The Chelsea View: Robbie focuses on second chances.

I spent yesterday on the blog focusing on the Bayern Munich perspective and now today I want to focus on Chelsea's coming into the game on Saturday. So let's start with Robbie Di Matteo and what I believe to be an important message to his players within his press conference that took place on media day at Cobham yesterday.

Now, I wrote a post on the Official Chelsea Blog site called "The Second Chance" and it seems Robbie agrees with me.

In that post I spoke of what happened in Moscow and the journey this group of players has had ever since:

"After Moscow and what happened there, all we wanted was another crack in another final and being honest over the last two years we haven’t looked like making it have we? It seemed as though our time had come and gone in an instant and I will never forget the feeling I went to bed with that night. I remember waking up the next morning and for an instant wondered if it was all just a dream. Within seconds it had hit home, we had lost on penalties to United.

During the last couple of seasons you couldn’t help but wonder if this group of players would be able to take us there and like I said, it had become something that seemed to be moving further and further away from our grasp.

As players they must have thought the same thing. Whether they would like to admit it or not is another thing, we always had that night in Moscow in the back of our minds. What we would give to have just one more crack at winning it!"

Now I am 100% sure that Robbie won't need to motivate the likes of Drogba, Lampard, Essien, Cech and Ashley Cole because they know what that night felt like. What I liked about Robbie press conference was many things but as I said, it was the gentle reminder to his players of just how hard it has been to get back here and to take our chance.

He said:

'This game can decide the history of our football club. It would obviously be the first time we would win the European Champions League. That's all that matters and all we are focusing on.

Both teams have a chance to win, it is 50-50, and we will try to do our best.

A final is a game where anything can happen. We just have to go into it with the belief and confidence that we can win it, and try our best and see what the outcome is. We are facing a very strong European club with a lot of experience in the Champions League and it will be difficult, but to reach the final was a difficult road as well.

I'd be absolutely delighted to win the Champions League trophy for this club and very happy with the players. We have worked so hard to get to this point and over many years we have tried many times to reach this goal.

The thing is to reach a Champions League final is very difficult. Even the younger players don't know when they will have the chance again. So certainly for some of our older players it might be more difficult to be in another final or win it, but also for the youngsters, it's not that easy. Some of our players have experienced it four years ago thinking it would happen again and it proved difficult.

Robbie is spot on. Like I said, I could focus more on what he said about his future, about what he thinks of Bayern Munich etc but this is the point that I feel IS the most important.

We all know that in big games you need your big players to stand up and be counted. I can't help but think that within that quote above Robbie is reminding his players firstly, What it has taken the club and these players to get us back there. Secondly, What it felt like back in Moscow and do everything we can to avoid the same thing happening. Thirdly, what a victory could mean to the club and it's future and finally, that these games only come around in some cases just once in your lifetime and when given the chance, you have to grab it with both hands.

Words that would have been spoken and will be again before kick off. It will be the same for Bayern of course having lost to Inter Milan two seasons ago, but Chelsea have "suffered" as a club and as a group of players for longer, would have dreamt of this moment ever since the lights went out in Moscow and you can bet your life will do everything they can to put right the wrongs of 2008.

Smart from Robbie once again!.

KTBFFH!

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