Is Chelsea FC jinxed? I mean come on. If you want to find an event whose probability of occurence is less than that of the Earth get attacked by aliens within the next decade, then it is got to be Chelsea FC winning the prestigious UEFA Champions League. Don't get me wrong. I am a huge fan of Chelsea FC, a loyal one. You may not find me being very comfortable with somebody criticizing Chelsea FC, be it for anything, but even this die-hard fan can't deny the existence of the 'jinx'.
Let's have a look at what the stats say.
In the past decade (seasons '00 - '09), the number of seasons in which the club has reached the semifinals is 5 each for Chelsea and Barcelona, 4 each for Manchester United, AC Milan and Real Madrid, 3 for Liverpool FC (Just to give some respect to the Gunners, their figure is 2). And how many times have these clubs won the Champions League in the past decade? AC Milan, Real Madrid and Barcelona 2 times each, Manchester United and Liverpool FC once each, and Chelsea FC? Yes everybody knows, it's a big Zero (the same as Arsenal). Well, so much so for my agony. You want another piece? I have two! First: Chelsea ranked 2nd and 3rd in the UEFA Club Coefficient rankings (based only on the performance in the European competitions) in the seasons ending '08 and '09, the 1st place in both the seasons being taken by Barcelona. Amongst the top 5 clubs based on these rankings for the season ending '08, Chelsea FC is the only club without the UEFA Champions League glory. And second: based on 5 year averages analysed by UEFA (only for the European competitions), seasons '00 - '04, '01 - '05, '02 - '06,'03 - '07, '04 - '08 and '05 - '09 have been dominated respectively by Real Madrid, Real Madrid (again), AC Milan, AC Milan (again), Chelsea FC and Barcelona. And it's easy to find the only club amongst these which has not won the UCL. Now you understand why not only you, but also we Chelsea fans pity the club too?
OK. Enough for the stats. Let's recall the events. UCL 2008 finals against Manchester United. The first ever all-english UCL finals. The first ever for Chelsea. Fans were great. Ambramovich may have just did his part in persuading some of the neutral local Russian crowd to vow for Chelsea. Decent play from both sides. Normal time wasn't enough to differentiate between them,and so wasn't the extra time. Penalties it is. And everybody knows Cech isn't good at them (well, he's gotten much better recently). Well, all of the first four penalties scored, and then comes the cry boy CR7 with his 1-2-stop!-1-2-go! penalty kick. And Cech does the wonder and leaves CR7 crying, what he does 2nd best (after diving). It's now a clear advantage for Chelsea. Yes?, No! Because it had rained that bloody day, and Terry was in his party shoes! Anelka then, of course, had already told Grant that he wasn't willing to take the penalty and so he decided to pass the ball to Edwin van der Sar.
And what happened in the UCL 2009 semifinals against Barcelona at the Stamford Bridge is disheartening enough to be repeated here. The point can be understood by inferring that without the odds being against Chelsea, results are almost always against Chelsea. Odds not only for wins or losses, but also individual events. And mind you, this, only for the UEFA Champions League which, by the way, Chelsea has never won, because it is 'jinxed'.
