FA Cup Final 2012: How Victory Primes Chelsea for Champions League Final

Chelsea and Liverpool gave soccer fans everything they could ask for today at Wembley Stadium, and with another impressive victory under their belt, Chelsea heads into the UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich with momentum.

Chelsea had their hands full with Andy Caroll once the Reds brought him onto the pitch, but Roberto Di Matteo's squad shut down Liverpool's dynamic striker Luis Suarez which is impressive in and of itself. But then again, this is a squad that is coming off eliminating Champions League favorite FC Barcelona in the semifinals of the tournament.

Nicholas Veevers of thefa.com stated that the Reds "[threw] everything at their opponents" yet the Blue of Chelsea was the victorious color on this day. While their Champions League opponents in Bayern Munich have had themselves an impressive season after a lackluster 2011 campaign, and knocked out a Spanish heavyweight of their own in Real Madrid to make it to the finals, Chelsea is the hotter team heading into the first leg of the finals.

Striker Didier Drogba has been a large reason for the recent hot streak Chelsea has been on, who contributed the second goal of the FA Cup final, making him the only man in history to score in four different FA Cup finals.

He had recorded 10 shots in the past four appearances for his club heading into the FA Cup final today, and now has three goals scored in his last five contests. Not bad for a guy who might be on his way out of Stamford Bridge.

I'm a firm believer in the idea that "getting hot at the right time" is more important than which team has the better talent on paper. It worked for Italy during the 2006 World Cup, it worked for the New York Giants in the NFL in 2007 and 2011 and it can work for Chelsea in the 2012 Champions League final.

Their offense lead by Drogba have been creating some great opportunities as of late, which is what allowed them to get past a strong Barca defense lead by Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique and Dani Alves. There are few defensive units as formidable as the one Chelsea saw in the semifinals, and Bayern's is not in that same class.

While this year's Champions League continues to show the age old cliche that "anything can happen in sports," Chelsea has got to feel good about their chances against their German opponents after taking down Liverpool and Barcelona in separate tournaments.