On this day in 2012, Raul Meireles scored an absolute beauty to send Chelsea into the Champions League semi-final. The Blues were quite comfortable in their fixture against Benfica. Both legs were a breeze. Coming off the back of an emphatic comeback against Napoli in the previous round, there was the feeling that Chelsea was completely unstoppable.
They kept working their way to triumph, even though their Premier League form was in an ugly state.
A loss to Manchester City and a draw at home to Tottenham had put the Blues in a difficult mind state going into their home tie against Benfica.
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The Portuguese Eagles were in pole position to try their luck, but they failed. 75 minutes into a goalless game, Solomon Kalou struck from close range and hit the back of Benfica’s net, giving Chelsea a 1-0 away goal victory to take into the second leg.
Whilst the first leg wasn’t the spectacle that we’d hoped for, and the second leg gave us THAT goal. The goal that nobody saw coming. Raul Meireles was an interesting character. A player who I considered an unsung hero of the 2011/2012 season. He wasn’t always in the headlines, but he was an amazing addition to the squad.
Chelsea couldn’t get Luca Modric, so they opted for the Portuguese version. A midfielder, strong in defence with a Frank Lampard-esq eye for spontaneous long-range shots on goal.
His spontaneity gave him one of the goals of the season for Chelsea. Stamford Bridge erupted in response to the thunderous strike from the Portuguese man. Running from the halfway line and shooting from outside of the box, his right foot almost took off the net. The sigh of relief that the fans needed as Benfica was starting to ask questions in front of goal following Javi García’s 85th-minute equaliser.
