It has been said that history has a way of repeating itself. Incredibly, we could be witnessing this adage in action in this season's Champions League.
In the 2011-12 season, an unfancied Chelsea team which endured a difficult Premier League season and fired an underperforming head coach mid-season completed a stunning underdog Champions League run which included a spectacular semifinal upset of a Spanish powerhouse (in that season, it was Barcelona).
Nine years later, and would you look at that - Chelsea entered the season on absolutely nobody's radar to make a deep Champions League run, let alone win the whole thing. They have not been in good form in the Premier League. Frank Lampard's dismal performance as the Blues' man in the dugout saw him lose his job in favour of Thomas Tuchel. And once again, Chelsea have been overcoming tremendous odds on their tournament journey thus far and could again upset a Spanish giant - Real Madrid this time.
In the first leg of their Champions League semifinal tie, Chelsea held Real to a 1-1 draw. Although Chelsea could not leave the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with the victory, Christian Pulisic scored a crucial away goal that will give the London club the upper hand heading into next week's second leg.
Somehow, some way, Chelsea are actually likely to make the Champions League final. Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will know that I have often been rather critical of Chelsea. I've typically singled out club owner Roman Abramovich for blame; however, I've also sharply criticized Chelsea players and coaches alike in some of my previous posts.
However, credit where it's due - at least in the Champions League, Chelsea have displayed impressive grit, resolve, and poise under duress. Ever since Thomas Tuchel succeeded Lampard as Chelsea's head coach, he has turned Chelsea into a team which will not fold no matter the opposition. This was clearly shown in their round of 16 tie against Atlético Madrid. Almost everyone, myself included, expected this to be a one-sided matchup. While it certainly was that, only the most fervent Chelsea stans (yes, stans. I doubt even ordinary Chelsea fans would've expected this) would've said that it would be one-sided in Chelsea's favour. Yet, that's exactly what transpired; Chelsea beat Atlético 3-0 on aggregate, sending the Madrid club out of the tournament far earlier than most had anticipated.
On paper, there appears to be no reason why Chelsea should be doing this well. While N'Golo Kanté remains probably the world's best defensive midfielder, as he has been for the last four years or so, the players around him don't seem to particularly move the needle. Timo Werner has been a shadow of the RB Leipzig centre-forward who regularly destroyed defenses in the Bundesliga and beyond. He is on his way to his lowest goal tally in a season since 2016. Other much-heralded arrivals such as Hakim Ziyech, Pulisic, and Kai Havertz have thoroughly underwhelmed at Stamford Bridge thus far.
When looking at the other key players at Chelsea, the names that most stick out are the likes of Kurt Zouma, Ben Chilwell, Jorginho, a 36-year-old Thiago Silva, and Mason Mount. Though none of them seem to be players who could form the nucleus of a Champions League-winning team, if things break their way, that could end up being what actually happens.
Perhaps one of the secrets to Chelsea's success this season has been their extremely balanced attack. The fact that their superstar is a defensive midfielder means that more players take up the goalscoring burden, giving Chelsea a more diverse attacking threat. This fact is evidenced by this statistic: with just five matchdays in the Premier League season, no Chelsea player has scored more than six league goals thus far; Werner, Tammy Abraham, Mount, and Jorginho have all managed a half-dozen apiece. Even more astonishingly, their next-highest league goalscorer is Zouma - a centre-back.
Chelsea have silenced a myriad of doubters and critics (myself included) during this remarkable Champions League run. Could they cap it off with not only a victory against Real, a title which would be remembered forever?
I never thought I would say these words, but write off this Chelsea team at your peril.
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