With the title looking an increasingly unlikely prize for José Mourinho’s Chelsea following a shock home defeat to Sunderland, next week brings an opportunity for redemption in the form of the Champions League semi-finals. Following a season in which, for the first time since 1996, no English team reached the last eight – with Chelsea themselves failing even to escape the group stage – this year, the men from west London are the sole English representatives at this late stage. They are set to face Spanish league-leaders Atlético Madrid, whilst the other semi-final sees Real Madrid take on Bayern Munich.
Chelsea fans may have been relieved to escape Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, but clichéd though it may sound, there truly are no easy games at this level. Simeone’s Atlético are a force to be reckoned with. If their current domination of La Liga were not enough to instil fear into blue hearts, their dismissal of Barcelona in the quarter-finals was surely a message of intent. Moreover, despite suffering an injury in scoring his team’s second against Getafe, star striker Diego Costa – a man possibly bound for Stamford Bridge this summer – will be available to terrorise Chelsea’s defence. Chelsea have not been so fortunate on the injury front. Whilst their squad is largely free from injury, Eden Hazard, arguably their best performer this season, remains a doubt after an injury sustained in Chelsea’s previous Champions League tie against PSG.
If nothing else, however, Mourinho’s side have experience on their side. Atlético, currently five points clear in La Liga, have thus far proved themselves capable of dealing with pressure, but this is their first European Cup semi-final in forty years; Chelsea, in contrast, have been in six semi-finals in the last decade, and won the trophy in unlikely circumstances under Roberto di Matteo in 2012. Add to this the ‘Mourinho factor’ – the influence of a manager who is one of only four in history to have won the Champions League with two different teams (Porto, 2004 and Inter Milan, 2010) – and, with little to separate the two teams on paper, Chelsea begin to look like marginal favourites. That is, assuming the so-called ‘Happy One’ is able to thwart the well-known and indisputable global conspiracy against him.
Whilst the Atlético-Chelsea tie certainly makes for an intriguing match-up, it is Real Madrid’s clash with Bayern Munich that will have most neutrals glued to their television screens on Wednesday night, or, more likely, avidly refreshing Cherwell Sport’s Twitter account. This is a true clash of titans. Whilst Bayern are still clear favourites for the competition as a whole, it seems likely that if anyone can stop them, it is ‘Los Blancos’. Ancelotti’s men, fresh from a dramatic 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final, seem to have been unfairly overlooked by the bookies, and will be determined to disrupt the plans of old enemy Pep Guardiola. Bayern, despite having wrapped up the Bundesliga weeks ago, have hardly been infallible; in recent weeks they have been beaten by Borussia Dortmund and Augsburg. Ancelotti will, moreover, take comfort in the surprising difficulties the Bavarian outfit faced in their struggle against English champions Manchester United in the previous round. Any defence that has serious trouble coping with the pace of Danny Welbeck must be quaking in its boots at the prospect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
The footballing world, then, waits with baited breath for a tight, tactical tie on Tuesday night, and a clash of two of Europe’s greatest clubs on Wednesday evening. Rest assured, though, whoever comes out on top, John Terry will be there in Lisbon in full kit to lift the trophy.
