Do-or-Die for Chelsea today

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To paraphrase the late JRR Tolkien; we come to it at last, the great battle of our time, or rather the great battle between Chelsea and Bayern Munich for European supremacy.

This analogy clearly needs work though. The only plausible character worthy of it is England’s finest and strongest, the great John ‘Sauron’ Terry, who would be isolated in his Tower of Barad dur, glowering uselessly at the war raging on the field as his troop of expensively assembled challengers take on a Bayern side who have suffered a couple of knockout blows at the worst time in their campaign.

Mario Gomez, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery need not worry about a sudden hard knee on their spine, at the very least.

The young upstarts from Borussia Dortmund first cantered to the league title, putting to rest any hopes Bayern had of a treble, and then proceeded to add a bucket of salt into the wounds of the Munich fans and players with a 5-2 decimation in the German Cup final.

A shell-shocked Bayern side paid dearly for major lapses in midfield and defence to end their domestic campaign on a pathetic note and create seeds of doubt heading into the Champions League final at their home ground, the Allianz Arena.

Playing at home might very well work to their advantage, but Chelsea have proved systematic and resilient in the face of a relentless onslaught from Barcelona in their semifinal games and would have a tremendous amount of belief heading into the game.

Bayern will be without Holger Badstuber, David Alaba and Luis Gustavo, giving manager Jupp Heynckes a few headaches.

All is not rosy in West London, however. A dismal league campaign saw them finish in 6th place, the worst ever showing since the rouble-laden Roman Abramovich took over the club nine years ago.

Their Champions league qualification depends entirely on them winning the CL final, and a defeat could have major ramifications at a club studded with ageing stars, who will need to build in the summer.

A relatively constrained budget will mean they have to be wiser in their dealings, not necessary a hallmark of the posh Londoners.

With most of Europe gearing up for the European Championships, this match would still generate a lot of neutral interest, and in particular from Tottenham Hotspur, the fourth-placed team in the English Premier League.