We could hardly have had a more inauspicious start: before the match had even started Gerrard was confirmed as a casualty, the most likely source of inspiration removed before a ball was kicked. There would be no Olympiakos here, no West Ham, no Istanbul.
In your mind’s eye before this news you could just about imagine the Great One pulling this out of the fire, a swashbuckling performance ridiculing Essien’s attempt to repeat his destructive achievement at Anfield a week earlier. With Gerrard out, hopes were inevitably transferred to the shoulders of Fernando Torres, but in truth everyone would need to step up an extra gear to compensate for the loss of the skipper. And so it proved.
It was clear that Rafa had been studying the collapse at the centre of the Chelsea defence against Bolton the previous Saturday; and he had clearly pinpointed Cech as the cause of much of the uncertainty. The keeper was tested at every opportunity, and confirmed his recent decline with a gross misjudgement which let Aurelio’s audacious free-kick slip past him into the net.
More panic in the centre as the Brazilian’s free-kick found Ivanovic being far too friendly with Alonso, the referee awarding a penalty that was as clear as it was unusual. Two-nil up at half-time, and Chelsea in a state of undisguised panic. The boos that echoed in the Chelsea players’ ears as they left the field were a reminder not just of their spineless performance, but of the fickleness of their alleged fans, their free flags limper than last week’s lettuce.
Alas, their true quality was discovered in some dark corner of their dressing room, and a whirlwind 25 minutes or so turned the game on its head. Reina was deceived by the risible Drogba’s faint touch on an Anelka cross; a blistering Alex free-kick was virtually unstoppable; and a trademark Lampard goal from a pull-back seemingly ended the contest.
Yet even now we were not done: Lucas’s deflected drive and Kuyt’s close-range header giving us eight minutes plus to complete perhaps the greatest comeback in European Cup history.
Lampard’s cruel equaliser should not be allowed to diminish their achievement.
