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Champions League Final Preview: Bayern Munich v Chelsea
Friday, 18 May 2012
Mario Gomez will be a central figure for Bayern
Bayern Munich and Chelsea go head to head on Saturday evening for the most prestigious prize in club football, the European Cup.
This year’s Champions League decider actually sees Bayern enjoy home advantage as the final is being played in the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Ahead of the semi-finals, the football fraternity were craving an El Classico encounter to decide this year’s European Cup. Alas, Barcelona huffed and puffed but were unable to break through the rock solid Chelsea defence, while Real Madrid were just the latest side to suffer at the hands of Germans in a penalty shootout.
Chelsea must win in Munich to secure a place in next year’s competition having finished sixth in the Premier League. Bayern, on the other hand, have secured their place but will be looking to finish the season on a high, having, once again, failed to secure the Bundesliga title.
The main talking point following the semis was the amount of players who would miss out on the final through suspension, yet UEFA failed to budge on the yellow card issued, resulting in seven players missing Saturday’s decider.
John Terry’s rush of blood to the head in the semi-final, where he took out Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez off the ball, meant that there was no chance that he would be lining out in the final, even if a UEFA amnesty had been granted, while the Blues are further weakened defensively through Branislav Ivanovic’s ban.
Holger Badstuber, David Alaba and Luiz Gustavo are all ruled out for the German side, which also severely weakens their defensive options.
But with Raul Meireles and Ramires also ruled out, Chelsea would appear to be more affected by the suspensions than their German counterparts.
So how will Saturday’s Champions League final play out? Will the German side look to put early pressure on Chelsea in their familiar surroundings or will the added pressure of performing in front of their home crowd see them adopt a more cautious approach?
One thing for certain is that Chelsea cannot attempt to pull off another great escape, backs-to-the-wall type performance that saw them fend off the mighty Barcelona for 180 nail-biting semi-final minutes.
The Blues must believe that they can beat the opposition and take the game to their hosts from the first whistle.
Chelsea are already without two of their most experienced defenders with Terry and Ivanovic missing, while there are grave injury concerns hanging over the likely starting partnership of Gary Cahill and David Luiz.
Florent Malouda is another concern for the Blues as he is struggling with a hamstring strain and is considered doubtful.
Didier Drogba’s shoulders will be carrying the weight of expectation from a Chelsea perspective and another huge performance is needed from the Ivory Coast striker if Roberto Di Matteo’s side are to have a chance.
The talk of Fernando Torres partnering Drogba in attack is very appealing for the neutral, however, it is probably not the occasion to be taking such a risk.
On paper, the German side are stronger and when you look at the attacking three of Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and 40-goal striker Mario Gomez, it is more likely that Chelsea will start the game with a more defensive set-up to counter the trio’s threat, which can conjure goals from all over the final third.
And while the scoring opportunities still need to be taken, the game will be won and lost in midfield and, once again, you would have to fancy German supremacy in the middle of the park.
The battle between Bastian Schweinsteiger and Frank Lampard should be intriguing, while Juan Mata is likely to get plenty of space in front of the makeshift Bayern defence, so chances will be created.
Yet the one player that could make all the difference on Saturday evening might be Bayern youngster Toni Kroos.
Anyone watching the semi-final second leg against Real Madrid – which was arguably the best game of football of the past decade – would have been hugely impressed by the 22-year-old’s ability to link play and control the game.
Already drawing comparisons to Barcelona’s Andrés Iniesta and Manchester United legend Paul Scholes, Kroos covers a huge amount of ground and possesses an excellent passing repertoire.
The only issue from Bayern’s point of view is that Kroos may have to sit a bit deeper on Saturday with Thomas Mueller likely to come into the starting XI in place of holding midfielder Gustavo.
But this is a cup final and if recent weeks are anything to go by, then Chelsea can afford to bring some confidence with them into the Allianz Arena after their FA Cup final victory over Liverpool, while Bayern were humiliated in the German Cup final last weekend, losing 5-2 to Borussia Dortmund.
What is for certain on Saturday is that mistakes will be made with both sides fielding players who haven’t played at this level in a while or other who are struggling to be 100 per cent fit.
Chelsea will probably feed long balls into Drogba to take advantage of his physical strength or put pressure on Bayern’s left back, which is likely to be the relatively inexperienced Diego Contento.
Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes will also look to take advantage of Chelsea’s defensive frailties with right back José Bosingwa and live-wire centre-half David Luiz likely to be targeted.
In fact, one entire flank of the pitch is likely to be very quiet with two of the best full-backs in the world game marshalling opposite ends of the pitch with Ashley Cole at left back for Chelsea facing Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.
An early Bayern goal will suit the neutrals as it would force Chelsea to come out and attack, setting up an intriguing and exciting final.
However, if the Blues score first we just might be looking at another ‘parking of the Chelsea bus’ scenario, which could ruin the Blue Riband event of club football for the many millions watching around the world.
But that won’t, for one moment, bother the Stamford Bridge supporters or a certain Russian billionaire who has been waiting a little while for this moment of glory.
The verdict: My head and my heart both say Bayern Munich to lift the trophy. However, I wouldn’t begrudge Chelsea the success, provided that they win it in style in a 4-3 extra-time thriller, or perhaps an extremely unlikely penalty shootout victory against a German side.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Mario Gomez will be a central figure for Bayern
Bayern Munich and Chelsea go head to head on Saturday evening for the most prestigious prize in club football, the European Cup.
This year’s Champions League decider actually sees Bayern enjoy home advantage as the final is being played in the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Ahead of the semi-finals, the football fraternity were craving an El Classico encounter to decide this year’s European Cup. Alas, Barcelona huffed and puffed but were unable to break through the rock solid Chelsea defence, while Real Madrid were just the latest side to suffer at the hands of Germans in a penalty shootout.
Chelsea must win in Munich to secure a place in next year’s competition having finished sixth in the Premier League. Bayern, on the other hand, have secured their place but will be looking to finish the season on a high, having, once again, failed to secure the Bundesliga title.
The main talking point following the semis was the amount of players who would miss out on the final through suspension, yet UEFA failed to budge on the yellow card issued, resulting in seven players missing Saturday’s decider.
John Terry’s rush of blood to the head in the semi-final, where he took out Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez off the ball, meant that there was no chance that he would be lining out in the final, even if a UEFA amnesty had been granted, while the Blues are further weakened defensively through Branislav Ivanovic’s ban.
Holger Badstuber, David Alaba and Luiz Gustavo are all ruled out for the German side, which also severely weakens their defensive options.
But with Raul Meireles and Ramires also ruled out, Chelsea would appear to be more affected by the suspensions than their German counterparts.
So how will Saturday’s Champions League final play out? Will the German side look to put early pressure on Chelsea in their familiar surroundings or will the added pressure of performing in front of their home crowd see them adopt a more cautious approach?
One thing for certain is that Chelsea cannot attempt to pull off another great escape, backs-to-the-wall type performance that saw them fend off the mighty Barcelona for 180 nail-biting semi-final minutes.
The Blues must believe that they can beat the opposition and take the game to their hosts from the first whistle.
Chelsea are already without two of their most experienced defenders with Terry and Ivanovic missing, while there are grave injury concerns hanging over the likely starting partnership of Gary Cahill and David Luiz.
Florent Malouda is another concern for the Blues as he is struggling with a hamstring strain and is considered doubtful.
Didier Drogba’s shoulders will be carrying the weight of expectation from a Chelsea perspective and another huge performance is needed from the Ivory Coast striker if Roberto Di Matteo’s side are to have a chance.
The talk of Fernando Torres partnering Drogba in attack is very appealing for the neutral, however, it is probably not the occasion to be taking such a risk.
On paper, the German side are stronger and when you look at the attacking three of Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and 40-goal striker Mario Gomez, it is more likely that Chelsea will start the game with a more defensive set-up to counter the trio’s threat, which can conjure goals from all over the final third.
And while the scoring opportunities still need to be taken, the game will be won and lost in midfield and, once again, you would have to fancy German supremacy in the middle of the park.
The battle between Bastian Schweinsteiger and Frank Lampard should be intriguing, while Juan Mata is likely to get plenty of space in front of the makeshift Bayern defence, so chances will be created.
Yet the one player that could make all the difference on Saturday evening might be Bayern youngster Toni Kroos.
Anyone watching the semi-final second leg against Real Madrid – which was arguably the best game of football of the past decade – would have been hugely impressed by the 22-year-old’s ability to link play and control the game.
Already drawing comparisons to Barcelona’s Andrés Iniesta and Manchester United legend Paul Scholes, Kroos covers a huge amount of ground and possesses an excellent passing repertoire.
The only issue from Bayern’s point of view is that Kroos may have to sit a bit deeper on Saturday with Thomas Mueller likely to come into the starting XI in place of holding midfielder Gustavo.
But this is a cup final and if recent weeks are anything to go by, then Chelsea can afford to bring some confidence with them into the Allianz Arena after their FA Cup final victory over Liverpool, while Bayern were humiliated in the German Cup final last weekend, losing 5-2 to Borussia Dortmund.
What is for certain on Saturday is that mistakes will be made with both sides fielding players who haven’t played at this level in a while or other who are struggling to be 100 per cent fit.
Chelsea will probably feed long balls into Drogba to take advantage of his physical strength or put pressure on Bayern’s left back, which is likely to be the relatively inexperienced Diego Contento.
Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes will also look to take advantage of Chelsea’s defensive frailties with right back José Bosingwa and live-wire centre-half David Luiz likely to be targeted.
In fact, one entire flank of the pitch is likely to be very quiet with two of the best full-backs in the world game marshalling opposite ends of the pitch with Ashley Cole at left back for Chelsea facing Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.
An early Bayern goal will suit the neutrals as it would force Chelsea to come out and attack, setting up an intriguing and exciting final.
However, if the Blues score first we just might be looking at another ‘parking of the Chelsea bus’ scenario, which could ruin the Blue Riband event of club football for the many millions watching around the world.
But that won’t, for one moment, bother the Stamford Bridge supporters or a certain Russian billionaire who has been waiting a little while for this moment of glory.
The verdict: My head and my heart both say Bayern Munich to lift the trophy. However, I wouldn’t begrudge Chelsea the success, provided that they win it in style in a 4-3 extra-time thriller, or perhaps an extremely unlikely penalty shootout victory against a German side.