This brings the number of Chelsea players with a dubious hairstyle history upto 3 currently, with Raul Meireles and Flourent Malouda both sporting dodgy haircuts in recent times – perhaps its something in the water down at Stamford Bridge.

Anyway, here are some snaps of Kalou with the spider shaved into the back of his head. Arguably it did them very well, where they overcame Bayern Munich on penalties to win the most coveted trophy in club football.

West Ham face Blackpool with both teams attempting to bounce back into the top division at the first time of asking – both sides were relegated last season, and West Ham have had an amazing season, finishing 2nd behind Southampton who’ve already won a place in the Premier League, whilst Blackpool just managed to scrape into the Play Off positions.

Sam Allardyce has argued that the game today for West Ham vs Blackpool is arguably bigger than the Champions League, stating that the European cup is a mere trophy of glory whereas this play off final affects people’s lives. The play off final undoubtedly has more financial value to it, but the champions league final is more of a glory trophy perhaps – one every manager dreams of winning, whereas few actually realise the moment.

West Ham will be favourites to beat Blackpool here, and many feel that Ian Holloway has done a brilliant job to get his side in contention again – hardly anyone felt they’d make it to the final. The Hammers will be favourites to win by some margin here, having won against Blackpool 4-0 both home and away this season in the Championship.

Whatever happens in this game at Wembley, lets hope for an entertaining game, and it’d make for a great spectacle if Blackpool were able to pinch an early surprise goal.

It is finally upon us, the game which will determine who is crowned champions of Europe. With up to 109 million viewers watching this spectacle in recent years, all eyes will be on the Allianz arena come tomorrow evening. The match itself sees Bayern Munich take on Chelsea. Both teams have arguably under-achieved this season in their respective league campaigns, yet they find themselves in probably the biggest and most crucial match of the season.

Bayern’s road to the final:

Bayern were given a tough draw at the beginning of the tournament. They found themselves in the so called ‘death’ group, drawn with the likes of Manchester City, Napoli and Villarreal. However, they managed to accumulate 13 points thanks to their superior home record, and progressed safely into the knockout rounds as group winners.

In the first knockout round they met Swiss side, FC Basel. Surprisingly, Basel managed to narrowly win the first leg 1-0, however, Bayern were soon able to overturn this deficit in amazing fashion as they ran out 7-0 winners at the Allianz arena. The highlight of this particular match was the 4 goals scored by prolific forward, Mario Gomez. The quarter-final saw them face French side, Marseille. It is fair to say that the tie itself was a relatively easy one for Bayern, as Marseille didn’t pose any threat in the slightest. The German side won the tie 4-0 on aggregate.

The semi-final was Bayern’s ultimate test. They came up against Spanish giants, Real Madrid. Madrid were having a faultless season, leading La Liga several points in front of Barcelona. Their talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo, was in impeccable form eventually finished the season on 55 goals in 60 games. Yet Bayern fought bravely and in a nail-biting finale, they managed to win an all-important penalty shootout at the Santiago Bernabeu. The match over both legs taught us a few things about Munich. Firstly, they had a team filled with talent, they had a hunger to win and most importantly, lady luck was truly on their side. Will this be the case tomorrow evening?

Chelsea’s road to the final:

The draw for the Champions League group stage’s saw Chelsea matched with Valencia, Genk and Bayer Leverkusen. The pundits were quick to suggest that Chelsea would win the group in flying colours, however, they made hard work of it in the end. After losing away to Bayer Leverkusen and only picking up a point each away to Valencia and Genk, Chelsea needed to beat Valencia at home in their last game to secure a place in the knockout round. Thanks to a brace by veteran striker, Didier Drogba, Chelsea ran out 3-0 winners and progressed safely through.

The first knockout round saw the Londoners come against Italian side, Napoli. The intense counter attacking football in which the Italian side played was too much for Chelsea in the first leg and they somehow had to overcome a 3-1 deficit if they were to progress to the quarter-final. However, in one of the best comebacks in Champions League history, Chelsea beat Napoli 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. Significantly, since the 3-1 defeat in Naples, Roberto Di Matteo had taken over at the realm after the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas. Di Matteo would then lead Chelsea to an FA Cup trophy and provide them with a chance to lift one of the most prestigious trophies of them all.

Tactically, Chelsea had the beaten of Benfica in the quarter final when the two sides met. Benfica could not break down the Chelsea old guard and were defeated both home and away. This set up a semi-final which will never be forgotten in Champions League history. Chelsea met their old foe Barcelona yet again, having played them 3 times over the past 5 years. Having won the first leg 1-0, Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down at the Camp Nou and down to 10 men after John Terry’s outrageous dismissal. All hope was lost as far as Chelsea fans were concerned, however, their team defended bravely and withstood masses amounts of pressure throughout the entire game. Their hard work paid off in the end, as they remarkably fought back and drew the game level 2-2. This particular game epitomized Chelsea’s champions league road this season, as many believed they were down and out, yet they got up and won against all the odds.

What will the outcome be?

It is too close to call for me. Many have suggested that Bayern have the advantage as they are playing in their home stadium, in front of many of their fans. However, I believe that this could work to their disadvantage if they are not able to score within the hour mark. The fans are likely to get agitated and equally so, the Bayern players may show signs of frustration if Chelsea are able to keep them quiet. For me, Chelsea look destined to win as they have overcome the odds which have been heavily stacked against them throughout the whole tournament. One more win will see them capture the biggest prize in their history. Both Chelsea and Bayern have had their fair share of luck on the way to the final, however, luck will only be able to shine on one of them tomorrow evening. May the best team win.

Probably not massive news as Owen has rarely featured this season due to various niggling injuries, however I’m sure all Man United fans will want to wish him the best for the future, he gave us some great moments, perhaps this his finest in a United shirt:

The journeyman forward soon stepped up his form, netting a goal of the season contender against eventual Premier League champions Manchester City at Britannia Stadium, volleying in from 25 yards.

Career over? Will Crouch ever play for England again?

King of the robot dance, Crouch, played 41 times for the Potters this season during their very busy schedule, finding the net on 14 occasions, six of which came in the last 14 games this season. Surely it was a no brainer to include this man in the squad for the Euros?

Yet the man previously considered to be a Liverpool flop, Andy Carroll, was picked instead after a decent end to the campaign. Other Liverpool players have taken the place of those surely more worthy of a spot on the plane to Poland? You only have to look at the addition of Glen Johnson ahead of Micah Richards and the baffling decision to include Jordan Henderson as a backup instead of Michael Carrick to see that. Oh, not to mention Stewart Downing…

Overlooked: Title winner Micah Richards

I wouldn’t be adverse to taking both Crouch and Carroll (ahead of Defoe perhaps?), but if you are to take just one then surely a proven international striker is a must, especially when they are also in such fine form for their club.

Aged 31, Crouch still may have a chance to force his way back into Roy’s plans and add to the 22 goals his has for England in his 42 caps. But with up and coming youngsters Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, Carroll and Theo Walcott all playing for more illustrious clubs, you have to think it will be tough especially when he can’t even get recognition in this form.

Who knows, Andy Carroll and Jermain Defoe may forge a deadly partnership in the first two games and lead England to Euro 2012 glory!

Many Villa fans will be delighted with this news as many of them had opposed his instatement as manager to begin with, and to be fair to the club they’ve not really achieved a great deal this season, and had a few scary near-relegation-zone moments towards the end of the season too.

I think its safe to say that no-one expected the side to go down however, but perhaps it was the style of football under McLeish that frustrated so many at the club, with the manager reknown for playing a solid, defensive style with little attacking flair. When you’ve got the likes of Gabby Agbonglahor and Darren Bent (when fit) at your disposal, defensive football probably isn’t your strongpoint.

It remains to be seen where McLeish will head next, perhaps a side like West Brom might take a gamble on him, or maybe he’ll happily drop down to manage a Championship side. There doesn’t seem to be a massive range of choices available for Aston Villa to pick from either.

Van Nistelrooy has struggled since arriving at Malaga, scoring 5 times in 32 appearances. Most of the clubs goals have been scored by Jose Rondon. However, I think most people will more likely remember his time at Man United, and Real Madrid, where he scored goals for fun. At United he scored 95 in 150 appearances, whilst at Madrid he scored 46 in 68. He was probably one of the best goal-scorers in United’s history, quite a feat.

21 year old Hazard recently let out a come and get me plea on Twitter: “Two more games to play in the colours of Lille”, meaning that come the end of the season Hazard will be looking to move on to another club. The likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan have all been linked to the attacking midfielder in the past, but many feel that the lure of the Premier League will be a hard one for Hazard to turn down.

Its been stated recently in the press that both Manchester clubs are after Eden’s signature, with Hazard seemingly likely to choose City over United, a move that could have massive consequences for the Old Trafford based team. Man United need to make a big signing, a big statement, that they are still able to contend with Man City financially and that they still have the ability to attract big name players, and the signing of Eden Hazard is surely the best way for them to do that.

Hazard hasn’t just been linked to a move to City of United in the Premier League either – Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have all been credited with looking at signing the Belgian*. Out of these 3 clubs perhaps Arsenal would have the biggest attraction for Hazard, who would probably love to work alongside Wenger, who has a history of working with young, talented individuals who play fast, attractive football.

An Eden Hazard transfer to Liverpool would be highly unlikely, as much as their fans would love to see the player at the club, as he may be out of their budget and Hazard may not see Liverpool as a top side, at least with the season that they’ve just had. Similarly, I don’t think Tottenham Hotspur or Arsenal could afford the likely £20 or £30 million transfer fee that Lille are likely to demand. So that probably leaves just Man United and Man City to try and battle it out for his transfer. Perhaps City will push out all the stops for the player, as he’d solve some of their winger problems and could maybe complete the Man City side. However Man United would need the player alot more then City, with United looking very lacklustre going forward this season – something that you don’t usually associate with Man United.

Anyway, you can see what all the fuss is about regarding Eden Hazard by taking a look at the Youtube video below, showing some of his best performances in a Lille shirt.

*Eden Hazard is of course Belgian, not French, as kindly pointed out by Chris in the comments below.