Lightning they say never strikes twice on the same spot, but that cannot be said about history which is of the habit of repeating itself.
After last weekend’s 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Westbrom, Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel’s magic touch which had sent them on a 15 game unbeaten run seemed to have been demystified, and having to face Porto in the UCL Quarter Final looked like an attempt to beat down a man who’s already on the ground, considering the fact that FC Porto had just bamboozled Juventus and CR7 out of the competition.
But Wednesday’s 2-0 win for the boys in Royal Blue turned the tables on their heads and suddenly, there is an air of strong optimism blowing in Cobham. The question that now rings in the air is “could this be the year again?” Well, looking at the circumstances, there are similarities that point to a repeat of history. Perhaps, the destiny of nine years ago could be written in the stars again.
It was March 27 2012 when the opposition was a Portuguese powerhouse in the shape of FL Benfica. Salomon Kalou gave Chelsea a slender 1-0 away advantage and the returned to Stamford Bridge to dust off the job with a 2-1 win that sent them into the semi finals. Spanish giants awaited the Blues and with a Drogba inspired 1-0 win over Barcelona, Chelsea headed for Campnou where against all odds, with no natural central defender on the pitch, Fernando Toress scored a goal worth 50 million pounds to send the Blues into the final where in the most dramatic of fashions Chelsea became European Champions for the first time in their history.
We’ll history beckons again. With a sizeable away advantage over another Portuguese powerhouse, Chelsea look set to come up against another Spanish opposition in Real Madrid in the semi final and a likelihood of meeting another German opponent in the form of Bayern Munich or Dortmund, that is if the later can upturn their deficit against Man City.
It may not look like sese to many neutrals, but to the Chelsea faithful, there is a glimmer of hope and a silent growing belief that this young squad inspired by the amiable Mason Mount and vitalised by the high spirits of Kanter and Kovacic could renew the magic of nine years past.
Chelsea finished that season fighting for top four as they are right now, they landed the FA Cup that year and are still in the running for it this year.
And lest I forget, like a certain Roberto Di Matteo, Tomas Tuchel was brought in to steady a sinking ship. But much better than Di Matteo, Tuchel looks better equipped with pedigree and experience to repeat the success of 2012.
