Champions League: Lionel Messi aims to avert Barcelona crisis; Chelsea hosts Bayern Munich – CNN
It’s a red letter day for all Chelsea fans.May 19, 2012 was when the club won its first — and so far only — Champions League title.For Bayern Munich, it’s a date that provides more painful memories given the game was played at its home stadium — the Allianz Arena — and arguably the Bundesliga club should have won the match, both before it went to extra-time and also during those 30 extra minutes.Ultimately Didier Drogba scored the winner in a dramatic penalty shootout as Chelsea beat Bayern.The Ivorian striker coolly slotted home his kick to spark frenzied celebrations among his teammates and the Chelsea fans in Bayern’s Allianz Arena.Manuel Neuer had saved Juan Mata’s first penalty for Chelsea to give Bayern the early advantage in the shootout, but Petr Cech saved a weak Ivica Olic effort before Bastian Schweinsteiger saw his penalty hit the post.The match had finished 1-1 after extra time, with Thomas Mueller putting Bayern ahead in the 83rd minute before Drogba dramatically leveled with two minutes remaining.Arjen Robben then missed a penalty in the first half of extra time, setting up the dramatic shootout finale where the home side fluffed their lines to leave the Bavarian fans stunned.Chelsea’s victory capped a remarkable spell for Roberto Di Matteo who had taken over as interim manager after the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas.That May evening in Munich also finally fulfilled the ambitions of the club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich in lifting Europe’s top club prize.At that point, Abramovich has ploughed an estimated $1 billion into purchasing the players to turn Chelsea into a European power since buying the club in 2003 and gone through eight managers in that time, but the closest he had come to the Champions League was a penalty shoot out loss to Manchester United in 2008.Oh and Chelsea manager Frank Lampard was captain that day eight years ago.Chelsea’s Frank Lampard holds the trophy after the Champions League final football match between Bayern Munich and Chelsea. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/GettyImages