Back in 2012, Roman Abramovich had a dream.
No, it was not to ruin English football by entering a European Super League, while Chelsea fans revolted in disgust.
Dark days | Rob Pinney / Getty Images
He wanted to win the Champions League.
The big European trophy was the great honor that was missing from his collection and arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2003. The Russian owner spent a lot of money to turn the Blues into real heavyweights in the game, but no matter how close they got, they just could not get over line.
But everything changed back in 2012, in possibly the most uneven season during his reign. A bad start to the campaign had seen Chelsea differ from Andre-Villas Boas and appoint club legend Roberto Di Matteo in his place.
From there, the players had gathered and expected a 3-1 defeat against Napoli in the knockout round of the Champions League, before they eased past Benfica to set up a leaked semi-final against Barcelona.
The Blues won the home team with a single goal, but everything started to work out in the second stage at Camp Nou. Sergio Busquets equalized the total point line in 35 minutes and John Terry threw his teammates into trouble by taking a stupid red card two minutes later.
Andres Iniesta set up Barça two goals at night, and now one goal behind and one man light seemed to be curtains for Chelsea. But the villainous game turned in the half-time battle, after midfielder Ramires produced a fantastic dink to lobby Victor Valdes and place the Blues on away goals.
But the hearts were back on the verge of exploding with pain in the 49th minute, when Lionel Messi lined up to take a penalty. As we all know, he fluffed his lines, and the happy underdogs survived. From then on, it was the back against the wall, as Chelsea defended with all their might against one of the biggest Barça sides in history.
At the moment | PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / Getty Images
Barça came forward with wave after wave of attacks, but the ten men stood firm. And so when we crossed into the dying seconds, it was cracking time. La Blaugrana charged forward and forced the ball into the Chelsea box, where they suddenly started screaming for a handball offense.
It almost felt as if time stood still during the second two periods, while we all waited with bated breath to see if the official would put the whistle on his lips. The referee was unmoved by his grounds and among all the tensions the ball was pumped high and far over the halfway line.
While we waited, Fernando Torres was on the go. The Spaniard competed forward, a sea of space in front of him, with only Valde’s body between him and immediate redemption for a largely overwhelming incantation in west London.
He galloped towards the penalty area and stared deep into the opponent’s eyes in the longest game of chicken in history. He pulled Valdes off his line, and quickly like lightning, pushed the ball to the right, just outside the goalkeeper’s desperate reach.
We could not forget this ?????? goal! ?
9⃣ years ago today vs Barcelona? Fernando Torres pic.twitter.com/BRndMySXEY
– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 24, 2021
After so many missed opportunities in the blue of Chelsea, he would not ruin this one. Cool as you like, Torres rolled the ball over the line and sent his followers to the dreamland. It also gave birth to Gary Neville orgasm, equally disturbing, haunted and fun.
The former Atletico Madrid forward rolled away, knowing that he had broken the hearts of an old enemy and banished his own demons on one of the greatest nights in Chelsea’s history. Of course, he and his teammates would do a better job in Munich and beat Bayern in their own backyard to win the Champions League for the first time in their history.
What a moment and what a celebration of the Champions League and all that it stands for.
