Champions League 2008 Prediction: A Final to Forget, but a Striker to Remember

So here we are less than two hours before kickoff of the first All-English Champions League final, and a large part of me is not looking forward to it at all.

How so? you might wonder, well the reason is simple. I remember the 2007 FA Cup Final. The buildup was depressingly similar to the 2008 Champions League. Manchester United and Chelsea had just finished a close title race, which on this occasion almost went to the final couple of games, with Utd. coming out on top in the end.

The Wembley pitch was being hammered in the press, too many games on it, it didn't look good, the groundsmen weren't happy etc. Sounds a bit like the furor over the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow doesn't it?

The Chelsea manager was under pressure, and many pundits expected him to leave in the summer (Mourinho then, Grant now). It was also expected that some star players might follow (Drogba, Lampard then and now).

The buildups have led a very familiar course, and I predict that the game itself will follow the 2007 FA Cup Final. It will be dull, with few efforts on goal, the players will consistently give the ball away to each other and neither team will show any rhythm or form. The commentators will ignore all this, and wax lyrical on what an "intriguing tactical battle" we have, how "tense" it is, and how you can't take your eyes off it. I have no doubt it will be tense for Manchester United and Chelsea fans, as I am sure the 2007 Cup Final was, but what about the rest of us?

Then, as the game drifts towards penalties, someone will strike. Last time it was Drogba, tonight, a similar outcome? No certainties of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Ivorian strikes again. In his time in England, he has scored the winner in an FA Cup final (2007) and scored 4 goals in League Cup Finals (1 in 2005, 2 in 2007, 1 in 2008). Elsewhere, he has scored in UEFA Cup semi-finals, Champions League semi-finals, African Nations Cup semi-finals, and the first World Cup goal of the Ivory Coast's history against Argentina in 2006.

Drogba is the man for the big occasion, and what bigger occasion than the first All-English Champions League final, in possibly your last game for your club, in their first ever European Cup final?

Don't expect a thriller for the neutral tonight, but Didier Drogba, possibly the best centre forward in the World today could be the man that sends the Chelsea fans home in ecstasy. As long as he doesn't spend too much time rolling around in agony!