Posts Tagged championsleague
“F*ck your history, we’re going to Moscow…”
After years of waiting we had finally made it: The Champions League Final
This is something I have been working on for a few months now, when I had the idea of writing an e-book on my experiences following Chelsea from the arrival of Jose Mourinho in 2004 to the present day. Let me know what you think.
I will never forget the night of April 30th 2008. Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool, 4-3 on aggregate. It meant we were going to Moscow and the first Champions League final in our history. The atmosphere at the Bridge that night was unlike anything I have ever heard, then or since. It was incredible and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The Matthew Harding Stand was literally shaking and my vocal chords took one almighty pounding.
After the pain of the semi final defeat in 2007 and the five-hour coach journey back from Anfield this was sweet revenge. If you had said to my Dad 20 years ago that he would have the chance to see his team in a Champions League final he would have thrown his head back and laughed. But in 2008 it became sweet reality. Read the rest of this entry »
Stoke City 1-0 Portsmouth
Posted by Alan in Football, Journalism on November 23, 2009
Yesterday I covered my first game for Goal.com, and it was the clash between Stoke City and Portsmouth at the Britannia Stadium. The Potters won 1-0 thanks to a second half strike from Ricardo Fuller.
Lacklustre Chelsea do enough to see off Porto
Up and running: Nicolas Anelka celebrates his strike which gave the Blues all three points. Photo courtesy of the Guardian.
As far as first steps on the road to potential Champions League glory go, this was a fairly uninspiring start for Chelsea.
Carlo Ancelotti will pleased with the three points – which were secured with a strike just after half time from Nicolas Anelka – but he will know that his side can play much better than this. The Italian could counter that at this stage it is points, not performances that matter. And these points were gained without the likes of Didier Drogba, Jose Bosingwa, Joe Cole and Yuri Zhirkov.
Chelsea’s transfer ban: a precedent or simply a notable exception?
As the world of football reels from the shock of Chelsea’s 18-month transfer ban, thoughts will now begin to turn to the long-term implications of Fifa’s decision.
The penalty handed down yesterday by the organisation’s Dispute Resolution Chamber isn’t completely unprecedented – Roma were banned from signing players during the January 2006 transfer window as a result of their pursuit of Auxerre’s Philippe Mexes – but there is no doubt the Blues are the most high profile victims to fall foul of Fifa’s attempt to stamp out club’s questionable practices in poaching young talent. Read the rest of this entry »
Chelsea dispatch Liverpool in European classic
After witnessing what can only be described as a classic at Stamford Bridge last night, I managed to calm myself down enough to pen this match report on this extraordinary game.
“Football: bloody hell”. Those words, uttered by Sir Alex Ferguson after Manchester United’s incredible comeback against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League Final, have hardly been more apt in describing a football match.
Any director that proposed such a script containing the events at Stamford Bridge last night would be laughed out of Hollywood. But what happened last night in West London was no Hollywood blockbuster, just a Champions League classic that few inside Stamford Bridge and around the world will soon forget. There were goals galore, debatable decisions, and the pace of the game hardly let up over the whole 90 minutes.
The reward for Chelsea is a tie against one of Europe’s in-form teams: Barcelona. The Blues’ defensive display will be the cause of some concern, but the joy of such an exhilarating victory will override those worries for now. Read the rest of this entry »