ESSIEN WANTS TO START
Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is one of the players looking to start the match against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. Chelsea will be playing in their second Champions League final on May 19 looking to win the competition for the first time. They lost their last match against Manchester United back in 2008 on penalties.
Michael Essien started the match back then, but he has been a shadow of the same player in the recent seasons. A number of knee injuries has meant that he has lost the driving force in the midfield. As a result, he has started less than 20 matches this season.
However, he seems to be finally overcoming the problems that he has faced in the last two seasons and slowly seems to be coming back to his best. The 29-year-old Ghanaian midfielder was regarded as one of the greatest in the world, but his performances of late have been the other way around. Michael Essien, though, started the match against Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the Premier league season. He was extremely impressive in the defensive midfield position for Chelsea. It has led to speculation that he might even start the Champions League final.
Due to the suspensions of both John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, David Luiz and Gary Cahill remain the two proper centre backs for Chelsea. However, they are also struggling with hamstring injuries suffered in the matches against Tottenham and Barcelona respectively.
Due to the fact that they are major doubt to make it to the final, Chelsea interim manager Roberto di Matteo may actually field midfielder John obi Mikel in the centre back position alongside José Bosingwa. This would mean that Michael Essien could return to his favourite defensive midfield position in the biggest match for Chelsea this season so far.