Opinion: 3 Things Chelsea Need To Win The Champions League Again

Chelsea had an amazing season last time around; they did a double with winning the Capital One Cup and also the Premier League. Jose Mourinho shunned his doubters who criticized him for a trophyless year on his return to the Premier League. However, all said and done Chelsea didn’t have a good outing in the Champions League. The unfortunate part about Chelsea’s campaign is that they didn’t lose a single match but were eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16.  Let’s analyze what Chelsea need to do to win the Champions League again with their all-time favorite manager Jose Mourinho.

1. A better Diego Costa

Costa had an amazing season with Chelsea in the Premier League. He notched 20 goals for the Blues in the Premier League but failed to carry forward his amazing form in Europe. During the initial half of the season, Chelsea heavily relied on the talismanic forward and his dominance on the pitch. However, his Champions League part of the season for Chelsea was pretty forgettable as he could not find the net even once. This also meant Chelsea’s extra dependence on Eden Hazard. The Belgian stepped up and performed for Chelsea whenever his side needed, but it was Hazard’s luck that he got away without any injuries and sustained the entire season. A major if now looms over Chelsea is that what if Hazard doesn’t perform; Chelsea’s might go crashing out of the Champions League in early stages again. They need Costa and Hazard to perform and complement each other’s game and deliver in crunch fixtures.

2. Mourinho’s Magic

We all know how Mourinho can change an ordinary side into something which is just out of the world. His stints at Porto and Inter Milan made the fans as well as critics awestruck. The Portuguese manager has been constantly criticized for playing some ill tactics football towards the latter half of the season with winning just by a single goal with less amount of possession or even drawing the match after a lifeless or boring event throughout the entire match.  This mentality worked well in the Premier League, but Chelsea suffered majorly when they crashed out of the competition due to more away goals scored by PSG. If Chelsea need to win the Champions League; they need to score more than their opponents; the rule is simple and should help Chelsea to relive the Berlin scenes of 2012. Plus, some optimistic attitude and tips from the Special One wouldn’t go astray. Would they?

3. A little bit of ‘LUCK’

What? Why is this even included? It’s hard work which helps one get closer to the dream but without luck it isn’t possible to win the Champions League. In 2012, Chelsea were the underdogs and Champions League seemed quite a cakewalk for Bayern back then, but with Robben getting sent off, Petr Cech saving penalties and Drogba with an amazing header, Chelsea were back and believed they could win. A little bit luck would have sent Chelsea to the next round as they had the same number of goals as PSG did. Almost all the teams that qualify for round of 16 or quarter-finals can be crowned as winners but it boils down to the fact which team outperformed the other and what made them better on that particular day or minutes I must say.