Chelsea’s thrilling win over Benfica in Wednesday’s Europa League final was a nice moment for Blues supporters in a season where almost all has gone wrong. But it won’t heal the scars of a season filled with turmoil.
Branislav Ivanovic headed home a Juan Mata corner delivery in the final minute of stoppage time to give the Blues the shocking win and send their travelling support into a frenzy under the lights of the Amsterdam Arena.
It was a nice moment, to be sure, but let’s be clear — it’s a consolation prize. After all, it was only as a result of the club’s failure to get out of the group stage of the Champions League (officially, anyway) that manager Rafa Benitez was controversially appointed to replace Roberto Di Matteo.
From the start, Chelsea fans weren’t fond of the idea. The hiring of a man who’d previously led hated Liverpool – especially given what were perceived as disparaging remarks he made about Chelsea during his time with the Reds – was seen as something close to a treasonous hire by the Blues faithful.
Benitez, for his part, has carried on, despite the protests, the “Rafa Out” banners and the outright jeering of the home side at Stamford Bridge. He’s also confirmed he won’t be back with the club in 2013-14, leaving him with little to lose at this point. So forgive Benitez if he goes to bed with a smug smile on his face tonight. To his credit, while Chelsea meandered through an underwhelming, cup-less domestic campaign, his side seemed to save their best for the Europa League.
Chelsea’s midfield struggles
The match’s first half was somewhat drab, with neither team able to create much in the way of scoring chances. Benfica was the better side for much of the first half-hour, with Chelsea’s offensively-minded midfield group struggling to contain the Portuguese’s excellent counter-attacking personnel.
A flurry of Benfica passing in the box during the 11th and 12th minutes led to precisely nothing in the way of attempts on goal, as they looked guilty of trying to over-pass the ball instead of someone – anyone – having a good go on target.
But it was Chelsea with the best chance of the first half, with stalwart midfielder Frank Lampard’s blast deflected out by Benfica goalkeeper Artur to keep the score level.
The action begins
As these cup finals tend to do, the match’s pace and intensity was on a different level in the second half. Benfica striker Oscar Cardozo looked to put his side ahead in the 52nd minute, heading home a wonderful cross from Nicolas Gaitan which was ruled offside.
Fernando Torres, who’s been a fixture in Chelsea’s Europa League starting 11 (due mainly to a lack of other options up front), put the Blues ahead unexpectedly in the 60th minute. Torres took advantage of a quick slip in the midfield, carried the ball through, fought off the defender and slid it past Artur to put Chelsea ahead.
But Benfica clawed back, tying the game in the 68th minute when Cardozo hammered in a goal from the penalty spot following an egregious handball by Chelsea defender César Azpilicueta. That goal led to a highly entertaining final quarter-hour of the match, as both sides had a decent chance to go ahead, courtesy of Cardozo in the 81st minute and a howitzer of a strike by Lampard in the 88th which rung off the corner of the crossbar and post.
The match looked like it was surely heading to extra time when Ivanovic broke the deadlock in the final minute of stoppage time. Mata’s corner was perfectly delivered, and with no Benfica defenders on either post, Ivanovic superbly headed into Artur’s top-corner to give Chelsea the dramatic victory.
Benfica had one final chance on a long-ball into the box that Cardozo was unable to get a foot on, with Gary Cahill clearing away the danger from the ground.
Benfica down-and-out
The loss capped a week that simply could not have gone worse, or have felt more like a couple of solid punches to the gut for Benfica.
The Portuguese outfit dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 decision to FC Porto over the weekend – their first loss of the entire Liga season, no less – and followed it up with this late-game collapse to end their European dreams.
From a neutral perspective, Benfica deserved more: they treated this competition very seriously, never looked intimidated by Chelsea, and played with them every step of the way in the final. Plus, their loyal supporters were just incredibly hungry for this trophy, which would have been their first in European competition since 1962. But the parade will have to wait for at least another year.
Sure, the match clearly meant a great deal to the travelling Chelsea fans in Amsterdam, and supporters back in London will be undoubtedly be pleased with the result. But after winning the Champions League last year, not really pleased. The failure to repeat last year’s Champions League glory cast something of a pall over this entire Chelsea season, and many would feel that if they had played to their potential, the Blues would never have been in this tournament.
Indeed it’s entirely possible that there’s only one man that is taking any sense of unreserved, unabashed joy out of the idea of Chelsea: Champions of the Europa League – and that’s Benitez, the one man who’s sure not to be back for another season.