ABRAMOVICH'S DREAM COMES TRUE

FC Chelsea has achieved the biggest success in its history. After winning the Champions League, the "Aristocrats" became Europe's strongest club for the first time. The team spent as much as 9 years to win the trophy, making critical transfers and concluding contracts with the world's strongest coaches during this time. And finally, the dream came true.

The desire to turn Chelsea into one of Europe's leading clubs appeared in 2003. In that season, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who watched the duel between Manchester United and Madrid Real, decided to intervene in the dispute for Europe's main club trophy. In the summer of the same year, spending a huge amount of money on transfers, Abramovich turned this rather mediocre English club into an unquestioned leader of the Premier League. In a short time, the "Aristocrats" became a favourite of one of the biggest football tournaments and in the new season, Chelsea were able to advance to the semifinals in the Champions League. The most famous and titled coaches were invited to the team. After the formation of the star team, the number of Chelsea fans also increased. Now rooting for Chelsea was not a tribute to fashion, but a desire. After the defeat from Manchester United in the final of the league in Moscow, many thought that the failure would finally cool the ardour of the owner of the club - Abramovich was spending money, but his club was losing in the semifinals and finals of the Champions League ... It is an interesting fact - before Chelsea won the Cup, Abramovich spent a lot more. But despite the setbacks, he continued to invite the most expensive players. He sacked Carlo Ancelotti and paid him 15-million-pound compensation. He invited Andre Villas Boas to his team, paying Porto 13 million. And when the latter did not do well, he sacked him paying an additional 20 million.

The team completed this season in sixth place in the Premier League. Everyone was convinced that there would be no titles this year. Villas Boas' ideas had no room for the strongest players of the club who sat on the bench. And after the Portuguese was sacked, the experienced players played very different football.

Fans (and not only) were confident that Chelsea would fail in the semifinals. After all, the rival was Barcelona itself - the world's strongest club. It is not so easy to beat Messi's team. But Chelsea managed it.

A more difficult task was ahead - to beat Bavaria in the finals in an away match.

Chelsea spent the entire match at Allianz Arena in the defence. But the "Aristocrats" had no choice. The reason was numerous problems faced by the team - a number of leading players were forced to miss the final due to injuries or suspensions. But Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, who are long over 30, were well aware that they would not have another final in their career. In addition, the footballers were stimulated by the new coaching staff headed by Di Matteo, some of whose members were almost the same age as the veterans of the team.

In any case, the footballers themselves played the main role in the victory of Di Matteo who does not have great experience and big titles yet.

Ninety minutes of playing in the defence, Didier Drogba's saving goal and penalty shootouts - that was Chelsea's path to success. Football fortune seemed to have turned away from Bavaria. The deciding factors were the unsuccessful performance of a penalty kick by Arjen Robben and the skills of the Chelsea goalkeeper Cech.

Many people call penalties a lottery. Bavaria fans claim that their rival was just lucky ... But as they say, everybody loves the winner. What will remain in history is not the defensive football demonstrated by Chelsea, but their victory.

For Bavaria, this final was doubly bitter - what could be worse than defeat at home...

But this is football, and no one knows how the 90 minutes on the green pitch will end.

And now onto Roberto Di Matteo. As a player, he was not so famous. The football veteran, who interrupted his sports career at 31 because of a broken leg, has an interesting fate. In the 1990s, Chelsea transferred footballer Di Matteo from Lazio for 4.9 million pounds. After playing in the club for five years, Di Matteo left it, saying that he dreams of returning to London as a coach in the future. Fate decreed that when Andre Villas Boas became Chelsea head coach, Di Matteo was invited to become his deputy. Di Matteo, who normally refused to take the post of assistant, gave his consent this time. But he could not even imagine that Villas Boas would be dismissed and he would become head coach of Chelsea very soon.

No one took the new head coach seriously. It seemed that the defeat from Napoli with a score of 3-1 did not leave any hope of further participation in the league. But Di Matteo and his players overcame the situation with credit.

And after the score in the second match with Barcelona was 2-0 in favour of the Catalans, the Aristocrats' chances of getting into the final of the Champions League became a ghostly chimera, but not for Matteo and Chelsea players, who wrote their name in the history of football once again.

Football is a great game indeed. And it is not just a game, it is much more. Just a month ago, Roman Abramovich was in search of a new head coach for his team. Jose Mourinho, Josep Guardiola ... There were so many people on his list. However, the victory in the Champions League forced him to leave Roberto Di Matteo in this post. Abramovich knows that this victory is a victory not for the coach but for the players. Accordingly, there is no doubt that Di Matteo will not stay in London for long. According to recent reports, Chelsea has offered him a new contract. But preferring long-term cooperation, Di Matteo decided to think a little more.

In any case, Roberto Di Matteo has already written his name in history as head of Chelsea.