Chelsea grabs last minute glory to win Europa League
The Europa League trophy -- that's
what it was all about for Benfica and Chelsea as they went head to head
at the Amsterdam Arena.
As he posed on the
Amsterdam Arena pitch with the glistening Europa League trophy in his
hand, Rafael Benitez might have wondered what all the fuss had been
about.
Branislav Ivanovic's
dramatic late winner secured a 2-1 win victory over Benfica and left
Chelsea's interim manager with every right to feel proud.
When he replaced
Champions League winning coach Roberto Di Matteo last November, he was
welcomed into a cauldron of hate by Chelsea supporters.
Despised by those in blue
following his time with Liverpool, the new interim manager was
mercilessly mocked, abused and verbally attacked in the stands and on
radio phone-in shows.
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Perhaps more respect
should have been afforded to a man who had led Liverpool to Champions
League glory in 2005 and Valencia to La Liga success in 2002 and 2004.
Instead, banners
proclaimed "We're just not interim" were unfurled, and Benitez was left
to fight an uphill battle against those who detested his very presence
on the touchline at Stamford Bridge.
But after securing
Champions League football for next season and claiming the Europa League
trophy, perhaps he will even be afforded a warm goodbye when he
relinquishes his role after Sunday's game against Everton.
Benitez's latest triumph
comes just two months after his infamous rant at the club's supporters
following his side's FA Cup victory at first division side
Middlesbrough.
His attack on those who
had delighted in criticizing his tenure may have raised eyebrows and
earned him a censure from the club's board, but it finally showed who
was in charge.
Popularity has never
been important to the Spaniard. But Benitez helped Chelsea salvage a
season which had threatened to fall apart after it became the first ever
defending title holder to drop out of the Champions League at the Group
Stage.
A third place finish and
victory in the Europa League is more than respectable for a man who was
forced to swim against a tide of hate from the very start.
He is just the second
man after Giovanni Trapattoni to win the competition with two different
clubs following his triumph with Valencia in 2004.
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All that, despite being faced with placards and posters calling for his head and being vilified at every opportunity.
In the end, as he stood facing the Chelsea fans with the silverware in his hands, he could afford a little smile.
If Jose Mourinho is the man to come in, then at least Benitez can be content with leaving his old adversary with a winning team.
"That was a great performance in the second half, against a very good team," Benitez told ITV following the victory.
"I'm really pleased for the players and everyone involved.
"We didn't have the legs
in the first half, so we had to adapt. They players have worked so
hard, all season. I am proud - it was not easy. I'm really pleased,
really proud."
It could have been
different had Chelsea's opponent, Benfica, managed to take some of the
chances afforded to it on a night of drama.
Benfica began the
brighter of the two, its players producing some sumptuous one-touch
football which left Chelsea chasing shadows.
As in Munich 12 months
ago, Chelsea spent much of the first half ensconced in its own half,
desperately trying to prevent the Portuguese side from making the
breakthrough it so badly craved.
But for all the
wonderful flowing football, Benfica's deficiencies in front of goal were
all too evident as it failed to convert any of the chances which came
its way.
Instead, it was Chelsea
in a rare foray into the Benfica half which almost took the lead seven
minutes before the break when Frank Lampard's rasping effort was clawed
away by Artur.
That scare appeared to reinvigorate Benfica and the Portuguese side almost moved ahead just minutes after the restart.
Nicolas Gaitan found
space on the right and his exquisite cross was headed home by Oscar
Cardozo -- only for his celebrations to be cut short by an offside flag.
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While the decision was
the correct one, Cardozo was millimeters offside, it was the source of
much frustration to a Benfica side which quickly found itself behind.
There appeared little
trouble when Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech threw the ball out towards
Juan Mata and when he failed to take control, Fernando Torres nipped in
to run at the Benfica defense and coolly slot the ball home.
To its credit, Benfica
refused to buckle and Jorge Jesus' side hit back within nine minutes to
level when Cardozo fired home from the penalty spot following a handball
by Cesar Azpilicueta.
Buoyed by its equalizer,
Benfica pushed forward in search of a winner and Cech produced a fine
save to push Cardozo's fierce drive over the crossbar.
But while the red shirts
poured forward, Chelsea looked dangerous on the break and Frank Lampard
came within inches of winning the tie after his rasping 20-yard effort
smashed against the crossbar with two minutes remaining.
The game appeared destined for extra time with the scores still level going into the final minute of stoppage time.
But after Ramires won a corner on the Chelsea right, Ivanovic rose highest to meet Mata's corner and head a dramatic winner.
"It's a great feeling," Ivanovic told ITV.
"This team deserved this, because we have had a very difficult season and a lot of games.
"In the end, today was a
very hard game and Benfica played very well. But we scored from set
pieces and work very hard preparing that part of our game. We deserve
that trophy."
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It was fitting that
Ivanovic should score the winner after he was forced to miss last year's
Champions League final triumph over Bayern Munich through suspension.
Frank Lampard, who
became the club's record goalscorer last weekend after taking his tally
to 203, was quick to praise the Serbia defender and reveal he is close
to signing a new contract.
"It's been an amazing time for all of us involved," he told ITV.
"Talk about ups and
downs in the last two years! But this is a big up. We're a group, a
team, and it was tight tonight after the long season we've had.
"No-one deserves this
more than Ivanovic -- he has been fantastic. You make your own luck, and
we stick together in this group. The club deserve it.
"I really, really hope
to be around next year. With a game tonight and coming up we haven't sat
down and signed anything, but I really hope so and things are looking
good. The club have been brilliant."
For Torres, it means he
is now a reigning World Cup winner, European Championship winner,
Champions League winner and Europa League winner -- the first for any
player.
"I am very happy," the Spain international told ITV.
"It was a very tough
game, and Benfica were much better in the first half. The first half was
not good enough at all. We really wanted to win this Europe League, and
maybe this was going to be our only chance."
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This defeat caps a
miserable week for Benfica, which looks set to lose out on the
Portuguese league title following a dramatic late defeat by rival Porto.
Benfica has now lost its
past seven major European Cup finals -- all of which have come since
being hit by the infamous "Bela Guttmann curse".
Guttmann, a Hungarian coach, led Benfica to glory in the European Cup, winning the competition in 1961 and 1962.
But after his request
for a pay rise was turned down by the newly elected president Antonio
Carlos Cabral Fezas Vital, Guttmann placed a curse on the club and
declared it would not win the European Cup for another 100 years.
Not even the great
Eusebio, one of Benfica's most famous sons, was able to help lift the
curse when he visited Guttmann's grave before Benfica's defeat in the
1990 European Cup final.
The curse appears to now include Europe's second trophy -- much to the dismay of the club's manager Jesus.
"The Benfica fans were better than the Chelsea fans," Jesus told a press conference.
"They deserved a Benfica victory for their passion and their feelings and the patriotism they showed.
"This defeat is
difficult for me because of the Benfica fans. For most of the 93
minutes, Benfica was always better than Chelsea."
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