Grant: Lady Luck finally smiled on Chelsea
Reuters - Thursday 26 April 2012, 10:59
Former Chelsea manager Avram
Grant believes Lady Luck, who turned her back on the club four
years ago, has finally smiled on the lion-hearted Londoners
after they stormed into the Champions League final with an
astonishing win over Barcelona.
Chelsea, seeking their first Champions League title,
progressed on Tuesday and will meet four-time winners Bayern
Munich in the German club's own stadium on May 19 after the
Bavarians knocked out Real Madrid on penalties on Wednesday.
Grant came agonisingly close to winning the trophy with
Chelsea in the 2008 final, when John Terry slipped while taking
a penalty that could have sealed the shootout against Manchester
United on a rain-lashed night in Moscow.
"We were the better side and deserved to win but we didn't
and I would be delighted if Chelsea won the Champions League now
because they are my favourite team in the competition and I
still have many friends there," Grant told Reuters.
Terry sent his shot on to the post after losing his footing
and United went on to win their third title in Europe's premier
club competition, leaving Grant and his players in anguish.
Three days later, the 57-year old Israeli had his contract
terminated.
Asked if he thought victory in Moscow might have saved his
job at Chelsea, the Partizan Belgrade boss said: "I don't think
about it, I think about the game from time to time because we
played against a team described by [United manager] Sir Alex
Ferguson as the best United side since he took over [in 1986].
"It is amazing Chelsea have reached the final this season
because they were second-best for long spells even in their
previous knockout games against Benfica and Napoli.
"But they showed great heart and fighting spirit, they have
fought like lions throughout the campaign so they deserve all
the plaudits and anything can happen in one game now that they
are in the final."
MISFORTUNE VINDICATED
Chelsea scored two goals after Terry was sent off in the Nou
Camp on Tuesday to earn a memorable 3-2 aggregate win over
Barcelona but will miss their captain and three other key
players through suspension in the final.
Grant, who took over from Jose Mourinho earlier in the
2007/08 season, said he believed luck had finally sided with
Chelsea after their misfortune in Moscow four years ago.
"I saw the game on television with some friends and when [Lionel] Messi missed the penalty we agreed that maybe the
writing was on the wall and that it's Chelsea's time now," he
said.
Since being shown the exit door by Chelsea's Russian owner
Roman Abramovich after the Moscow flop, Grant endured torrid
spells at Portsmouth and West Ham United having failed to save
the latter from relegation from the Premier League last season.
But his fortune seems to have changed at Partizan, who are
on the verge of winning a record fifth successive league title
after Grant took over in January.
Their 2-0 win over neighbours BSK Borca on Wednesday put
them firmly in the driving seat of the 16-team first division,
needing one point from their remaining four games to seal the
club's 24th league title.
"It's a very nice feeling to be on the edge of clinching it
because we got into this position with a thin squad ravaged by
injuries while our main rivals Red Star Belgrade bought some
good players during the winter break," said Grant.
"Our next objective is to try to reach the Champions League
group stage and make the kind of impact APOEL Nicosia made this
season but that's a process which requires time and money.
"I think we can do that here but we first have to look at
the budget, because APOEL have been able to keep their squad
together and boost it with quality signings."
APOEL became the first Cypriot club to reach the Champions
League last eight, stunning one rival after another before they
went down to nine-time winners Real 8-2 on aggregate.