A season to remember for Chelsea

Gabriel Tan

Not that the continental crown is anything to be scoffed at, of course.

Since Roman Abramovich bought over the club in 2003, the UEFA Champions League has been the one piece of silverware he was obsessed with. And for the past nine years, the likes of Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti all tried but failed to achieve that goal.

At the start of the campaign, there was a quiet confidence emanating throughout the Chelsea camp that Abramovich had finally got the man for the job.

The not-so-Special One

Fresh from winning a treble with Porto, Andre Villas-Boas was earmarked as the right candidate to take over Stamford Bridge, so much so that Abramovich was willing to part with €15million as compensation to acquire one of Europe's most talented young tacticians.

In a statement released upon his appointment in June, the 34-year-old was described as having "ambition, drive and determination [matching] that of Chelsea's" and were "confident Andre's leadership of the team will result in greater successes in major domestic and European competitions".

However, Villas-Boas, who had worked at the club previously as a coach under Jose Mourinho, one of Chelsea's favourite sons, was quick to downplay comparison between him and his compatriot.

"There is no way you can avoid comparison [but] I didn't take the Porto job not the Chelsea job because Jose made the same steps," he said shortly after his appointment.

"Chelsea appointed me basically for human qualities and that is what I want to bring into his club again."

Whatever "human qualities" he had, they certainly didn't come to the fore as he alienated several club stalwarts by dropping them in favour of new blood. New signing Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge, returning from a successful loan spell at Bolton, were immediately thrust in the starting XI at the expense of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, who had previously been the first names on the team sheet.

On the field, the results weren't exactly awful as the Blues won six of their opening eight Barclays Premier League games, scoring 20 goals in the process, but three defeats in four games to QPR, Arsenal and Liverpool raised the first question marks on Villas-Boas' reign.

In Europe, Chelsea successfully negotiated their way out of a couple of tricky ties against Valencia and Bayer Leverkusen to finish top of Group E, setting up a round-of-16 tie against Italian upstarts Napoli.

However, their league woes continued in the second half of December as they went four games without victory in winnable matches against Wigan, Tottenham, Fulham and Aston Villa. Victories over Wolves and Sunderland helped ease the pressure slightly, but it was piled back on after consecutive draws against Norwich and Swansea, before Chelsea threw away a three-goal lead to draw with Manchester United 3-3 at Stamford Bridge.

Less than a month after that epic encounter, and following a 1-0 defeat to West Brom, Villas-Boas was given the sack by Abramovich, having been in the saddle for under eight months.

Exit AVB, enter RDM

But while it didn't come as that big a surprise that the Portuguese had been axed, especially given Abramovich's impatience with managers, the football fraternity was slightly shocked when Chelsea announced Roberto Di Matteo, a former fan favourite whom Villas-Boas had himself brought in at the start of the season, as his temporary replacement.

The former Italy international was quick to quash suggestions he had backstabbed Villas-Boas by taking over at Stamford Bridge, and was keen to declare he would be bringing a different approach to his management.

"Andre has brought some very good, positive ideas and changes to this football club and we will benefit from his changes," Di Matteo said in the first press conference he fielded as caretaker manager.

"I enjoyed very much working with him... but I will have to move on for this club and try my best with the players we have here.

"I am one of them [the Chelsea fans], it hurts me to see our club in this position. I can give them my full commitment to the end of the season, with the passion I have for my job for his club."

Considering the one main "idea and change" that Villas-Boas had brought to the club had been his injection of youth into his team, it appears the only benefit Di Matteo reaped from the Portuguese's spell in charge was not the mess around with the senior players at the club.

Right away, he made it known that Lampard, Drogba and John Terry all still had key roles to play at the club, while Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel, marginalised under Villas-Boas, were reinstated into the starting XI in Di Matteo's first league game in charge - a 1-0 win over Stoke.

Then came the game that arguably turned Chelsea's season around. On March 14, with a 3-1 deficit to overcome, Di Matteo masterminded a stunning 4-1 extra-time win over Napoli to help the Blues book their spot in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Following that game, Lampard declared the win had only been possible because of the presence of him and his fellow seasoned campaigners, suggesting that is where Villas-Boas had got it all wrong.

"You can't win these sorts of competitions without that [experience]," the England international said.

"You're not talking about old boys whose careers are flitting out. They're players that want to play, players that want to win. You can see that.

"Robbie [Di Matteo] is a very 'Chelsea' man and he's shown that with his heart on his sleeve."

A small matter of an FA Cup triumph

With Chelsea's league aspirations in tatters, all the talk centered on how far they could go in the Champions League, and after the triumph over Napoli, confidence was beginning to brew.

Yet along the way, the Blues somehow managed to make it all the way to the final of the FA Cup, although their route they took to Wembley wasn't without controversy - Mata scoring a dubious goal that set the stage for the 5-1 win over Spurs in the semi-finals.

Against Liverpool in the final, Ramires, one of Chelsea's best players this season, gave them the lead after just 11 minutes, before Drogba, another of the old guard Villas-Boas hadn't been too fond of, grabbed what proved to be the winner seven minutes after the break.

There was whispered support for Di Matteo to be given the job on a permanent basis after the Blues hoisted the trophy. On May 20, those whispers turned into a roar.

Chelsea, champions of Europe

There are many terms that have been associated with Chelsea in the past. Since Abramovich invested his billions into the club, some have called them "noveau riche", while under Mourinho, "all-conquering English champions" was a moniker regularly applied to the Stamford Bridge outfit.

However, even Mourinho had been unable to turn the English champions into European champions. Roberto di Matteo did just that - borrowing from the Mourinho manual of European tactics with two barely believable wins - against Barcelona in the semi-finals and Bayern in the final.

When Bayern forward Thomas Muller nodded the Germans ahead in the 82nd minute, it looked like the Londoners were once again going to come up short, evoking painful memories of the defeat to United in 2008.

Yet, Drogba found the back of the net six minutes later to force extra-time, where ex-Chelsea star Arjen Robben spurned an excellent chance to win it for his side when he saw his penalty saved by Petr Cech.

And when Drogba confidently fired Chelsea's final effort in the shootout into the bottom corner, after Cech had tipped Bastian Schweinsteiger's shot onto the post, the Blues' rollercoaster campaign had come to a cresting conclusion.

They had started the season with a talented rookie manager whom they believed would take them to the pinnacle of European football. They ended it achieving just that, albeit with a different young tactician at the helm, and with an FA Cup to boot.

Looking ahead to next season

From Villas-Boas' ill-fated spell in charge, it is clear that Terry, Lampard and Drogba all still have plenty to offer the club. The latter is least likely to stay, especially with former strike partner Nicolas Anelka reportedly persuading the Ivorian to join him at Shanghai Shenhua.

However, there will come a time when the Chelsea veterans, Cech and Ashley Cole included, will have to be gradually phased out of the team. 'Gradually' being the key because, as Villas-Boas found out, players don't exactly like to be shown the exit when they believe their time isn't up yet.

One man whose time could be up, despite the success he has brought the club, is Di Matteo. Given how much Abramovich likes to make a big statement in bringing in a big name, it remains to be seen if the Italian of humble managerial beginnings will be tasked with taking the side forward. 

He should. Even if it's just because of the simple fact that thanks to Di Matteo, Chelsea ended up having a season to remember, for the right reasons.