Chelsea interim manager Roberto Di Matteo is thrown in the air as Chelsea celebrate victory in the FA Cup




Chelsea paraded the European Cup through the streets of West London on Sunday — marking the first occasion that England's capital has become home to the trophy.

The open-top bus made the short drive from Fulham Broadway to Parsons Green on a route lined by an estimated 70,000 fans, while German media reported another 20,000 made the most of their time in Munich by packing out the Odeonsplatz to celebrate before finally returning home.

Of course, this being Chelsea, their celebrations at joining the pantheon of clubs to win the top prize were overshadowed by the unusual situation in which they

As Didier Drogba made the lonely walk from the halfway line to a penalty area inhabited by the imposing frame of Manuel Neuer and loomed over by a teeming mass of red and white, their hostile whistles piercing the Munich night, he embraced an extraordinary alignment of destiny and fate. And as what could well be his last ever strike for Chelsea rippled the net, one end of the Allianz Arena fell deathly silent while the other erupted in utter relief. Outplayed for the majority of the tie, Chelsea, quite unbelievably, were European champions for the first time.

With one swing of his boot, and a

At 7.45pm this evening, when Chelsea's players emerge from the tunnel to a cacophony of noise at Munich's Allianz Arena, it is not just the weight of history, of fate, that every single one of the starting XI will feel resting oppressively on their shoulders, but also nine years of frustration and nearly £1 billion of investment for a secretive Russian secreted somewhere in the stands of this unique stadium.

So private is Roman Abramovich, at his press conference on Friday evening caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo was unaware of just when he would be visiting his players prior to what could

John Terry: May wear that armband to bed

JT: Captain, Leader, Legend

So says the banner at Stamford Bridge, and the great man's latest act of remarkable self-sacrifice will bear fruit in Munich tomorrow night.

You see, despite his waning powers, John Terry simply cannot get himself dropped. This week's England squad confirmed it.

However badly he is playing, whatever else might be going on, England's brave lionheart remains one of the first names on the team sheet.

Nobody seems to realise that, after a career dogged by niggling injuries he is a cynical parody of the player he used to be.

Nobody, that is, except JT himself, who fell

When King Kenny Dalglish abdicated as Liverpool manager in February 1991, a number of distraught supporters desperately contacted police headquarters for reassurance that the rumours were not true; his confirmed exit from Anfield would, according to the Daily Express at the time, "go down as one of the great mysteries of the game".

After a testing season both on and off the pitch, with the Carling Cup providing but a glimmer of optimism in a season otherwise weighed down by rank but expensive underachievement and unseemly tangles over race, a similar sense of outright bewilderment was absent

Roy Hodgson names his England squad today after less than three days in the job full-time, proving beyond all doubt that international management is a doddle.

Actually, it's only a doddle if you've got the players to carry you serenely to major championship glory. Uncle Roy plainly does not.

This time, the nation knows it, but that won't stop us getting carried away on a wave of pointless optimism.

Witness those TV ads saying: "With expectations lower than ever, could England finally deliver with the pressure off?" - thereby piling the pressure right back on.

But, deep down, we all know a

With another Premier League season in the can (a contender for Sky's close-season slogan), it is time for Early Doors to blow the cobwebs off its filthy dinner jacket and substitute safety pins for cufflinks.

It's time for ED's legendary end-of-season awards: The Doorsies!

TWITTER TWIT OF THE SEASON

Joey Barton: Why do people always want to solve any conflict with a fight? As a pacifist, I find it incredible........ #mindboggles

This before peacefully getting sent off for an elbow on Carlos Tevez, then earning two violent conduct charges for apparently kicking Sergio Aguero and attempting to

Sergio Aguero scores goal, gets bookedAs the sheer mind-bending ridiculousness of this season in the Premier League finally starts to settle in the minds of fans everywhere, few phrases sum it up better than: "Football... bloody hell."

It was a line famously coined by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after his team's dramatic stoppage-time win over Bayern Munich in 1999, but on Sunday it was the turn of noisy neighbours Manchester City to leave the millions watching mouthing those words in astonishment.

For Bayern defender Sammy Kuffour's anguished beating of the Nou Camp turf 13 years ago, see the open-mouthed look of