MagicManMata

Beating ze Germans on pens is even more impressive than beating them in 90 minutes or in extra time.

WE AREE THE CHAMMMMMPIONSSSS MY FRIEEEENNNNNDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD....... WE DID IT LADS, YEAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!

They did beat Madrid on Pens... BUT WE GOT THIS! DESTINY IS ON OUR SID ELADS, BELIEVE!!!

Need to hold the fort here...Destiny lads! Mark that fvcker Gomez!!

Gomez has started to choke. Hopefully he keeps this up, but we need to help him all we can! And watch Ribery!

We need to watch for Gomez, he has been VERY dangerous so far, just lacked that final finish.

Great to see Cahill and Luiz made it! Our D is solid. Hopefully these 2 are in form and can stop Mario Gomez and his 12 CL goals this season. On the other hand, Bayern's left side is very weak defensively. Tymo is a midfielder and he is at (left) CB, and Contento their LB in this match is not good enough for our bench. The suspensions have really hurt their defence. Hopefully we can use this to our advantage! KBTFFH!!!

Cahill and Luiz fit to play, these are the men upon which the job hinges. UTC!

Ribery is head and shoulders above Sturridge. He has world class link-up play, whereas Sturridge...well, it's not quite that good.

12 hours to go! I predict that if Gomez scores, we lose, but if we contain him (keep him to 0 goals) we will be champions!

Discussion on how best to stop Bayern Munich's potent offense: http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/13406-marking-mario-gomez-is-the-key-in-munich/page__st__24 KTBFFH!

Taking away the Ribery-Gomez connection is key, and I mentioned this in the opening post. But you would rather mark Robben, then Gomez? That would be a big mistake. Or perhaps not a mistake, as you are actually a Munich fan.

From the other thread: Scary statistic! All the more reason to mark Mario Gomez.

Good points and if you take away the pass to Gomez you take so much away from Bayer's wingers. Robben will (unsuccessfully) try to go it alone, and Ribery will no longer have his favourite target available.

Let's hope so! He sure did sh*t the bed in the German Cup final. But with a player like him you never know. He can go quiet for two weeks and then come back with a multi-goal game.

From a tactical point of view, I believe the key to victory on Saturday night is A) to double team Mario Gomez, and to press the Bavarians hard ala Dortmund. Here is a more detailed topic I posted on the matter: http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/13406-marking-mario-gomez-is-the-key-in-munich/

I may be stating the obvious here, but the major key to victory on the 19th is to mark Mario Gomez with our best available defenders. This may not seem surprising, as Mario Gomez has 12 goals in just 11 matches this CL campaign, meaning he has more goals in Europe this year than any player not named Lionel Messi...and if our defence isn't up for the job, he will surpass Messi for the #1 position, at our expense. That being said, there is another reason to mark Gomez as tightly as possible, one even more pertinent than the half-Spaniard's scintillating form: Bayern Munich's offense runs through Gomez and Gomez alone. If Gomez is off his game, Bayern's system has no viable plan B. Having watched my fair share of Bundesliga this year, it was painfully obvious that in matches against Dortmund (3 times) and Moenchen Gladbach (also 3 times), Bayern had incredible difficulties making anything happen offensively despite superior possession, in large part because Gomez was effectively marked out of the game (and also thanks to the incredible pressing both these teams executed against the Bavarians). This in turn exposed their shaky defence and frustrated some of their hot-headed players into taking unnecessary fouls (ie. Mueller and Ribery). But the main point is that their system is built around Gomez as the focal point. Marking him out of the game leaves Robben taking lone hero runs and nullifies Ribery's desired target, which leads to Bayern getting frustrated, and failing. I have seen it happen time and again in the Bundesliga and the German Cup this season. It may also be worthwhile to add that Gomez is not a complete football player. He is an excellent poacher with little build-up ability. He had 24 goals this year but a meagre total of 2 assists (especially meagre when considering the all-star cast he has scoring goals around him). Marking him tightly leaves Bayern effectively playing with 10 men, which would be greatly to Chelsea's advantage on Saturday.

Chuffed. Incredible win! Drogba scoring once in olny one match against Barca in the SF, and now against Pool in the FA Cup final, just illustrates what a game-breaker he is. IF there was any doubt who starts the final, that should be gone now. Drogba over Torres for me.

Said Kalou, meant Malouda. Yes the idea has merit, but in RDM we trust.

I want Torres tried on the wing again. He would be a big upgrade over someone like Kalou. Think about it, give it one Prem game, it could be a very potent attack for us...and with that Bayern defence in front of us, we will get our opportunities.

I watched Marin plenty this year, and I am...underwhelmed by this news. Marin is basically a poor man's Daniel Sturridge. Nice moves, good pace, but no vision, no football IQ, and horrible final ball. Finishing is below par to boot. Getting this kid is a bad move IMO.

----------Drogba Torres----Mata---Kalou ------Mikel------Lampard -Cole---Luiz---Cahill---Bosingwa -----------Cech Play this against Pool (in the league, not the FA Cup final!) and see how we do. I am about 50% tempted to switch to a 4-3-3 as well, that way we get Essien in the game and perhaps have a bit more stability. And Ferreira should get a tryout in a couple of the remaining Prem games, I don't really trust Bos to be honest.

I like your lineup!

Gotcha man!