A Tainted Victory?

Chelsea's dramatic penalty shoot-out win in the Allianz Arena was the 4th time since the tournament's rebranding in 1993 that the lottery of penalties decide the outcome. 

Each of those games with exception of the 2003 bore draw between Juventus and AC Milan have featured a definitive example of a team trying to win a football match. Chelsea on the other hand - did not.

In 1996 Juventus and Ajax played out a thrilling draw that pitted Dutch attacking flair against (surprisingly) an attack minded Italian side.

2005 saw arguably the greatest football match for the last 25 years with the 'Miracle of Istanbul'. Liverpool after a poor start, and a lesson in football from Carlo Ancelloti's AC Milan had to come out and throw caution to wind. Against Bayern Munich however Chelsea seemed reluctant to play in the opposition half through fear of losing possession and being punished on the counter.

"A heroic defensive effort" hailed 'The Sun'. The daily mirror championed Chelsea's warrior like defending.

However I put to you this: If a Spanish team or an Italian team played in such a manner I can guarantee the headlines would read 'Anti-Football' 'Boring' 'A victory for non-football'. Yet when an English side do it, the media hypocrisy begins. It seems we are reluctant to accept that a method of play from outside of the British Isles can be proven successful and transferred to our top teams. Chelsea's victory was a defensive performance, did they deserve to win? Not at all. Bayern has more possession, played more attractive football and didn't smash the ball into channels for Didier Drogba to chase for 120 minutes? But thats football - the best team doesn't always win, I just hope that fans realise this instead of hiding behind cliches coined by media writers.

Well done to Mr Abramovich - for the money you've pumped in you deserved something more substantial than a few FA Cups and League Titles. However I feel that such a robotic and structured defensive effort should be accepted for what it was - a continental attempt to stop the opposition from playing. And that when such a performance happens against an English side, it should be applauded and respected also.