It has been a fairy tale journey so far from Chelsea in Europe

It has been a roller costar journey so far from Chelsea in Europe, taking into consideration their stuttering league campaign. Who would have thought that the team from London will clear every obstacle on their way to reach this stage, when other mighty English giants couldn’t live up to the expectations?

The impediment was both internal and external. They had to overcome many tough opponents to qualify. Their Champions League campaign till now is far from spectacular, impressive but it is a remarkable journey that tells the story of comebacks when all the odds were against them. Their poor run of form in the league had an impact too, but they have shifted the gears when required.

Chelsea started their UCL journey with home fixture against Bayer Leverkusen. David Luiz and Juan Mata were on target for the home side, bringing relief to the camp that lost against Sunderland three days back.

That victory was followed by a poor run of results as Chelsea were comfortably defeated at Old Trafford by Manchester United and robbed points at home by Fulham. Andre Villas-Boas, ex-manager of Chelsea was feeling the heat. His man management style was questioned as he left few senior players on the bench on many occasions. Frank Lampard’s omission from the side created an added pressure from all corners. It was such a time, Chelsea faced Valencia at Mestalla. Old guards restored pride again. The Blues could have salvaged a memorable victory but a late penalty from Roberto Soldado marred the happy trip to Spain.

Results didn’t improve as Chelsea stumbled against Racing Genk. Despite taking the early lead through Ramires, the Londoners couldn’t capitalize on the incessant pressure they created, finally conceded a silly goal. In the returning fixture, Genk was humiliated severely at the Bridge, as the Belgian side conceded five goals with Fernando Torres on target.

Villas-Boas needed a sharp response from his players on Chelsea’s trip to Bay Arena on Match day five. Week earlier, his side was defeated by another late goal in the league; this time by Glenn Johnson of Liverpool as problems of keeping concentration till the end and defensive frailties resurfaced. Chelsea made the same mistake again, despite taking the lead against Bayer. The match ended in 2-1 defeat for the blues, setting up a do-or-die fixture with Valencia on the final group match showdown.

As I was saying, when ever there was intense pressure applied on Chelsea they have found an answer to come back. That defines their journey so far. They defeated Los Che by 3-0 and booked their place in the knock out rounds of Champions League.

They faced Napoli in the round of 16. Napoli, the most romantic team in Europe who spanked Manchester City earlier in the competition looked all set to humiliate another English side again. Here comes the second obstacle, an internal obstacle. Chelsea lost 3-1 to Napoli on their trip to Italy. Andre Villas-Boas was dispensed from his job and caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo took the hot seat.

It was a dire situation. Chelsea fans wouldn’t have blamed the new temporary manager had they lost the tie against Napoli. In fact, it was a mountain to climb. But, there again, Chelsea found inner strength to shrug off all pessimism and made their own way to victory.

What Di Matteo has done in turning the tide? He brought magic wand with him? No. His impact is best summed up by Ramires. Speaking to ESPN the midfielder said “Robbie has brought in some new ideas and instilled great confidence in us. And we soon began to realize that we are still a great team with great players. We have built from our victory in Robbie’s very first game in charge and we have gone from strength to strength since then.”

Chelsea has got their belief back. They have got their confidence back. Most importantly they have got a man who is their idol and hero. Being a club legend he could inspire the squad to a great effect. They were not spectacular against Benfica, but were very effective. They got the all important away goal, and now need to calm things down and finish off their opponents.

Benfica have caused upset in the past and they can replicate the same too. Let the job be done and dusted, and then they can think about Barcelona. Tonight is all about restoring pride. They have flirted with dangers, played with fire, toyed with pressure, now they must take a steady dive and cross the ocean.