Champions League Final: Arjen Robben Exorcises Demons with Brilliant 2nd Half

After the first 45 minutes of Saturday's UEFA Champions League Final, a pervasive air of deja vu came over Bayern Munich supporters and players alike...one man, you would have to think, more so than the rest.

First, a little context: It's been more than a full calendar year since the 2012 Champions League Final, a game Arjen Robben's Bayern Munich side seemed, at multiple times, to have in hand. An 83rd-minute goal from Thomas Muller put Die Roten ahead, but Didier Drogba evened the score for Chelsea with a goal of his own five minutes later. Extra time would be needed to settle the match.

In that extra frame, Frank Ribery earned a foul in the opposing box, resulting, as we all know, in a penalty kick. The number of options Bayern Munich had were manifold: Philipp Lahm, Mario Gomez, Ivica Olic, Bastian Schweinsteiger—they all could have been selected to take the kick. But instead, and hard to fault at the time, it was Arjen Robben who's number got the call.

The rest went down in infamy: Robben's weak, borderline pathetic kick was turned away by former teammate Peter Cech; extra time went scoreless, pushing the game into penalties; Arjen Robben was not selected to kick for Bayern Munich; and Chelsea went on to win 4-3 in PKs, taking home the Champions League title.

For more than a year now, Robben has had to live with the ignominy of that hapless PK—perhaps the lowest point in an otherwise illustrious career. Despite 19 goals in 2011-12, and 12 more in 2012-13, he was subjected to occasional boos from his own hometown fans, who still hadn't forgiven his transgression on the biggest possible stage.

All of which, again, makes us wonder what was going through the Dutch striker's head at halftime of the 2013 Champions League Final, a time when, after being given the unthinkable opportunity to avenge his wrongdoings just one year later, he appeared to be repeating them instead.

You see, Robben didn't look like a man on a mission during the game's first half; he looked like a man overwhelmed by his mission. Two perfect chances came and went on his foot, and Bayern had not a goal to show for it.

Both times Robben did well, technically, with the ball, but Borussia Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller did better to knock it away. Still, even if his shot itself wasn't culpable—as it undoubtedly was last year against Chelsea—the narrative would have read the same had Bayern come up short: Arjen Robben bungles chances; Dortmund wins the trophy.

Robben was given one chance, one short half, to direct the legacy of his career back on the longevity of his brilliance, to divert it away from the shame of shrinking from the moment. And what the old Dutch striker did in that half was nothing short of, well...brilliant.

First came the 60th minute, where Robben linked up with Ribery to slip into the box once again. With Weidenfeller charging once again (a tactic that worked in half No. 1), Robben kept his wits about him and calmly slid a nimble ball across to Mario Mandžukić. The Croatian poacher had little to do but tap the ball in for the game's first goal—a goal that, while not attributed to Robben on the goal sheet, was more his doing that anybody else's.

Twenty-nine minutes and one Dortmund goal later, Robben again found himself in position to make history. A back-heel pass from (who else?) Frank Ribery set Robben up near the top of the box, and a patented burst of speed pushed him through, clear on net, with only the keeper in his way. With all the pressure of last year's final weighing down on him, and with a moment of time to potentially over-think himself into a tizzy, Robben instead used his famous left foot to gently slot home the game-winning goal.

Bayern Munich 2, Borussia Dortmund 1. Game. Over.

It's hard to say exactly what would have happened to Arjen Robben's legacy. I'd like to think that time would put things in perspective—that over the years, we would have forgiven his Champions League errors and focus on the breadth of his greatness. But there's no way to know for sure what would have happened had Dortmund stole this game.

All we know, and all we can know, is the result of what actually happened. Arjen Robben won't ever be booed in Munich again.