//------------------------------// // A Feud Rekindled // Story: Over Land and Sea // by Wessexbrony //------------------------------// Tuesday 20th February “Jose Mourinho has called for calm heads ahead of the first leg of his side’s crucial Champions League tie against Galatasaray tonight,” Breaking News said, reading the Sports News on Radio Canterlot, “Meanwhile, UEFA have warned both clubs to be on their best behaviour following the war of words which has been escalating since October as a result of the injury Ricardo Carvalho sustained in the friendly in August. It is expected that referee Luis Medina Cantalejo will be in for a difficult night…” “You can say that again,” Autumn muttered. “Meanwhile, ahead of Liverpool’s match against Bayern Munich, Rafael Benitez has said that his side are fully confident…” “Dinky isn’t being taken to the second leg, is she?” Autumn asked Lyra a couple of minutes later. “No,” Lyra shook her head, “I spoke to Ms Hooves on Friday. Dinky’s guardian told her that he considers Turkey too much of a stretch, and off-limits due to the tensions between the two clubs.” “That’s a relief,” Autumn replied. “It’s Champions League night at Stamford Bridge,” Free Kick said, “And here on Sport 2 we have coverage of Chelsea’s game against Galatasaray. The one tie UEFA most likely didn’t want, after Carvalho’s injury caused significant damage to relations between the two sides back in August. Chelsea come into this match in superb form, having climbed to second in the Premier League, but the general feeling in the Galatasaray camp is that they want to put Mourinho’s money where his mouth is…” Just under 40 minutes in, things were looking exceptionally bad. Michael Essien, Claude Makelele and John Terry had all been booked in the opening 30 minutes, and that wasn’t even the worst of it. Eight minutes into the match, Karan had opened the scoring for Galatasaray, and just after half an hour, Hasan Sas had doubled their lead with a powerful shot which gave Cudicini no chance. Rainbow Dash and I looked at each other nervously, and I put what I hoped was a reassuring arm around Dinky as I murmured “Remember the Tottenham game” into her ear. “I have to say that preseason games are normally forgotten quickly, but not in this case,” Free Kick said, “That friendly in Glasgow where Carvalho was injured left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, as did the war of words…” Indeed, tempers were running high, and the referee had had to act quickly on several occasions to diffuse potential confrontations. “There’s half time,” Free Kick said, as the teams left the field, with quite a few players nearly squaring up to each other, “and you get the feeling that Mourinho has to give the biggest team talk in the history of all team talks. It’s only half way through the first leg, but they are two goals down, two away goals down, and as such they are surely on the brink of elimination.” It was a subdued mood in the home crowd during the interval. I cast my mind back to the previous season, when Barcelona had won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in the round of 16 1st leg. “So here come the teams,” Free Kick said, “And it looks like Makelele has been taken off, with Joe Cole coming on to replace him. A big, big second half coming up for Chelsea.” Chelsea started the second half a lot brighter, and the Galatasaray defence had to be alert to keep Drogba and Gudjohnsen at bay. However, eleven minutes into the half, a clearance by Kovac found Drogba, who passed out wide for Joe Cole. Cole passed to Gudjohnsen, who played in Ballack. Ballack's shot was saved by Mondragon, but he pounced on the rebound and made no mistake, before grabbing the ball and sprinting back to the centre spot. This seemed to ignite something in the Chelsea team, and suddenly Galatasaray were finding themselves struggling to cope. Just after the hour mark, Drogba was played in by Joe Cole, who was proving to be instrumental. The Ivorian looked to score the equaliser, but his shot was tipped wide by Mondragon. Mourinho then brought Robben on for Ferreira, looking to seize on the initiative. Indeed, Chelsea were now asking serious questions of Galatasaray, and the Turkish side were unable to find the right answers. With twenty minutes left, Michael Essien overlapped Joe Cole and took the ball down the right. He then crossed the ball to the far post, where Cole, who had cut inside, volleyed home to level the score. The atmosphere inside Stamford Bridge had moved up numerous notches, but everyone knew that Galatasaray would have the advantage if the match finished 2-2. As such, Chelsea continued to attack. With just under fifteen minutes remaining, Lampard sprayed the ball wide to Joe Cole, who once again set off down the right. This time, his cross found Drogba, who beat Alexandre Song in the air to head home at the near post. “What a second half this is turning out to be!” Free Kick exclaimed, as Chelsea celebrated. “In the space of 25 minutes, they have turned this match on its head!” Derpy, however, continued to watch intently. Rainbow Dash had told her about away goals and, as it stood, a 1-0 or 2-1 win for Galatasaray in the second leg would see them go through. With four minutes left, another Chelsea attack saw Lampard pass to Gudjohnsen. Gudjohnsen played the ball to Ballack, who had made a great run into the area and fired the ball across Mondragon to seal the win and secure some breathing space. Chelsea 4-2 Galatasaray (Ballack 56, 86, Joe Cole 70, Drogba 77; Karan 8, Hasan Sas 32) “And there's the final whistle!” Free Kick exclaimed, as Ballack sank to his knees in the centre circle with his arms held aloft, before being buried under a sea of blue shirts, “, “And Chelsea have put in a second half performance that can take its place as one of the great European comebacks-” “They’re gone,” his co-commentator, Offside, interjected. “The Galatasaray players, they’re gone.” Whilst there were scenes of jubilation among the home support - and indeed, in the Traveller’s Rest, where Derpy’s cheering was drowned out by the general pandemonium - the Galatasaray players were standing around looking absolutely stunned, wondering how they could have lost after taking such a commanding lead. Things subsequently threatened to turn ugly as the teams left the pitch, as a number of Galatasaray players attempted to square up to the home side, with a couple of them confronting Mourinho as he went onto the pitch to congratulate his players and applaud the fans. However, the home side were having none of it, having done their talking on the pitch. Wednesday 21st February “Sports news now,” Breaking News said, as Autumn began her lunch, “And in football, Mourinho has said that the second half of last night’s match was the best 45 minutes he’s ever seen as a manager. Meanwhile, Bayern manager Ottmar Hitzfeld has admitted that his side’s failure to score an away goal at Anfield could prove costly; Bayern were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool last night. Elsewhere, Manchester United and Arsenal are both in action tonight, as Arsenal travel to the Bernabeu whilst United face AS Roma…” “It’s called knocking, you know. You should try it sometime.” Autumn said, as Belladonna barged into her office. “Less attitude, more action,” Belladonna snapped. “I’m concerned about Berry Punch. I don’t think that her daughter should be around so much alcohol…” “Berry Punch, the landlady of the Traveller’s Rest?” Lyra asked, when Autumn told her an hour later. “That would explain the alcohol comment,” Autumn said, “But this has come completely out of the blue. No initial investigation, not even any report which would lead to an investigation. And she sounded almost vindictive – scratch that, she was vindictive – when she told me.” “Then we’ll conduct our own investigation,” Lyra responded. “How does lunch at the Traveller’s Rest sound tomorrow?”