a speech of thanks. My thanks to this amazing group of players who, when they get their acts together can beat Brazil 1970 (I can get hyper, right?). My thanks to Avram Grant for being the head or figure head or just the figure, whatever, at this historic moment. My thanks to those men in suits who drew the balls from the crystal bowl. My thanks to Deivid and to of course, the Chelsea legend John Arne Riise, without whom this would not have been possible. Thank you everyone . . . (sobbing)

Written By BlueChampion

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That was sweet.Really really sweet.Win the finals now.

I still cannot breathe!!!!! That was some game…!!! I think i can be magnanimous and say the the scousers gave us a tough time ;)!! we made it tough for ourselves in the second half!!.. well whatever!!! whatever Stevie G says.. and whatever Benitez’s says… WE are going to Moscow :)!!!!!!!!

People who doubt Drogba’s loyalty to Chelsea ought to consider his stellar performance lately and his determination to carry the Blues through whatever dry spell we encounter. Is Drogba a bit selfish sometimes? Sure, but most strikers are, which makes sense since they are considered based mainly on their goal-scoring ability.

Drogba gets it done. He provided two excellent goals and contributed intensity and passion to the Chelsea strike force, especially in the first half and in the extra time periods.

Besides, Drogba was generous with the ball on multiple occasions tonight, such as when he let the ball through his legs when he could have taken it for himself later in the game, to allow another player try to get it on his run.

Grant has taken this Chelsea side far and deserves significant credit and respect for managing that.

I’m starting to feel like we will win a double this season…. Manutd can drop a point and with Grant’s luck in the champions league, we will lift the trophy.
Go chelsea, Go chelsea GO!

DIDIER FUCKIGN DROGBA number one …WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS CHELSEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

“Flying high up in the sky, we’ll keep the blue flag flying high,
FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE TO MO-SC-OW! We’ll keep the blue flag flying high!!!!”

RAFA thank you for provoking Drogba, without you we wouldn’t be here today.

Avram Grant is the Man!
say whatever you want - thanks to him we are almost there!

I could kiss the toad’s arse right now!!! Go Chelsea!!!!

Hello Lads & Lasses

Well done Chelsea for a well deserved win tonight, did you here the moaning scousers on talk sport, they were so funny.

Good luck in Moscow and you will win 2-1, but i feel you will be beaten by same score at SJP on Monday, but will still win the PL title. As that cockney alcoholic git once said,”it’s a funny old game” (cockney accent)

YESS!!!!!!!!!!!! here we come moscow!!!

every single player on the pitch gave a fantastic performance today, even that fella grant. Frank Lampard was absolutely fantastic.

This has to be one of my favourite days as a chelsea supporter ever, seriously. I have never been so worried in my life after babel scored through a bit of a cech blunder.

Such emotional shots of frank and his dad too.

omg.

im not sleeping tonight.

WOW WOW .. We r in the Final..We will beat MANU..in Moscow. Good Work Avram… I personally don’t like u,but U have done a great job under huge pressure .

WE R THE CHAMPION”S

I follow Chelsea from the States between this blog and listening through Chelsea plus, and when I’m fortunate when they are on basic cable TV. Although I always read this blog, but never comment. But this match was too much to keep me back from commenting. That was by far the sweetest match I have ever seen. GO CHELSEA

(I’m also the guy in 2nd in Fantasy EPL for those of you saying, “Who the hell is that guy”)

fantastic match. i thought lampard was pretty ineffectual compared to everyone else on the pitch for the first 60 minutes or so, but he was clutch in providing service and of course to send reina the wrong way on the penalty.

ballack’s free kick was terrific and unlucky to miss.

kalou was great! i was happy to see him not mess up as usual. his quick move and straight shot set up didier (who had an amazing finish).

say what you will about avram, the results speak. as so many people complain about chelsea’s style, we always laugh at them because of our results. i laugh at the same people who complain about avram, because of our results.

Yea Thank you Rafa for provoking the beast!!!!!!
Its a good feeling to be in the finals of the CL!!!
Ankla was great with his touch
MOSCOW HERE WE COME!!!!!
come on Chelsea!!!!!!!!!!

I dont know what to say!!!!!!!

I still dont know what to say……………………………………………………..

I am Chelsea fan from UAE… The greatest Chelsea performance ever (in CL)… I coudnt be happier…

as Rae Hudson would say…..Orgasmic Jubilation(lol)

My best evening as a Chelsea supporter… The best match also. It had everything. For the first time in our 103 year history, we are in the European Cup Final. When the whistle blew I was almost in tears… In shock for about half an hour.

Tonight will never be forgotten. I can only hope we win it now, for ourselves and for Pat Lampard.

first of all, congrats to my beloved chelsea team, to da managers grant, clarke, ten clate, and our owner roman.

god wat a revenge, that too revenge in style, wat a great team this chelsea is. never ever had missed even a single friendly of chelsea matches in the last 4 years, but this match is something one of so so special. juss a month before we were very avg, sometimes crap, but in this last one month we are in completely different league. oh man we thrashed arsenal, manutd and liverpool. with this kinda performance(first half and extra time kind but we slept a bit in da 2nd half) we can thrash any team in europe, here we come to moskow, yu deserve this roman!

luv yu lampsy, this is for pat, god wat a show frm drogba, thanks mr.benietz for callin drogra a diver, sir alex yu too please call drogba as donkey or something else before da finals oh pls but we will miss yu next season drogs awesome essien, amazing ballack. roman pls bring couple of quality wingers and one right back, give watever da payhike yu can give it to drogs to stop him leaving us, then we ll rule the world!

come on blues yu deserve this cup, after seeing manutd’s pathetic display over da two legs, god complete negative footy even at OT. bring it on ManUtd!

The final is going to be so intense, if we win it may be a tear-jerker, better surround my self with other cfc fans. No girls either.

Every game so far this season when when we’ve gone head to head with attacking football against the big teams, we’ve won, why we cannot dominate the small teams by replicating that drive i don’t know. It cannot be avram alone, i don’t get how man u can be on level points with US when we can play like this.

I am so prouuuud

Chelsea played a blinder but during the first 30 minutes and many times thereafter I was nervous as hell. This was because the ref gave every call to Loserpool even when it was a blatant Chelsea call. Tonight we played as a unit, each man slotting into his role perfectly. MOM could have been The Drog, Lamps, Essien or AC. I give it to Lamps because I know what it is to lose a beloved family member unexpectedly and have to soldier on and soldier on he did. Chelsea is a family, through thick and thin, forever.

Yes, I am still anti-Avram. But, knowing that Rafathead is empty-handed again this season is simply terrific! Cheers to Drogs for silencing the red menace! Cheers to Lamps for the comeback! Is there a chant that rhymes with Moscow that I can annoy my co-workers with?

QUOTE

Is there a chant that rhymes with Moscow that I can annoy my co-workers with?

luzhniki, the moscow staidum kinda does :P (from chelseablog)

Que sera sera
whatever will be will be
we’re going to luzhniki
que sera sera!

Loved it when Risse knocked Avram Grant on his fat arse. Great job by the boys, a deserved win, watch out Man Poo!

Just came from The Bridge and the atmosphere was surreal.Moscow here we come…

manutd will beat cheasel

WE’RE IN!!!!!!!!!!!! I never expected this a couple of months ago. I’m overjoyed. Three more wins, and this’ll become a magnificent season.
galloway, shut your face. Please.

Does everyone think its ironic that the so called “entertaining” tie between Barcelona and United produced only one goal, whereas two “boring” clubs who only had 3 goals scored between them in the past 6 ties produced 7?

Wow!!! finally we defeat liverpool in champions league. What a relief !! well done boys and well done avram

Inspite of sleeping at 6:30 am and coming to office at 9:00 am i still feel so fresh and frankly cant work. Just opening google every 5 mins and searching chelsea. wonderful win. exciting, nervy and not good for people like me with high blood pressure.

Why is it such a great feeling for me:
1. Its our first CL final and that too its in moscow. roman deserved this for all the good work he has done for chelsea. Well done boys. expect kaka next summer

2. After those losses in 2005 and 2007 where we did nothing wrong and still got eliminated it comes as a big big relief. I couldnt have taken the 3rd time loss to liverpool in semi final again.

3. This will prove to liverpool FC that a team can battle on all fronts and still win champions league. This may just help in sacking rafa. I just hate that guy.

The match was good. We played very good first half. we were relying mainly on long range efforts through out and then a magical finish by drogba. Even in highlights it was difficult to spot the ball it was hit with such immense power through such a narrow angle. Drogs you are definitely top class.

Second half we were circumspect i think. We gave pool a chance and they took it. That time at 1-1 momentum was with pool and they could have easily got their second. But i think liverpool was satisfied with going to extra time considering tired chelsea legs and the idea backfired. Rafa was aftraid to change anything or commit forward

In extra time were the team which we were. Strong with purpose. It was heartbreaking to see essiens goal disallowed and to be very frank i just thought its again going to be the same as last yr. But i forgot we have got luck also this time around and hyypis did what riise did in 1st leg though differently but result the same. What a cool penalty by super frankie. you are an awesome footballer and moreover a very very professional footballer with a very big heart. hats off. grants substitutes had a good affect on the game and what a great pass by anelka and a cool finish by drogs. Although i think anelka would have been offside had carrighar not played him onside. but who cares.

It was good to see risse name cheered by the home supporters. he must be one real embarassed man.

cmon roman i know you must have bought all the tickets by now for the final. Replicate SB there. champions league trophy can be realistically ours.

cheers

Did anyone see when on touch line grant was pushed by liverpool player and lost his balance and fell.

C’Mon Chelsea….Go u blues….what aperformance…It just seems that all the players are peaking at the right time…!!!
Even Ashley Cole has improved to a different level…
So happy…
Go Chelsea!

Incredible match, with lots of attacks from either teams, enough controversies and general mayhem.

After seeing most of the two legs of Manure vs Barca, I wondered what happened, because both teams were playing for the result alone. Whatever happened to Manure’s ‘attacking football’ and all. Just goes to show you that even such teams (whose fans criticize us for defensive play) play for results when it matters.

After seeing our performance yesterday, I’m proud of Chelsea too. They finally played attacking football, and how! My heart musta stopped pumping atleast 10 times, especially after that Essien bullet was disallowed.

Two incidents might have inspired Chelsea (or parts of it) - Pat Lampard, and Rafa calling Drogs a diver and all. Drogba replied befittingly with goals and also diving for the 1st goal celebration (take that, Mr Benitez)

As someone else said above in comments, I hope either SAF or one of their players criticize Drogba & co, because it can really charge them up and give them the motivation that is otherwise found lacking (because the toad is not a good motivator). But then again, SAF would probably be careful and say “respect Chelsea; they’re a good side” and all that.

Chelsea were fortunate on atleast two counts - Kalou perhaps offside in the first goal; Drogba clipped Hyypia’s foot in the penalty box and still didn’t get noticed. However, Liverpool were lucky too - that Essien goal was disallowed, as were numerous other decisions like corners not being given to Chelsea (at a time when we were looking for a goal desperately).

It was a good performance by Cech, but I’m disappointed with his effort in Babel’s shot. A keeper of his caliber should’ve kept it out, and we were lucky that Chelsea attacked and got the 3rd goal, or else Liverpool might have shut shop and defended with all 11 men behind the ball after their 2nd goal.

Actually there is a pattern in last 3 games and the arsenal game earlier one too. Defender from the opposition team has been injured. How much has this helped our cause?

arsenal - sagna injured
Man utd - vidic injured
liverpool first leg - arbeloa injured - replaced by risse - scores own goal
liverpool second leg - Skrtel injured - replaced by hyypia who gives penalty

What say?

Start from this point, I won’t expect a lot from our Chelsea team because all this are already a bonus. Let us hope and keep believing that Chelsea is having a good fortune this year and the players explode like a bomb at the right time. I believe chelsea now almost shifted to Fifth gear. Fifth gear is for the final in Moscow. A lot of us never expect Avram Grant to reach the final. So who is the special one now??? I never expect AG to reach this level too as he deserves a credit which some of you who are so denial, let us appreciate and enjoy this moment no matter what because we might not know when is the next CL final we are going to reach if it is not this year’s. Congratulations AG and Chelsea…The special one couldnt do it, ranieri couldn do it…but with AG, Chelsea can do it. What a miracle!!!

I’m off to the nearest Russian consulate !

F*ck fat rafa………………his luck on champions league night has run out…………………lampard……take a bow……………give every performance like this and you’are in my good books………..what a free-kick by king ballack.
Drogba u beauty

Moscow here we come

@35: Amazing deductions!!!

But honestly I just couldn’t contain the excitement even now. Stayed up all night to watch the match in my friend’s home. More than anything the Chelsea performance in the first half when they came out was awesome. They played some good football as Grant says often. And this is the second match in succession that they are doing that. Maybe Ten Cate is having his effect after all. It was a magnificient performance worthy of European Champions. Especially the way we got our third goal to finish off the tie. Had heart in my mouth when Babel scored(uncharacteristic from Cech though but couple of stunning saves as usual) It was a massive team effort which is what I liked the most. Drogba what a player!! You can cry, dive do whatever you like, just play like that and stay with Chelsea next season. We love you!

BC, where is your match report??? This is about the 11th time I’m here checking for it and still it’s not there.

Ohhh….. Short of words!!!! Now I going to fcuk all the loooserpool , gonner fans in my office. Manure has still time to give up and surrender or else face the wrath of Drogbas in Moscow. Boy, the first one from Drogbas sped off into the net at Mach 3

hey guys i don’t know if A.Grant will stay next year but i have to say that he was possitive in the last matches we are playing very good football..the last night belong to Frank Lampard this guy is really brave, his mother must be proud for him..

Kalou was never offside - time and again they showed and measured it. At worst he was in line with the last defender. Very good decision by the line referee.
Hyphya was not foul!
Drogba barley touched his leg ,definitely not with any force that could have taken his feet off the ground ! In slow motion one could see it was a clear dive(he jumped like a frog). He should have received a yellow!

Anelka wasn’t offside either.

And 9 out of 10 times Essien goal would have been allowed.

Overall an exiting ,nail biting game and the 3:3 was in the air to the last minute.

They were some very good periods when CFC were dominants and some not so good ones. In particular in the 2nd half when Liverp dominated the midfield
and their goal was just a matter of time and it was a nice 1 .I think it was the time Maka should have been replaced and Essien should have taken his position .

The only irritating moment for me was when AG replaced Kalou with Malouda. Kaloue by that time was out of air and should have been replaced. But man
the last person I wanted to see is Malouda coming in. I don’t know what AG sees in him that I don’t see. Malouda contribute nothing ,he is pathetic almost as Pizaro.
However the introduction of Anelka was a good one .

The man of the match for me was ESSIEN . He is a force ,the engine of this team . The good thing about him is that it is very difficult to naturalize him .
He comes from the back with such formidable strength and determination only fouls can stop him.
AC is showing why he is the best left defender in the EPL. He is fast, contribute tremendously to the attack and boy he has energy.
I am not impressed with Carvalio of late. Yes, he does his defensive roll perfectly, but his passes are not accurate and he keeps on using long balls, which is not to my liking.

I think we overcame our biggest obstacle. Yes, I do think CFC has trouble playing Liverpool style . I believe they are more comfortable playing MU which gives me hope for the final.

I have always criticised Mourinho for his style and also for his buys but I want to give credit where its due…I really want to thank him for bringing in Essien…this guy is soul of current Chelsea team…he is a cyborg…indefatigable,solid as rock,quick as hare,totally committed….and then he has that calming effect on team…

malouda didnt add anything to attack, too many times he tried to dribble lost the ball or did a bad pass. That said he strengthed up the left with a stronger defensive performance than kalou. Malouda is slowly getting into the way chelsea plays and i think next season will see him improve rapidly. J.cole was not that great, had a couple of showboatting passes but nothing great, wet pitches dont generally help fast agile dribblers too much since the ball and ground is slippery.
Anelka added much more attack to the right then cole did because he was looking for the goal while cole was always looking for the pass, the angled pass was very nicely done as well.
In general i didnt mind grants tactics, we played well, strang together alot of passes that did something(take note barce, possession means u eventually have to take a risk). Essien as right back probably wasnt as good as essien in CM but out RB options for attack are limited with ferriera too defensive and belletti not having the pace of essien.

Liverpool Fan. Just had to say well done to Chelsea. You deserve to be in a final given your performances in Europe over the last few years.

Hope you beat those Mancs out in Moscow but no matter what - make sure you enjoy the final. Forza Chelsea!!!

PS. We could be like Arsenal fans and moan about the penalty we didn’t get but that would just make us look like a small club. Chelsea deserve to be in the final. The better team is the one that scores the most goals…period.

Come on blues!!!!You’re magic franky!!!!I love you!!

fabulous, no fantastic, bewildering, hammer crashing, earth shattering, man i m an english hons student and i m running out of words………lol, wow, take a bow AG, i particularly liked his celebrations, head down on the ground, praying, i am so happy for this guy, he has faced so much flak but he has done what a supposed god cldnt , ur the man, Clarke, Cate, Cech, Terry, Lamps, Ballack, every member here, this is our bigest achievement so far in european football and i m so proud of all of them there, Looserfool are out, United will go down next,just cant wait for the final, kudos to all chelsea fans, and lastly to our savior Roman, wherever u might be i know u are as happy(if not more) as all of us here…………cheers amigos
Blue flag flyin high
Stamford Bridge to Moscow we’ll trample the reds on the way………..

Brilliant!!! C’mon Chelsea
I think AG almost played it perfectly, even Maka & Anelka were better than their usual selves. All the others were legendary as always!
votes:-
3. Essien
2. Drogba
1. Ballack

What a night! Truely Amazing! Sums up the Red Scousers, in another Chelsea Blog - “Horrible players, horrible strip, horrible fans. Undignified, whining wasters.” It feels so f***ing good to knock these scums out - and we did it in 2 competitions this season, mind.

Didier Drogba. What else can you say about him? By a distance, the best striker in the world. Scored over 15 goals this season, where he missed more than half the matches (35+) - with him and Lamps fit we definitely wouldn’t have had the large goal diff at the Premiership. The matches that Drogs has scored for us, as well:

Carling Cup Final v Liverpool
Carling Cup Final v Arsenal (2)
Carling Cup Final v Spurs
FA Cup Final v Manchester United
Premiership v Arsenal (2) this year
Champions League v Valencia away this year
Champions League Semi Final v Liverpool (2)
…and many others

Absolutely crucial goals in the BIG matches against the top teams and in most cases they were the match - and trophy - winning goals. Quite frankly, without him we would have won a bit less than 5 trophies in last 3 years and would not be in the position we are this year - Champions League Final and at top of the Primiership (level with Man U in points). I still don’t think he gets the plaudits that he truely deserves - I don’t expect it from that filthy Fat Spanish wa*ker - but from Chelsea supporters as well. He deserves a bit more for what he has done for our football club. By the way, what a celebration! Right in front of Rafa! Simply Awesome!

Lamps - Incredible. That’s all I can say after what you did yesterday - after what you have been through. Super? Blimey, that’s an understatement!

Finally, Avram. Well done. The first manager to take the club to a Champions League Final.

We are going to Moscow! Still on course for a Double! Bring on ManUre! Come on the Chels!!!

in a form i just saw this comment
“Roman knows that A MIND of someone like Grant with a history of having known TERROR , HORROR and seeing the sTrength in his father - gives him the INNER QUIET POWER and thinking …look what he did in the last 7 months: The Results speak for itself… “

this has come from a manchester united fan. i was ranting about this from day where Grant won against man city. lets give him a fair trial. i again repeat that he didnt tinker with JM philosophy…this is his greatest achievement. but he held the team together . and wait for HC to work wonders next season……

Chak de Avram Grant

FVCK YEEEEESSSS. MAN UTD WE ARE GOING TO KILLLLL U. DROGBA, LAMPS, CARV, TERRY EVERY ONE WAS GREAT DONT FVCKIN CHANGE THIS TEAM THIS IS OUR WINNING TEAM AND THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD.

A chelsea supporter since 1958, how do you think I feel. TOP OF THE WORLD

55. trueblue - May 1st, 2008 at 3:54 pm - Quote | Top | Home

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