Post Season Briefing 2011/12

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

In their traditional review of the last nine months, club historian Rick Glanvill has the chance to discuss history made and club statistician Paul Dutton adds some highly-significant numbers to the records books…

It was, as others have observed, 'one small step for a man, one giant leap for Chelsea.' Some probably argued Didier Drogba's step was too short for the run-up to such an important kick. The proof was in the scoring.

Just like the 1969 moon landings, every Chelsea fan will remember where they were when the execution of that penalty won Chelsea the Champions League the first time; many have gone one better and committed the moment to YouTube.

The Blues became just the fifth English club to win that prestigious trophy, the others being Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa (whose fans will have to find a new song when they play us).Chelsea became the first club in London to enjoy that honour. The last time the Blues could say that was in 1965 with the League Cup.

The game was a massive draw. It was estimated 45,000 Chelsea fans made their way to Bavaria, with or without a ticket. Back home, live coverage of the Munich final on ITV averaged 8.2 million viewers and a 33.5% share over three hours. Sky Sports averaged 1.488 million and a 6.7%.

That was more than tuned in to last year's final, Barcelona versus Manchester United at Wembley, which averaged 7.9 million and a 33.2% share on ITV, with 1.34 million watching Sky Sports' coverage. Channel 4 competed by showing the film 'Titanic', the irony of which was surely not lost on Spurs fans.

Globally, through TV, internet and social media, Uefa suggests 300 million people followed the match live in 200 countries or territories. Watching the celebration videos uploaded everywhere from Fulham Broadway and Munich to New York and Saigon it is easy to see why.

How proud John Battersby would have been of Chelsea's success in a competition he helped create in 1955. Our former club secretary, who died in 2010, attended all the meetings that established the European Cup and was hugely disappointed when xenophobes at the Football League blocked champions Chelsea's entry to the inaugural 1955/56 tournament. So here's a toast to 'JB.'

Several Chelsea players have now won ten major honours in eight years - that is more than any other player in the history of any of the capital's other clubs.Edging Bayern in the Champions League final from the spot means the Blues have won three of the last five penalty shoot-outs faced, two of them this season (the other being against Fulham in the League Cup).

The win not only removed rivals Tottenham from next season's competition, with its associated revenues, but ensured that Chelsea have a chance to become the first club in the Champions League era to defend the title successfully, at Wembley on 25 May 2013.

Contesting the final also meant that no club has played more Champions League matches than the Blues since 2003. With the departure of Pep Guardiola from our semi-final opponents Barcelona, Chelsea will be recorded as the only undefeated opponent of the 55 that faced his exceptional Catalunyans.

How different everything looked in the moments after defeat at West Bromwich Albion on 3 March - the Blues' first defeat at the Hawthorns in 43 years. It was just as ominous a sign as the ill-fated loss at QPR in October - the Blues' first defeat to a newly-promoted side since 2001. In spring progress in every remaining campaign was imminently threatened, with a tricky midweek trip to Birmingham for an FA Cup replay and the daunting prospect of overcoming a 1-3 deficit to Napoli a week later.

The decision to promote Roberto Di Matteo to interim first team coach was an inspired one. He was assisted by Steve Holland and Eddie Newton, the dressing room immediately united with them and performances reflected that.

Although the key objective - a top-four place - was missed, Di Matteo ensured the proud record of finishing in the top six every year since 1997 was extended.

The FA Cup, which had given Di Matteo and Newton their finest hour that same year in May, salvaged the club's pride brilliantly. The 5-1 semi-final win over Spurs equalled our best ever at that stage of the cup (Watford in 1970, coincidentally at White Hart Lane).

By beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final on 5 May, Chelsea drew level with Reds' tally of seven wins in the competition. The 5.15pm kick-off time was the latest in the competition's 140-year history, and it drew the biggest TV audience share since the Blues beat Manchester United in the first final played at the new Wembley in 2007, covered by the BBC, and the biggest since ITV took over.

ITV's viewing figures peaked at 11.21 million, three million more than last year's clash between Manchester City and Stoke City. A further two per cent of TV viewers watch the match on ESPN.

Chelsea have now enjoyed five multiple-major trophy-winning seasons:

1997/98 - Uefa Cup-Winners' Cup and League Cup

2004/05 - Premier League and League Cup

2006/07 - FA Cup and League Cup

2009/10 - Premier League and FA Cup

2011/12 - Uefa Champions League and FA Cup

Season summary (all competitions)

Played 61, won 32, drawn 16, lost 13, goals 112, goals against 66, clean sheets 19, failed to score 10.

Campaign achievements

Uefa Champions League winners

FA Cup winners

FA Youth Cup winners

FA Ladies Youth Cup winners

FA Ladies Cup finalists

2012/13 Qualification

Here's what winning the Champions League added to next season's itinerary:

• Uefa Champions League group stage, starting 18 Sep 2012.

• Uefa Super Cup - versus Atlético Madrid, Stade Louis II, Monaco, 31 Aug 2012.

• Fifa Club World Cup - in Japan, 6-16 Dec 2012.

By winning the FA Cup, Chelsea will also contest the FA Community Shield against Manchester City, to be played at Villa Park on Sunday 12 August 2012.

2011/12 record P W D L W% Andre Villas-Boas 40 19 11 10 48% Roberto Di Matteo 21 13 5 3 61%

(The two penalty shoot-out wins are shown as draws)

Major trophies won in the first nine years of the Abramovich era

1 Uefa Champions League

3 Premier Leagues

4 FA Cups

2 League Cups

2 FA Community Shields

Milestones of season

Chelsea became the first London club to win the European Cup/Champions League.

The Blues won the FA Cup for the fourth time in six seasons - a feat not achieved since the 1890s.

Frank Lampard became the first Premier League player ever to notch double figures in nine successive Premier League seasons.

Didier Drogba scored nine cup final goals in nine games in his career with Chelsea.

Didier Drogba maintained his record of scoring in all of his semi-final and final appearances at Wembley (eight games in total).

Petr Cech set a new high for the number of saves in a Champions League campaign: 58. In the Premier League he has averaged a goal conceded every 128 minutes, the best since it began in 1992/93.

Six players scored ten goals or more in a season for the first time in our history: Frank Lampard, Juan Mata, Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Ramires and Daniel Sturridge.

At Wembley against Liverpool, John Terry became the first captain to lift the FA Cup four times, Ashley Cole became the first player to be awarded a seventh winner's medal, and Didier Drogba scored in a final for the fourth time, another record.

Chelsea played 61 games this season in all competitions - a total reached on only three previous occasions.

The Blues set a new highest home win scoreline in the Champions League - 5-0 v KRC Genk. This equalled our home or away record win set at Galatasaray in 1999.

Two players made it to 50 Chelsea FA Cup appearances: Frank Lampard and John Terry.

One achieved 50 Chelsea Champions League appearances: Ashley Cole.

Frank Lampard captained Chelsea for the 50th time during this campaign.

John Terry has now skippered the Blues more than 400 times.

José Bosingwa reached 100 Chelsea appearances.

Salomon Kalou made it to 100 Chelsea substitute appearances (a club record).

Didier Drogba's hit his 100th Premier League goal - the first African to achieve that. He also passed the 150-goals mark for the Blues.

Frank Lampard has now made 100 career appearances in Europe. He passed the 150 career Premier League goals milestone too.

Florent Malouda made it past 200 Chelsea appearances.

Frank Lampard has managed over 500 career Premier League appearances and 550 Chelsea in all competitions for the Blues.

Against Bolton at home Chelsea achieved our 2,000th win since 1905 in all competitions.

Our 6000th league goal was Frank Lampard's against Arsenal at the Bridge.

Chelsea awards

Player of the Year: Juan Mata.

Players' Player of the Year: Ramires.

Young Player of the Year: Lucas Piazon.

Goal of the Season: Ramires against Barcelona in Camp Nou.

Special Recognition award: Bobby Tambling.

Uefa Team Rankings 2012 1 Barcelona 157.837 2 Man Utd 141.857 3 Chelsea 134.857 4 Bayern Munich 132.003 5 Real Madrid 121.837 6 Arsenal 113.857 7 Internazionale 104.996 8 Atlético Madrid 100.837 9 Porto 98.069 10 Lyon 94.835

All-time Premier League top ten Seasons Points 1 Man Utd 20 1663 2 Arsenal 20 1449 3 Chelsea 20 1402 4 Liverpool 20 1334 5 Aston Villa 20 1089 6 Tottenham 20 1086 7 Everton 20 1034 8 Newcastle 18 1017 9 Blackburn 18 970 10 Man City 15 784

Appearances this season - 61

Cech 55+1, Mata 47+7, Cole 46+2, Ramires 44+3, Terry 43+1, Ivanovic 42+3, Lampard 38+11, Meireles 37+8, Sturridge 37+6, D Luiz 37+3, Bosingwa 36+7, Torres 32+17, Mikel 27+10, Drogba 25+10, Malouda 21+22, Romeu 17+7, Kalou 16+10, Cahill 16+3, Bertrand 13+2, Essien 11+8, Anelka 6+9, Alex 6+3, Ferreira 5+4, Lukaku 4+8, Turnbull 4+1, McEachran 3+2, Hilário 2, Hutchinson 1+1, Benayoun 0+1.

Goals - 112

Lampard 16 (5 pens), Drogba 13 (1 pen), Sturridge 13, Mata 12 (1 pen), Ramires 12, Torres 11, Terry 7, Meireles 6, Ivanovic 5, Kalou 5, D Luiz 3, Malouda 3, Cahill 2, Anelka 1, Bosingwa 1, own goals 2 (Taylor, Swansea, Evans, Man Utd).

Assists - 132

Assists are judged not for the last touch but by the subjective view of the statistician for a crucial part played in the goal.

Mata 26, Torres 18, Cole 11, Lampard 11, Sturridge 10, Malouda 9, Ramires 9, Meireles 7, Drogba 6, Bosingwa 4, Ivanovic 4, Kalou 4, Anelka 3, Terry 3, D Luiz 2, Bertrand 1, Cahill 1, Essien 1, Lukaku 1, Romeu 1.

Minutes on pitch - 5,962

Cech 5334, Cole 4481, Mata 4276, Terry 4111, Ramires 4081, Ivanovic 4026, Lampard 3745, D Luiz 3616, Bosingwa 3456, Meireles 3327, Torres 3241, Sturridge 3217, Mikel 2681, Drogba 2515, Malouda 2388, Romeu 1672, Cahill 1596, Kalou 1526, Bertrand 1299, Essien 1163, Anelka 826, Ferreira 650, Alex 595, Lukaku 461, Turnbull 428, Hilário 199, McEachran 180, Hutchinson 83, Benayoun 7.

Players substituted - 170

Mata 25, Sturridge 18, Ramires 15, Meireles 14, Kalou 10, Malouda 10, Drogba 9, Torres 9, Lampard 7, Bosingwa 6, Ivanovic 6, Mikel 6, Romeu 5, Essien 4, D Luiz 4, Anelka 3, Cole 3, Lukaku 3, McEachran 3, Bertrand 2, Ferreira 2, Terry 2, Alex 1, Cahill 1, Cech 1, Hutchinson 1.

Unused substitutes - 257

Turnbull 49, Ferreira 20, Kalou 19, Romeu 14, Malouda 13, Essien 11, McEachran 11, Bertrand 10, Sturridge 10, Bosingwa 9, Hilário 9, Lukaku 9, Mikel 8, Torres 8, Hutchinson 7, Lampard 7, Drogba 6, Meireles 6, Cahill 5, Ivanovic 4, D Luiz 4, Mata 4, Cole 3, Piazon 3, Alex 2, Terry 2, Anelka 1, Benayoun 1, Blackman 1, Chalobah 1.

League appearances - 38

Cech 34, Cole 31+1, Terry 31, Mata 29+5, Ramires 28+2, Sturridge 28+2, Lampard 26+4, Ivanovic 26+3, Bosingwa 24+3, Meireles 23+5, Torres 20+12, D Luiz 18+2, Drogba 16+8, Mikel 15+7, Malouda 11+15, Romeu 11+5, Essien 10+4, Cahill 9+1, Kalou 7+5, Bertrand 6+1, Anelka 3+6, Ferreira 3+3, Alex 3, Hilário 2, Turnbull 2, Lukaku 1+7, Hutchinson 1+1, McEachran 0+2, Benayoun 0+1.

League goals - 65

Lampard 11 (3 pens), Sturridge 11, Mata 6, Terry 6, Torres 6, Drogba 5 (1 pen), Ramires 5, Ivanovic 3, D Luiz 2, Malouda 2, Meireles 2, Anelka 1, Bosingwa 1, Cahill 1, Kalou 1, own goals 2 (Taylor, Swansea, Evans, Man Utd).

European appearances - 13

Cech 13, Cole 11+1, Mata 11+1, D Luiz 11, Ivanovic 10, Ramires 10, Meireles 9+2, Lampard 8+4, Terry 8, Bosingwa 7+4, Mikel 7+2, Drogba 7+1, Torres 6+4, Malouda 5+4, Sturridge 5+2, Cahill 4+1, Kalou 3+4, Romeu 3, Anelka 2+2, Essien 1+1, Ferreira 1+1, Bertrand 1, Alex 0+3.

European goals - 25

Drogba 6, Lampard 3 (2 pens), Ramires 3, Torres 3, Ivanovic 2, Kalou 2, Mata 2, Meireles 2, D Luiz 1, Terry 1.

FA Cup appearances - 7

Cech 7, Mata 7, Ramires 6, D Luiz 5+1, Meireles 5+1, Torres 5+1, Ivanovic 5, Mikel 5, Kalou 4+1, Bosingwa 4, Cole 4, Terry 4, Lampard 3+2, Bertrand 3+1, Cahill 3+1, Sturridge 3+1, Malouda 2+3, Drogba 2+1, Essien 0+3, Romeu 0+2, Lukaku 0+1.

FA Cup goals - 20

Mata 4 (1 pen), Ramires 4, Drogba 2, Lampard 2, Meireles 2, Torres 2, Cahill 1, Kalou 1, Malouda 1, Sturridge 1.

Carling Cup appearances - 3

Alex 3, Bertrand 3, D Luiz 3, Lukaku 3, Malouda 3, McEachran 3, Romeu 3, Turnbull 2+1, Kalou 2, Anelka 1+1, Cech 1+1, Lampard 1+1, Sturridge 1+1, Bosingwa 1, Ferreira 1, Ivanovic 1, Torres 1, Mata 0+1, Mikel 0+1, Ramires 0+1, Terry 0+1.

Carling Cup goals - 2

Kalou 1, Sturridge 1.

Hat-tricks - 2

Lampard (Bolton a), Torres (QPR h).

Penalties won - 12

Ramires 2 (Norwich h, Birmingham FAC h), Sturridge 2 (Newcastle a, QPR FAC a), Cole 1 (Benfica h), Drogba 1 (Aston Villa h), Kalou 1 (Fulham a), Malouda 1 (KRC Genk a), McEachran 1 (Everton LC a), Torres 1 (Birmingham FAC a), handball 2 (Lescott, Man City h, Dossena, Napoli h).

Penalties scored - 7

Lampard 5 (Norwich h, Man City h, Napoli h, Benfica h, Fulham a), Drogba 1 (Aston Villa h), Mata 1 (QPR FAC a)

Penalties missed - 5

Anelka 1 (Everton LC a, shaved the post), D Luiz 1 (KRC Genk a, saved by Koteles), Lampard 1 (Newcastle a, saved by Krul onto post), Mata 2 (Birmingham FAC h, saved by Doyle onto post, Birmingham FAC a, saved by Doyle).

Opposition penalties conceded - 12

Alex 2, Ivanovic 2, Drogba 2, Bosingwa 1, Essien 1, Kalou 1, D Luiz 1, Sturridge 1, Turnbull 1.

Opposition penalties scored - 5

Cech 5 (Soldado, Valencia a, Helguson, QPR a, Rooney 2, Man Utd h, Agüero, Man City a).

Opposition penalties saved - 3

Cech 2 (Baines, Everton LC a, Robben, Bayern Munich CL), Turnbull 1 (Carroll, Liverpool LC h).

Opposition penalties missed - 4

Rooney 1 (Man Utd a), Kasami 1 (Fulham LC h), Messi 1 (Barcelona a), Downing 1 (Liverpool a).

Clean sheets - 19

Cech 19, Turnbull 0+1.

Captain - 61

Terry 43, Cech 8, Lampard 7, Drogba 2, Malouda 1.

Woodwork - 27

Mata 6 (Sunderland a, Birmingham FAC h, Stoke h, Tottenham h, Benfica a, Aston Villa a), Torres 5 (KRC Genk h Aston Villa h, Sunderland h, Wigan h, Liverpool a), Anelka 4 (Stoke a, Swansea h, Everton LC a twice), Drogba 2 (Tottenham a, Bolton h), Ivanovic 2 (Stoke h, Liverpool a), Sturridge 2 (Bayer Leverkusen h, Newcastle a), Lampard 1 (Newcastle a), D Luiz 1 (Bolton h), Malouda 1 (Liverpool LC h), Meireles 1 (Genk a), Cahill 1 (Stoke h), Ramires 1(Blackburn h).

Opponents' strikes on woodwork - 30

Nani (Man Utd a), Rooney (Man Utd a), Kasami (Fulham LC h), Dyer (Swansea h), Eagles (Bolton a), Osman (Everton h), Drenthe (Everton LC a), Ivanovic (against own crossbar Blackburn a), Ballack (Bayer Leverkusen CL a), Ba (Newcastle a), Drogba (against own crossbar Newcastle a), Shola Ameobi (Newcastle a), Alba (Valencia h), Ward (Wolves a), Nasri (Man City a), Cech (against own crossbar Man City a), Bale (Tottenham h), Agbonlahor (Aston Villa a), Van der Vaart (Tottenham FAC), Sanchez (Barcelona h), Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona h), Van Persie (Arsenal a), Koscielny (Arsenal a), Messi 2 (Barcelona a), Ba (Newcastle h), Carroll (Liverpool FAC), Downing 2 (Liverpool a, one a pen), Robben (Bayern Munich CL).

Own goals - 2

Evans (Man Utd h), Taylor (Swansea a).

Chelsea own goals - 1

Essien (Liverpool a).

Sent off - 7

Alex (Fulham LC h, straight red), Torres (Swansea h, straight red), Bosingwa (QPR a, straight red), Cole (Swansea a, two yellows), Drogba (QPR a, straight red), Turnbull (Everton LC a, straight red), Terry (Barcelona a, straight red).

Opponents sent off - 5

Ruddy (Norwich h, straight red), Drenthe (Everton LC a, two yellows), Clichy (Man City h, two yellows), Fuller (Stoke h, straight red), Pereira (Benfica h, two yellows).

Abused - 119

Incidents suffered leading to an opponent being booked or sent off

Ramires 18, Torres 13, Cole 8, Drogba 8, Sturridge 7, Lampard 6, Essien 5, Malouda 5, D Luiz 4, Mikel 4, Anelka 3, Bosingwa 3, Ivanovic 3, Meireles 3, Cahill 2, Ferreira 2, Romeu 2, Terry 2, Bertrand 1, Kalou 1, Mata 1; general 18.

Most cautions in one game: Benfica h 5. Fewest: Wigan a, Norwich a, Everton a, Leicester FAC h, Blackburn h 0.

Bardsley (Sunderland a) retrospectively suspended following a charge using video evidence of violent conduct on Juan Mata.

Booked - 124

Meireles 14, Cole 11, D Luiz 10, Ivanovic 9, Mikel 9, Terry 9, Lampard 8, Ramires 8, Torres 7, Malouda 6, Bosingwa 5, Cahill 4, Drogba 4, Romeu 4, Essien 3, Mata 3, Sturridge 3, Alex 2, Bertrand 1, Cech 1, Ferreira 1, Kalou 1, Lukaku 1.

Most in one game: QPR a 7. Fewest: Wigan a, Norwich a, Bolton h, Leicester FAC h, Aston Villa a, QPR h, Newcastle h 0

Domestic bookings - 93

Meireles 9, Terry 9, Cole 8, D Luiz 7, Mikel 7, Ivanovic 6, Lampard 6, Bosingwa 5, Malouda 5, Ramires 5, Torres 5, Cahill 3, Essien 3, Romeu 3, Sturridge 3, Alex 2, Drogba 2, Mata 2, Bertrand 1, Ferreira 1, Lukaku 1.

European bookings - 31

Meireles 5, Cole 3, Ivanovic 3, Ramires 3, D Luiz 3, Drogba 2, Lampard 2, Mikel 2, Torres 2, Cahill 1, Cech 1, Kalou 1, Malouda 1, Mata 1, Romeu 1.

Suspended - 26

Ivanovic 4 (Tottenham FAC, Arsenal a, QPR h, Bayern Munich CL), Drogba 3 (Everton LC a, Arsenal h, Blackburn a), Ramires 3 (Bayer Leverkusen h, Fulham h, Bayern Munich CL), Sturridge 3 (Stoke a, WBA h, Norwich h), Torres 3 (Bolton a, Everton h, QPR a), Cole 2 (Everton LC a, Man Utd h), Meireles 2 (Napoli h, Bayern Munich CL), Terry 2 (Liverpool LC h, Bayer Munich CL), Alex 1 (Swansea h), Bosingwa 1 (Everton LC a), D Luiz 1 (Man City h), Turnbull 1 (Arsenal h).

Games missed due to injury, illness or being unfit - 158

Essien 30, D Luiz 14, Mikel 14, Hilário 13, Terry 10, Ramires 9, Drogba 8, Bertrand 7, Ivanovic 7, Cole 6, Cahill 5, Bosingwa 4, Lampard 4, Romeu 4, Blackman 3, Sturridge 3, Turnbull 3, Anelka 2, Cech 2, Hutchinson 2, McEachran 2, Meireles 2, Taylor 2, Kalou 1, Malouda 1.

Games missed due to internationals - 19

Drogba 7, Kalou 7, Kakuta 2, D Luiz 1, Mikel 1, Romeu 1.

Games missed through ineligiblilty - 3

Meireles 3.

Penalty shoot-out goals - 8

D Luiz 2, Cole 1, Drogba 1, Kalou 1, Lampard 1, Malouda 1, Terry 1.

Penalty shoot-out misses - 2

Lampard 1 (saved Schwarzer, Fulham LC h), Mata 1 (saved Neuer, Bayern Munich CL).

Opposition penalty shoot-out saves - 3

Cech 2 (Olić and Schweinsteiger, Bayern Munich CL), Turnbull 1 (Dembele, Fulham LC h).

Opposition penalty shoot-out concessions - 6

Cech 3 (Lahm, Gomez, Neuer, Bayern Munich CL), Turnbull 3 (Zamora, Sidwell, Baird, Fulham LC h).

Opposition penalty shoot-out misses - 1

Ruiz 1 (hit crossbar, Fulham LC h).

Golden Boot - 222

Goals scored in first, reserve and youth team competitive games.

Lampard 16, Feruz 14, Drogba 13, Sturridge 13, Mata 12, Ramires 12, Torres 11, Kiwomya 8, Baker 7, Lukaku 7, Piazon 7, Terry 7, Affane 6, Bamford 6, Chalobah 6, Lalkovic 6, Meireles 6, Seremba 6, Ivanovic 5, Kalou 5, Loftus-Cheek 4, Swift 4, own goals 4, Howard 3, Kane 3, D Luiz 3, Malouda 3, Ake 2, Cahill 2, B Clifford 2, Mellis 2, Osmanovic 2, Phillip 2, Anelka 1, Bertrand 1, Bosingwa 1, Conroy 1, Djalo 1, McEachran 1, Mitchell 1, Mitrovic 1, Muleba 1, Nditi 1, Nkumu 1, Prosenik 1, Van Aanholt 1.

Loan players' appearances

Benayoun (Arsenal) 15+10, Bruma (Hamburg SV) 23, Courtois (Atlético Madrid) 52, Davila (Vitesse Arnham) 3, De Bruyne (KRC Genk) 13, Delac (SK Dynamo České Budĕjovice) 5, B Gordon (Peterborough) 0+2, B Gordon (Kilmarnock) 20, C Clifford (Yeovil) 8+1, Kakuta (Bolton) 2+4, Kakuta (Dijon) 13+3, Kalas (Vitesse Arnham) 37, Lalkovic (Doncaster) 1+5, Lalkovic (Den Haag) 0+2, McEachran (Swansea) 2+3, Taylor (Rotherham) 20, Van Aanholt (Wigan) 4, Van Aanholt (Vitesse Arnham) 10+1, Walker (Northampton) 25, Walker (Yeovil) 20).

Loan players' goals

Benayoun (Arsenal) 6, Kakuta (Dijon) 5 (1 pen), Bruma (Hamburg) 2, De Bruyne (KRC Genk) 2, C Clifford (Yeovil) 1, Kakuta (Bolton) 1, Kalas (Vitesse Arnham) 1.

Loan players' clean sheets

Courtois (Atlético Madrid) 23, Taylor (Rotherham) 7, Walker (Northampton) 4, Delac (SK Dynamo České Budĕjovice) 2, Walker (Yeovil) 2.

Former players' appearances against Chelsea

Gallas 3, Johnson 3, Parker 3, Wright-Phillips 2+1, Ballack 2, Huth 2, S Sinclair 2, Di Santo 1+1, Matić 1+1, Cudicini 1, Robben 1, Sidwell 0+1.

Former players' goals against Chelsea

Johnson 1, Sinclair 1. (Sidwell 1 shoot-out goal.)

Former players or managers in charge of opposition sides

Mark Hughes, Brendan Rodgers.

Total appearances including subs

Lampard 558, Terry 547, Cech 369, Drogba 341, A Cole 261, Kalou 254, Essien 247, Mikel 239, Malouda 229, Ferreira 210, Ivanovic 160, Bosingwa 126, Ramires 88, Sturridge 84, Torres 67, Mata 54, D Luiz 52, Meireles 45, Hilário 39, Romeu 24, McEachran 22, Cahill 19, Bertrand 16, Kakuta 16, Lukaku 12, Turnbull 12, Benayoun 11, Bruma 10, Van Aanholt 8, Hutchinson 6.

Total appearances

Terry 526+21, Lampard 522+36, Cech 368+1, Drogba 274+67, A Cole 251+10, Essien 218+29, Mikel 192+47, Malouda 173+56, Ferreira 165+45, Kalou 147+107, Ivanovic 146+14, Bosingwa 111+15, Ramires 77+11, D Luiz 48+4, Sturridge 47+37, Mata 47+7, Torres 43+24, Meireles 37+8, Hilário 35+4, Romeu 17+7, Cahill 16+3, Bertrand 13+3, Turnbull 10+2, McEachran 7+15, Kakuta 5+11, Lukaku 4+8, Benayoun 3+8, Bruma 3+7, Van Aanholt 3+5, Hutchinson 2+4.

Total goals 2011/12 squad

Lampard 186 (42 pens), Drogba 157 (5 pens), Kalou 60, Terry 49, Malouda 45, Essien 25, Sturridge 22, Ivanovic 14, Ramires 14, Mata 12 (1 pen), Torres 12, A Cole 6, Meireles 6, D Luiz 5, Bosingwa 3, Cahill 2, Ferreira 2, Mikel 2, Benayoun 1, Van Aanholt 1.

The Pre-Match Briefing Special Mentions Section

Legend - Didier Drogba, for eight years of monstrous majesty in the biggest matches.

Awareness - Ramires hailing Chelsea's 0-0 draw away to Benfica - after the team had actually won 1-0. (He had been down injured when the goal was scored)

Don't stop me now - 18 of the Blues' 112 goals tally (16%) came in stoppage time at the end of the first or second half.

Shooting boots - Chelsea fired in 54 shots during the Champions League group stages, the most in the competition.

Fio maravilha (wonder boy) - Ramires at Camp Nou, banned from the final just seconds earlier, helping take the team there with the goal of the season.

Performance - 4-1 win over Napoli at Stamford Bridge.Stability - The Blues have scooped eight major trophies since Arsène Wenger's Arsenal last won something.

Sensitivity - Sky Sports' Geoff Shreeves brutally breaking the news to Branislav Ivanovic that he was going to miss the greatest game of his life.

Unexpected ecstasy - Sky Sports' former Man United man Gary Neville and his 'scoregasm' during Fernando's Camp Nou equaliser.

Loyalty - Chelsea fans' unstinting vocal support for Fernando Torres.

Coincidence - Chelsea destroy Spurs 5-1 on the 100th anniversary of the Tottanic's sinking.

Taking time to adapt to English football - Juan Mata: 26 assists and 12 goals in his debut season.

Underperformance - In the Premier League we peaked at third place at the end of October.

Acronym - Sadly, AVB turned out to stand for All Very Brief.

FA Cup domination - Congratulations again to the first team, youth U18s and girls' U17s who all won their respective FA Cups this season.

Collateral damage - Tottenham's 2012/13 Champions League campaign cut short in Munich.

Clearance of the century - Ashley Cole in Naples. Overturning a 1-4 at the Bridge might have been asking too much.

Trend - A global Twitter record, traffic around the Barcelona-Chelsea epic peaking at 14,000 messages sent each second.

Deluded of North London - 'Third is a trophy.'

Tighten up - The Blues surrendered 17 Premier League points from winning positions.

Time well wasted - Watching the brilliant fans' semi-final and final celebration videos on YouTube.

Balance - Media remembers Fernando Torres's miss at Old Trafford in September, but not his goal.

Commentary - Alan Green after Barça's second: 'Stand by for the floodgates to open.'

Denied - Arsenal defenders' request for an open-top bus ride to celebrate Didier Drogba's departure.

New religion - CofE (Champion of Europe)

Chant - To QPR Fans at the Bridge: 'We're going to Germany; you're going to Barnsley' or

'Running round Tottenham with our European Cup.'

Save of the Millennium - Petr Cech from Bastian Schweinsteiger's shootout penalty. The Czech goalie guessed which way the kicker was aiming in the last seven spot-kicks he faced (Barcelona and Bayern), saving three of them. Breathtaking.

Crying time - The shot of our club's name being etched on that elusive trophy.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2794031,00.html

[Sheva. 5,373]

Great stuff