Penalty drama puts Chelsea in heaven

Chelsea were crowned European champions for the first time in their history after an astonishing triumph on penalties in Munich last night on Saturday.

Roman Abramovich's expensive, nine-year quest for the biggest prize in club football ended with a spectacular victory which saw his team become the 22nd to win the competition, and now puts pressure on the owner to appoint Roberto Di Matteo on a permanent basis.

Despite Juan Mata missing Chelsea's opening penalty, Bayern then missed two - Ivica Olic and Bastian Schweinsteiger - and Didier Drogba scored the decisive kick.

To make it worse for the hosts, Arjen Robben missed a penalty in the first minute of extra time after Didier Drogba had fouled Franck Ribery.

Bayern had been in charge from the kick-off. Before even the first two minutes were complete, Schweinsteiger had foolishly got himself booked for a deliberate handball. Was this a sign of Bayern nerves? If so it was an aberration: they were soon in their confident stride, dominating possession and forcing Chelsea to retreat to the edge of their box.

Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos dictated from deep, shifting the ball effortlessly around this expanse of pitch. Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, a midfielder covering at centre-back for the suspended Holger Badstuber, carried the ball out from deep. Thomas Muller was bristling with energy.

The real threat, though, came from Bayern's brilliant wingers, Robben and Ribery. The pair came to blows in the dressing room in the semi-final but on the pitch they played with intuitive understanding, interchanging positions and finding each other whenever space opened up.

Ribery sent Robben running down the right channel with a superb first-time pass but the Dutchman skied his shot. Ribery picked out Gomez who headed over. Robben's volley from Kroos' corner was deflected behind.

Jose Bosingwa, panicking, almost sliced into his own net. The chances were building up.

Then Robben thought he had the breakthrough. Having switched to the left he drove at the Chelsea defence and into the area. His low shot to the near post caught Cech by surprise and the keeper could only get his boot to it. The ball squirted up and against the top of the post. Cech breathed in relief; Robben clasped his skull in frustration.

Chelsea were struggling to get out of their own half. It took them 34 minutes to get their first shot at the Bayern goal, when Juan Mata hit a free-kick over the bar. Three minutes later Salomon Kalou forced Manuel Neuer to save at the near post. That was pretty much it for the first half. They tried to counter but were so deep that it was a battle to find a blue shirt when they won the ball back.

Di Matteo had boldly selected Ryan Betrand to play on the left wing. The 22 year-old became the first player in the Champions League era to make his European debut in the final. The logic was no doubt to defensively reinforce the left flank against the combination of Robben and Lahm. It was like trying to nail water to the ceiling.

It was largely thanks to Bayern's wayward finishing that Chelsea got to half-time unscathed - of their 13 efforts on goal only one hit the target. Muller volleyed a Diego Contento cross wide from close range and after one captivating move, in which Muller's cute lay-off had opend Chelsea up, Gomez shot over. Bayern's prolific striker was having no joy, moments before failing to tame Ribery's mishit volley with the goal large before him.

As the second half began, the atmosphere intensified. Bayern fans lit flares and as the smoke drifted across the pitch a helicopter circled overhead. The Chelsea fans cheered as the watching Roman Abramovich was flashed up on the big screens. The decisive moments were about to unfold.

For all Chelsea's efforts, Bayern remained dominant. After 54 minutes the Bayern end erupted with cheers as Ribery picked up Robben's blocked shot and put it into the empty net. The assistant referee flagged for offside against Ribery. He was, just.

Chelsea were throwing their bodies in front of Bayern's attacks - David Luiz made two key interventions, Ashley Cole flew in to block Robben's hard shot before Kroos saw his effort rebound out of the crowd. This was Chelsea at their Nou Camp best, defending with commitment and courage, fighting to keep the game alive.

Kroos and Schweinsteiger kept weaving the ball around, keeping Chelsea claustrophobically trapped in their own penalty area, trying to slowly suffocate the fatigued men in blue. Chelsea's attacks were sporadic, Didier Drogba getting only fleeting sight of the ball. When he did, he almost punished Bayern, spinning away from Tymoshchuk to send in a low cross which Contento had to slide in to clear.

Di Matteo sent on Malouda for Bertrand with just under 20 minutes left to try to put his team on the front foot but Bayern kept coming. Ribery ran at Cole, went to the by-line but the England defender got a boot on to the cross - it looped up and over Cech, who scrambled back to push it behind. Ribery then cut in from the left flank and when he was tackled in the box the ball went straight to Muller who dragged his shot wide.

Muller was the man carrying the threat. Cole was booked for bringing him down on the right after a neat run and then he had a far post header saved by Cech. You could not say that Chelsea had not been warned.

It lent his goal a sense of inevitability. Kroos flighted an in-swinging cross from the corner of the penalty area on the Bayern left. Muller did not have much of an angle to work with but he deceived Cech by heading directly down into the turf, the ball bouncing up and past the Chelsea goalkeeper. The game was surely up.

This Chelsea team do not know when they are beaten, though.

With a minute left, and the Bayern fans celebrating, Chelsea won a corner on the right-hand side and Mata sent a crisp delivery into the near post.

Drogba, soaring through the air, whipped his head through the ball, sending it hurtling in at the near post. The drama was only just beginning.