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Hello, this is Gia Saralidze in the studio of Vestnik Kavkaza.
As usual, we are talking about the most interesting events in the world of football.
Today there is only one event like this, and it has global importance.
I mean the Champions League final that took place last week.
It was a very intriguing game.
It was like a fairy-tale, but depending on which team one was supporting,
it turned out to be a happy fairy-tale for some and a fairy-tale with a scary ending for the others.
As you know, the final took place at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Bayern hosted London Chelsea.
Chelsea deserves a separate word.
It was basically a childhood dream of Roman Abramovich to win the Champions League.
As soon as he bought this London club,
it was quite unexpected and provoked a lot of discussion in the world press, not only football,
but also in economic publications.
Immediately afterwards Abramovich said that his main aim is to win the Champions League,
that this is his dream.
It seems that Roman Abramovich, who continues to support CSKA,
did not believe that this club could accomplish it and win the Champions League.
He decided to buy an English club and try to get the desired trophy.
When Abramovich bought Chelsea and when the new team was formed there
- the club started to buy all available football players -
many questioned the competence of Abramovich and his team.
But with time the London club started winning awards, it won the English Premier League
– a difficult task when other competitors include Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.
Chelsea managed to do it several times.
But the Champions League did not yield to the London club.
In 2008 Chelsea was only one step away from it when it lost to Manchester United at the Luzhniki in Moscow.
You remember how Moscow was almost occupied by English fans, for whom even the visa regime was changed
– they did not need a visa to come to the Russian capital.
Then the football players of Chelsea were very close to realizing the dream of Roman Abramovich.
I will remind you that the score after extra time was 1-1, both goals were scored in the first half.
The score was opened by Manchester United, it was Christiano Ronaldo.
At the end of the first half Frank Lampard scored in response.
Both teams had the chance to win before full time, but at the end they had to do penalties,
a lottery, and Chelsea lost.
They were so close to victory – if only the leader of the team John Terry had scored his penalty,
Chelsea could have won the trophy.
But Terry slipped and the ball missed the goal, and Manchester won.
It was scary to watch Roman Abramovich then.
After Terry’s strike the camera showed Abramovich -
he was turning away from the field trying not to scare away the good luck, but he scared it in the end.
The next year Chelsea had a chance to get to the final and again play Manchester United there,
but a Norwegian referee stood in their way, you remember the second semi-final that took place in London,
Chelsea vs Barcelona, the refereeing was outrageous.
At least three or four penalties should have been given there
according to the assessments of the football players and experts,
and in the game Chelsea was stronger than Barcelona.
But the football players to some extent were guilty themselves for not getting into the finals,
because they missed numerous moments to score.
They opened the score, but in the end with this outrageous refereeing and missed opportunities,
Barcelona managed to score in the last minute
and went to the final where it beat Manchester United and won the cup.
This was the closest Chelsea could get to the Champions League final in the past years.
The current season started very badly for Chelsea.
The coach Andre Villas Boas had some conflicts with the main people in the club
– and here I do not mean Roman Abramovich, because he did not have any problems with him.
I mean the players – Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, John Terry -
those who determine the style and face of this team, the veterans of the team.
As a result, Villas Boas had to quit.
And then miracles started.
The team that performed very badly in the championship
and almost lost the chance to get into Champions League play-off suddenly transformed.
During the championship nothing really happened, but in the Champions League, the main tournament,
at least from the point of view of Roman Abramovich and other Chelsea fans who were waiting for it,
Chelsea first barely managed to get into the play-off, then it had a semi-final again with Barcelona
when they took revenge, although the Catalonian team this time was way stronger than Chelsea.
The London club with its persistence and desire to win managed to win.
In the game that took place in Barcelona, the Catalonians were really unlucky,
Lionel Messi alone several times buried all their hopes,
it seemed that Fortune decided to pay Chelsea back for
what they went through in Luzhniki in 2008 with Manchester United or the next year with Barcelona.
First they managed to beat Barcelona in the semi-final and then in the final,
despite the superiority of Bayern throughout the entire game, it was pressing and in the end leading.
It is interesting that there were 18 corner kicks at the Chelsea end
and then only one at the Bayern end, and Drogba used it to make the score 1-1.
In added time Bayern did not manage to exploit the penalty that it was given for Drogba’s foul.
Arijen Robben could not win over Petr Cech.
Then the penalties, where Bayern were again leading 3-1.
It seemed that all the hopes of Abramovich were ruined again.
But the brilliant play of Petr Cech and the bad luck of Schweinsteiger who missed,
and the decisive penalty scored by Drogba brought the desired trophy first to the hands of the players
and then finally to the hands of Roman Abramovich who had wanted it for so long.
I cannot say that this victory is expected or a deserved great games.
But victory is victory, and the score is on the screen.
It will be forgotten how this victory was gained,
but the line that Chelsea won the Champions League will stay in the football archive.
Now I can say that both Bayern and Barcelona showed in their games with Chelsea
that they deserved this trophy more, but football is football.
Who won is now on the top.
Let’s think now that Chelsea is the best club of Europe.
You can agree or not.
But this is how it is.
This was Gia Saralidze in the studio of Vestnik Kavkaza,
talking about the most important events in the world of football. Bye.