When Didier Drogba scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out of the 2012 Champions League
final, it capped one of the more extraordinary campaigns in the competition’s history.
Chelsea, under interim head coach Roberto Di Matteo, had beaten Barcelona, the best
club side in Europe and one of the best in history, to reach the final. There they overcame
the next best, Bayern Munich.
But how did Chelsea win the Champions League in 2012?
Di Matteo would only last until November of the
following season, but he brought Chelsea their first and, to date, only Champions League
title. He got chance having stepped up from assistant coach in the wake of Andre Villas-Boas’s
dismissal, but with a 3-1 deficit to overcome against Napoli, it looked like his Champions
League journey could be over before it had begun.
But Di Matteo oversaw a thrilling comeback to secure a 5-4 aggregate win and set up a
quarter-final tie against Benfica, which Chelsea won 3-1 across the two legs.
Di Matteo inherited a squad in part built by Jose Mourinho, with key figures like Petr
Cech, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, and John Obi Mikel signed by Mourinho.
John Terry and Frank Lampard were already at the club in 2004 when Mourinho arrived,
but established themselves as elite players under the Portuguese coach.
Mourinho used the training ideas of tactical periodisation, and the concept of guided discovery,
by which players use a governing set of tactical principles to devise match-specific solutions
to problems on the pitch. And many of these players, and the rest of the squad, had also
worked under Carlo Ancelotti, who famously devolved a lot of tactical decision-making
to players.
It’s an important backdrop to Di Matteo’s success: he could draw on a group of players
who were smart, tactically flexible and adaptive.
Chelsea’s victory was also built on an impressive spine. Petr Cech was an outstanding goalkeeper.
Ahead of him, John Terry was superb in the first-leg Barcelona until his petulant foul
in the second saw him miss the final. Terry was partnered in the semis by Gary Cahill,
while David Luiz stepped in for the final and brought his long-range passing ability.
Cahill and Luiz were the only available centre-backs for Chelsea and both had to recover from injury
in time to play.
And Chelsea were also without Ramires, Branislav Ivanovic, and Raul Meireles, all of whom were
also suspended.
Out wide, Ashley Cole excelled, while the midfield pair of Lampard and Mikel brought
energy and control. Up front, Juan Mata could play off the immense Drogba, flitting around
to control tempo and offer creative passing.
Di Matteo definitely privileged a defensive stance, but that was sensible. Barca and Bayern
were the two best teams in Europe. Barcelona had won the Champions League in 2011, and
Bayern would go on to claim a treble in 2013.
Barcelona were at the height of their powers and Di Matteo responded with a 4-3-3 system,
ceding the flanks to a degree and knowing that Barcelona would be unlikely to create
much from crosses. The height and aerial ability of defenders like Terry, Ivanovic, and Cahill
meant that even if Barcelona did get the ball in from the flanks, Chelsea were secure. Stopping
up central midfield was the key, and so a hard-working midfield three did just that.
And Chelsea could counter-attack through the pace of Ramires and Drogba, with Mata a possession-retaining
out-ball.
Bayern, meanwhile, posed a far greater threat from out wide, and so Chelsea shifted to more
of a 4-2-3-1 system.
In Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, supplied by Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger in
midfield, Bayern possessed lethal inverted wingers who could cut inside and pass or shoot.
From full back, Philippe Lahm posed more of a threat on the right than Diego Contento
on the left, and so Di Matteo deployed Ryan Bertrand as a left winger. Bertrand, normally
a full back, had not even been in the Champions League squad at the beginning of the season.
Chelsea’s efforts were again on the counter but this time, it was Cole tasked with providing
width on the left, and Jose Bosingwa on the right, from full back. Mata drifted around
to link the play, and could also act as a spare blocker in midfield, while Drogba dropped
off to act as an aerial presence in the middle. This meant that Salomon Kalou, cutting infield
from right wing, was often the Chelsea player trying to push highest to receive Drogba’s
flick-ons. Chelsea could also go over the top for Drogba to run on to, with Bertrand
tucking in to allow Cole to push high, and Kalou offering support on the right.
This unbalanced system didn’t stop Bayern dominating: they had 64% possession, and 23
shots to Chelsea’s six. But only six of Bayern’s shots were on target: Chelsea’s
packing of the area in front of the box worked brilliantly to stem the flow of dangerous
efforts. But Mario Gomez, normally so predatory, wasted two good opportunities, one in extra
time, while Robben’s penalty, given in extra time for a Drogba foul on Ribery, was smartly
saved by Cech.
But Chelsea were used to being under the cosh: Barcelona had 72% and out-shot Chelsea 19
to four in the first leg of the semi-final; it was 73% possession and 17 to seven in the
second leg.
But, while no one could argue that Chelsea created more or imposed themselves on either
game, this wasn’t just luck. Di Matteo knew where his side were strong, but he knew where
the opposition was strong too. He knew what he needed to do to counter those strengths
and had a squad that were disciplined enough to defend and wait for their moment to counter.
The win promoted Jonathan Wilson to ask “Will Chelsea's successes against Barcelona and
Bayern, two teams who prioritize possession, lead to a shift away from proactive passing
football in favour of a more defensive approach?”
His answer, like football’s was no, but possession needed to be tempered with much
more penetration, with greater directness against teams who not only sat deep, but could
defend and counter well.
One could argue that at least some of what was to come, especially the merging of possession
and verticality that Bayern achieved under Guardiola, had its roots in Roberto Di Matteo’s
unlikely Champions League win
in 2012.