Holding Midfield
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Everyone seems to be previewing the Champions League final, and between them everything seems to be covered to a high quality, so, late to the party, here’s something irrelevant: Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool, 2003. Nevertheless, the match is still incredibly important. Chelsea needed the money from Champions League qualification to sort out their perilous financial state, which was soon to be sorted out by Roman Abramovich. Would he have been as interested in acquiring Chelsea were it not for them playing Champions League football? We don’t know, but it certainly couldn’t have hurt. If Abramovich’s interest was secured with Champions League qualification, this match has completely reshaped the footballing world. Chelsea needed just a draw to secure qualification, while Liverpool were going to have to win at Stamford Bridge, where they had not beaten Chelsea for 13 years, without the influential Dietmar Hamann. The line-ups gave a decent look at the tactical trends of the time: both teams set up in what were broadly 4-4-2 formations, with mainly defensive full-backs and two out and out strikers. Celestine Babayaro was decent going forward, but didn’t need to advance when Claudio Ranieri put Graeme Le Saux, another full-back yet very good going forward, [...]
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