21st May, 2012
Petr Cech hailed Chelsea’s Champions League triumph as a ‘revolt’ against their doubters following his penalty shootout heroics against Bayern Munich.
Cech admitted he was in tears after helping the Blues end their agonising wait for European Cup glory in Saturday night’s dramatic final victory at the Allianz Arena as he enjoyed the perfect early 30th birthday present.
Chelsea becoming kings of Europe looked a laughable prospect three months ago after they lost their last-16 first leg against Napoli 3-1.
But they repeatedly defied the doom-mongers before stunning Bayern 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the Germans’ own stadium.
“It was a kind of revolt against everybody,” Cech said. “Because everything was going against us and we didn’t have results.
“Andre Villas-Boas had to leave, he was sacked, and everybody was saying, ‘You have no chance against Napoli, second leg’.
“Everybody wrote us off against Barcelona, everybody said that Bayern are playing at home, that we have missing players, and we have no chance.
“So, we kept proving everybody wrong.”