Perseverance, Team-Spirit, Courage and Hardknocks: The Story Of Chelseafc (Part 1)

Watching the full 120-minutes of drama at the Allianz Arena in Munich, I couldn't help but shed tears on seeing Drogba and Co as they lifted aloft the 'Holy grail of European football". It was their first and definitely will be their best triumph in their long history of existence. Lampard is coming to the end of an illustrious career, same as Drogba and some other Old stalwarts. Roman ABramovich had waited nine good years for this trophy. He so coveted it like it would add to his billions. Sure it will. Chelsea are the "Campeones de Europa". Plantini would have expected an El-Classico final, as that would have certainly yielded UEFA more profits from ticket sales, but the events at the Bavaria were not short of expectations. Like I told my Friends, the game was going as planned. Chelsea being reserved and employing the same method they used against the graduates from La Masia, Bayern attacking like Wolves with Robben and Ribery running down the flanks. All things being equal, Saturday May 19th at the Allianz Arena, football was given a new leaf. Di Matteo and Co had proven to the world that you don't necessarily need to Tiki Taka to win trophies.

Money well spent? Abracadabra's dream come true.

My friends who know me quiet well, know for sure that all my life, I have never been a supporter of Chelseafc given the fact that they came in and launched an era of "monetized football" courtesy of Russian billions. Well, like Gary Neville rightly said, "they are a 2-season wonder" and so they proved to be in the Premier League before my beloveth Man utd dethroned the 'money dribblers". Abramovich saw that Money could deliver trophies but it couldn't build a crop of consistent winners. Some tumultuous times came in, beginning with the sack of the very 'special one". On Jose's next assignment, he guided the Nerazurris to the Champions league trophy. One is left to wonder if Abramovich had given Jose a little more time, probably the blue-half of London would not have waited this long to celebrate a title that cost Abramovich an estimated $2.8 billion in Investments. For sure, success did not come cheap. The 45-year-old had to spend astonishing sums on player transfers, wages and improvements to the club infrastructure in the pursuit of European glory. The Russian Oil tycoon took over a club that was struggling financially and immediately turned it into a European power. Under his watch, the club has bought 66 world-class players at a staggering cost.
The transfer fees for those players, according to a  sports finance expert for a daily newspaper, tallies up at $1.02 billion, more than any other club in the world during that same eight-season stretch.
Player salaries have been even more expensive, according to the same expert, with the overall wage bill totaling $1.8 billion – another record-setting figure that helped spiral soccer into a new era of hyper-spending. Eight managers also came and went in the space of eight years, most of them fired precisely for failing to win the all-important Champions League. English Premier League titles and FA Cup wins were OK, but what really mattered to the Russian Oil tycoon was flexing his muscles in European competition. High-profile managers had graced the dressing room at Stamford Bridge, but it was the least expected of them all who delivered the trophy----and on an Interim Contract too. When Roberto Di Matteo was fired as manager of West Bromich Albion on Feb. 5th 2011, little did he know that his misfortune was a stepping stone to one of football's greatest stories. Di Matteo, who was brought in as interim manager following the axing of Andre Villas-Boas, earns only a fraction of his predecessor's salary and, even after this triumph, is not guaranteed to get the job on a full-time basis. (Well, Let's see how it goes) With his primary goal now realized, will Abramovich chase more European silverware or scale back his vast spending? Will Di Matteo still have a job? The footballing world awaits to see how events unfold at the boardroom.

Lampard Lifts The UEFA Champions League Trophy

Abramovich's eight-year spending spree finally reaped its ultimate reward, and Chelsea became European champion for the first time in its history.