Chelsea fans around the world will not be waking up to “Champions Of The World” t-shirts under the tree on Christmas Day after Rafa Benitez’s side lost 1-0 to Corinthians today.
The defeat is the latest blow for a Chelsea side that had failed at every opportunity to live up to the title of CHampions Of Europe. Consider that in the last five months Chelsea have lost the Community Shield and European Super Cup and have been eliminated from the Champions League.
A season that began with the possibility to winning seven trophies is rapidly turning into a diaster.
But this one hurt more than the Community Shield and European Super Cup defeats, especially to the Brazilian contingent in the Chelsea squad. At the final whistle, Ramires, exhausted and distraught as he slumped to the turf, had to be consoled by team-mates and coaching staff. David Luiz, in floods of tears, sat alone and hardly able to watch his compatriots mass together before lifting the trophy.
Chelsea will once again rue their missed opportunities. They created four good chances and were unable to take any of them. The closest they came was early in the game when Gary Cahill’s effort from a corner wad blocked on the goal line by Corinthians goalkeeper Cassio.
This will be a real test of Rafa Benitez’s managerial skills as this was a bitterly disappointing loss for Chelsea. And the players have no time to mope as they have a Capital One quarter-final tie with Leeds on Wednesday.
