The British evacuation of Europe was halted by a mesmerisingly courageous performance by Chelsea last night. So at least one of the six European finalists this spring will be English after this improbable 3-1 victory over Vicenza. Easter is a time for spectacular resurrections and now Chelsea can stride on to meet Stuttgart.
British football had retreated from Europe at a pace John Redwood would have approved of.
In the Champions League, Newcastle slipped away at the group stage, followed by Manchester United after a painful defeat to AS Monaco in the quarter-finals.
In the UEFA Cup Arsenal and Liverpool also made their excuses early, the former going out in round one to PAOK Salonika and Liverpool following close behind with a second-round defeat by Strasbourg. Aston Villa window shopped as far as the quarterfinals before demonstrating against Atletico Madrid the ancient English susceptibility to away-goals.
Not a wonderful record until last night, and not a year to be proclaiming too loudly the superiority of the Premiership over Serie A, Spain's Primera Liga and the Bundesliga in Germany. For all its financial might, the Premier League still appeared to be a leap and a bound behind the Italians who, before yesterday, had already supplied both UEFA Cup finalists (Lazio and Internazionale) and one half of the European Cup final in the shape of Juventus.
There was an undeniable frisson about last night's encounter, but it disguised the uncomfortable truth that England's last representatives were engaged in a mighty struggle with one of Italy's lesser lights who are 12th of 18 in Serie A. Never mind. The prize is a trip to Stockholm's Rasunda Stadium on ?????????May 13rd, three days after the end of the Premiership programme.
Chelsea being a club that is inclined to fireside reveries, nobody needed reminding that the King's Road swingers last won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1971 by beating Real Madrid in a replay. The following season, perversely, they went out in the second round to a team called Atvidaberg, thus ushering in a long period of underachievement which continued until the arrival of Glenn Hoddle and Ruud Gullit.
The modern Chelsea's primary strength is an ability to rip into teams at Stamford Bridge, and occasionally beyond, when the stakes are really high, and last night the conditions were designed to create a desperate attritional struggle. As cold spring rain sparkled under the floodlights both sides dashed and darted on a buttered pitch that could have diminished the spectacle far more than it actually did.
Less fervent and committed sides might have capitulated internally when Pasquale Luiso stepped to the head of a queue of three Vicenza players to score after 32 minutes. But Chelsea showed a commendable appetite for the chase.
Whether Gianluca Vialli will be managing Chelsea by the time the century (or even the season) clicks over is a source of increasing conjecture. But nobody could question the enormity of his contribution as he raced along the touchline to provide an exquisite cross for Gianfranco Zola to head Chelsea's second.
Gustavo Poyet had scored Chelsea's equaliser three minutes after Vicenza had surged ahead. So far the club's expensive foreign contingent were keeping them afloat. But as Chelsea's coach Graham Rix, smoking now in the dug-out, decided to switch to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation, on came a chunky 34-year-old Welshman with a greying perm to terrorise the Vicenza defence afresh.
Mark Hughes's winning goal was the product of all his experience, some of which was acquired in Manchester United's Cup Winners' Cup win over Barcelona eight years ago.
Chelsea: De Goey, Leboeuf, Clarke, Poyet, Vialli, Wise, Duberry, Le Saux, Newton (Charvet 70), Zola (Myers 81), Morris (M Hughes 70). Subs not used: Hitchcock, Flo, P Hughes, Nicholls. Goals: Poyet 35, Zola 51, M Hughes 76.
Vicenza: Brivio, Di Carlo (Di Napoli 81), Belotti, Schenardi (Otero 81), Mendez, Luiso, Viviani (Stovini 61), Zauli, Ambrosini, Dicara, Ambrosetti. Subs not used: Firmani, Beghetto, Falcioni, Conte. Sent off: Ambrosini (88). Booked: Luiso, Ambrosini. Goals: Luiso 32.
Referee: M Batta (France).
