Date: 20th March 2018 at 7:00pm
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Jacob Rothman discusses Chelsea’s link with Italy. 

Few nations have had the indelible impact on Chelsea throughout the past 30 years that Italy have. From managers to players, Italians have become synonymous with Chelsea for the plethora of honours won and memories made.

Gianluca Vialli

Brought to Chelsea as a champion having won the domestic treble in 1994-1995 and then the Champions League in 1996 with Juventus the Blues staged a major coup by signing the former world record signing on a free transfer in the summer of 1996.

He established himself as a vital part of Ruud Gullit’s side and memorably scored a brace in the comeback victory to send Chelsea through to the latter stages of the FA Cup against Liverpool. He followed up on Chelsea’s FA Cup triumph (one of the two goals coming from fellow Italian Roberto Di Matteo’s strike inside of the first minute) by leading Chelsea to secure the Cup Winners’ Cup and League Cup as player-manager. Also, the following season along he masterminded a victory against European Champions Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup.

He would go on to add another FA Cup Final courtesy of another brilliant goal from Italian compatriot Roberto Di Matteo and reach the semi-finals in the Champions League where his side would be knocked out by F.C. Barcelona.

Gianluca Vialli’s tenure at Chelsea can be rightfully seen as a dawn of a new era as he ushered in an Italian Revolution which included the likes of Roberto Di Matteo, Gianfranco Zola, and himself which would go on to make their mark on Chelsea history for nearly the next 20 years.

Gianfranco Zola

To say Gianfranco Zola became a legend at Chelsea would be an understatement of the most epic proportion. The “Little Magician” as he would come to be known to the Blues faithful began to make a name for himself forming a strike team with Diego “Hand of God” Maradona at Napoli, leading them to the Serie A title and Italian Super Cup in the 89-90 season. A move to Parma yielded a UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup over the span of the 1993-1995 seasons before making a move to SW6.

Signed for Chelsea for a fee of 4.5 million pounds Zola quickly endeared himself to the Chelsea faithful. With his FA Cup heroics and ability to change a game in an instant, Zola became the first player to win PFA player of the year honours in a Chelsea kit and was a vital part of the team which would ultimately beat Middlesbrough in the final at Wembley.

The following year he assisted Vialli and the team in their quest to attain the aforementioned treble in the 1997-1998 season. The following years would see Zola regularly lead Chelsea into European competition and become in the eyes of Chelsea supporters on of the greatest to ever don the kit of royal blue.

His most memorable moment though came against Norwich in the FA Cup third round. In what has become one of the most famous moments not only FA Cup history but in all of English football, Zola received a pass from now NBC Sports commentator Graeme Le Saux and back-heeled in impossibly into the top of the net. Well and truly the Little Magician has struck again.

Stay tuned for part two!

Written by Jacob Rothman

 

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