Didier Drogba wants Chelsea to make amends for their 2008 UEFA Champions League final misery and help him put his own demons to rest.
Chelsea striker out to make amends for 2008 misery
Didier Drogba wants Chelsea to make amends for their 2008 UEFA Champions League final misery and help him put his own demons to rest.
The Ivory Coast international performed admirably as lone striker for the Blues in Tuesday's semi-final second leg as they somehow overcame John Terry's first-half sending off at Camp Nou to dispense of Barcelona.
Chelsea now face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on 19th May and are just a game away from the crown they came so close to winning four years ago when they lost on penalties to Manchester United.
Drogba was sent off late in extra-time in the heart-breaking defeat in Moscow and he has set his sights on making amends.
"This is the second one," he said. "Let's see if we can win this one. I think it would be great for the club, for the fans.
"I heard them singing for another hour and I think, for them, we're going to do everything to win it.
"I think everybody deserves a second chance. I don't know if it's mine, but I think I've paid what I had to during this time, not winning the final - after that having a lot of criticism.
"But that's football, and I understand that. It just helped me to grow up a little bit more."
Belief
Drogba, who scored a priceless goal in the first leg success over Barca at Stamford Bridge, has often been painted as the pantomime villain during his time at Chelsea and it was no different in the semi-final.
The Catalan side's supporters felt that he was feigning injury and welcomed him to Camp Nou with a chorus of whistles and jeers.
"I know some people don't like Chelsea but that's football," Drogba said. "You cannot be loved by everyone. Today, we're in the final. It's not revenge against anyone.
"I just do what I have to do for the club, for the team, and I'm really happy with the result. We need to have some belief. A final is 50-50.
"I think we're going to have our chance, and it's for us to take it and make sure we bring the cup back to Stamford Bridge."
Chelsea came into the match boasting a 1-0 first-leg lead but went behind to goals from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta, either side of Terry's sending off for inexplicably kneeing Alexis Sanchez from behind.
Ramires
While Fernando Torres took many of the headlines for his late equaliser, Drogba highlighted Ramires' superb goal in first-half stoppage time as the game-changing moment.
"No [I did not think it was all over at 2-0] because to win if we scored one, they had to score another one - they had to win 3-1," he said.
"He changed the game, Ramires, with his goal. They couldn't cope with his pace. He's a very good player. He had some problems to adapt to the Premier League but this season he's been amazing.
"It's a great feeling. It's a great feeling. I think we did it already with [Jose] Mourinho scoring two goals here, drawing 2-2, but it was in the group stage.
"We always scored goals here, except with Guus Hiddink, where we drew. But we created a lot of chances. We created chances, so we knew that we were going to score.
"When, I don't know, but we knew that we were going to score."
