Chelsea FC’s Five Most Heartbreaking Moments
By Alex Mosey
3 – Luis García’s Ghost-Goal (Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea, May 2005 )
Few could argue against Chelsea’s 2004/05 record-breaking squad being one of the strongest teams the Premier League has ever seen. Not only did Mourinho’s first Chelsea side achieve record numbers of victories both home and away, but they also managed to concede as few as 15 goals throughout the domestic season. What a shame it was that this incredibly resilient squad was unable to achieve equal success in Europe.
After a European campaign that saw Chelsea defeat both Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Liverpool stood in between Mourinho and a second consecutive Champions League final. The first leg of the semi-final was a defensive success, as Liverpool were unable to score an away goal, and all Chelsea needed from Anfield was a scoring draw to progress. Who could have predicted that after only a few minutes, Liverpool’s Luis García would be able to flick a rebound over Petr Cech into an empty net. Hearts would have been in mouths for those in blue, but the sight of the ever-reliable William Gallas and Ricardo Carvalho rushing back towards the slowly bouncing ball lulled us all into what turned out to be a false sense of security. Gallas kicked the ball before it crossed the line and Chelsea’s defence had once again held strong. The heartbreak stems from the incredulity and confusion, having just witnessed the ball being cleared, as Garcia ran away in celebration, the referee pointed back to the centre-circle, and Anfield roared.
All replays prove that there is no way the ball crossed the goal-line, nor that the linesman had the line of sight required to make the call, but the damage was done. 80 minutes of football later, after many missed opportunities, a tearful Chelsea had crashed out of Europe and had found new European rivals from their very own country.