All stats correct up to May 5. Sport went to press before Chelsea’s midweek tie with Tottenham
Radar
p06 – Flashback: to 1953, and the Matthews Final
p08 – Sir Chris Hoy launches his own range of bikes at Evans
The Europa League final will be a record 67th game for Chelsea this season, across 8 competitions. If you had gone to every away game and back, you’d have travelled more than 55,000 kilometres – enough to circle the planet – while tickets to each of their 31 home games would have set you back at least £955. Only 9,800 Chelsea fans will actually get to go to the final – that’s their ticket allocation in the 53,000 capacity Amsterdam ArenA, with the most expensive ticket at £117. That pales in comparison to the £3.2m the club have paid Florent Malouda for his 0 appearances this season. They have used 25 other players, though, from 13 different countries. Branislav Ivanovic has played 55 times, more than any other outfield player, for a total of 4,707 minutes. The 16th minute of some of those matches has been dedicated (by the fans) to Roberto di Matteo, who lasted 21 games into the season before being replaced by Rafa Benitez – Chelsea’s 9th boss of the Abramovich era. A victory on Wednesday night would be the Russian’s 11th major competition win – with the £2bn he’s invested in the club, that’s an eye-watering average of more than £181m per trophy. And he’s reportedly willing to give another £100m to the Special 1 to spend – if José Mourinho returns to the club next season. | May 10 2013 | 05