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“That night in Munich” is a phrase that will live long in the memories of this generations Blues fans, perhaps with a somewhat despondent tone knowing that it will be hard to replicate anything in keeping with the success of that night in Germany, especially given the dawn of a new Barcelona side that seem capable of re writing the history books by winning the Champions League for more than a one off year. Although if there is any side capable of causing the ultimate upset in Europe, then it must be Chelsea, given the feats they achieved in 2012.
If looking at Chelsea’s league position in relation to Europe makes you think of one thing, it should be the memories of 2012. The last time the Blues were in such unsteady waters, Roberto Di Matteo took over and guided the team to a FA cup and Champions League double. This meant even though they only finished in a measly 6th position they still qualified for next seasons competition at the expense of Tottenham which was one bright moment in a season severely lacking of any. Fast forward to now and you find a Chelsea in even greater perils, even further down the league table and without a manager who can take over the reins full time next season, regardless of any success this season given Guus Hiddink’s desire to retire from management. There is also the small problem of having to overturn a deficit in the second leg against a PSG side who have only lost one match the whole season in all competitions.
The most perplexing thing is that in all honesty, Chelsea are lucky to have even qualified from their group. With the task of qualifying from a mediocre group that contained an Israeli side which hadn’t qualified for Europe’s elite competition for the past 11 years, Dynamo Kiev and an average Porto side, four wins, one draw and one loss meant that the Blues had to leave it until match day 6 to seal qualification with a 2-0 win over Porto. It is even more mind-boggling when you look back to last season’s group stage which looked considerably harder. Carrying on their shocking league form into Europe almost cost the team significantly and if not for having six points guaranteed against Maccabi Tel Aviv, then we may have been talking about Chelsea joining Manchester United in the Europa League.
For Chelsea though, the Europa League did not await, instead a different proposition entirely – the monstrous PSG who have only lost once all season. Les Parisians are slowly turning into Chelsea’s European rivals having faced them in the last three seasons and are currently level in the final leg of this seemingly ‘best out of three’ game that is happening. In this season’s meeting, the first leg was not the worst result Blues fans could have hoped for considering each team’s contrasting form, with an all-important away goal Chelsea remain with a strong chance of reaching the last eight. John Obi Mikel wore the mask of hero and villain during the first leg. Now being favoured over Nemanja Matic in the holding role, Mikel had a vital role in keeping PSG’s vast array of attacking talent at bay. He was doing well until fouling Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the edge of the box, earning himself a yellow card in the process, before turning his back in the wall allowing the legendary Swede to fire the free-kick in via a deflection from Mikel himself. However, only minutes later, he redeemed himself by converting in from close range following Willian’s corner. Being largely the better team, PSG got the deserved 2nd goal when Edison Cavani slotted it though the legs of Thibaut Courtois after a series of fine stops by the Belgian. Perhaps one disappointing part of an otherwise well fought match was another lacklustre performance from Eden Hazard.
One question surrounding the managerial spot at Chelsea is whether Champions League glory could tug at Guus Hiddink’s heart strings and persuade him to stay on next season. This scenario is seemingly unlikely given his desire to retire from coaching at the end of the current campaign, although Roberto Di Matteo was only an interim manager in 2012 when he took over and guided the side to an FA Cup and Champions League double before being offered the job on a full time basis. If this were to happen, it would be very popular with a chunk of the Blues fans who feel as though Hiddink has brought a calming influence to the side, as supported by Oscar and Mikel. On the contrary, some sections of the fan base believe that the club needs an overhaul in order to keep pace with the rest of England’s elites, and this doesn’t stop with the players. The belief is that another new managerial face is needed to provide fresh ideas on how to move forward and make sure Chelsea are once again challenging on all fronts next season.
One factor many people may not have yet brought into the equation is the financial impact that Chelsea will be hit by if the club does not qualify for the Champions League. We have seen what it can do to sides such as Manchester United who announced in late 2015 that the lack of a European competition cost the club almost £35 million in lost revenue. The most obvious place to start when counting the cost of Champions League failure is with the money gained by qualifying for the group stages now standing at £7.3 million for each club (via UEFA.com). Furthermore, victory in a group-stage match can add a further €1 million while teams share €500,000 each for a draw. Entry to the last 16 of the Champions League will add a further €3 million a teams’ revenue. With new changes to the bonus system clubs from the 2015-2016 will earn even more, there is an 50% increase in winning bonus on every group game win which jumped from €1 million to €1.5 million, while the incentive for reaching the first knockout stage will get all 16 teams a massive €5.5 million compared to €3.5m currently on offer. There is also increase on quarter-finals, semi-finals and final prize money. So, a team winning Champions League in 2016 may pocket around €55 million just in prize money plus of course the “market pool money”. If an English team were to win the Champions League in 2016, they can pocket in the region of €100 million from prize money and market pool only (via Total Sportek).
With this taken into account, along with all the other factors mentioned, it would seem wise that Chelsea are taking this seasons competition even more seriously than others as clubs of Chelsea’s stature can simply not afford to miss out on Europe’s top competition.
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