Even the most enthusiastic inhabitant of the Matthew Harding Stand might be reluctant to argue that Chelsea are the best team in Europe. But they dug deep, rode their luck, came up big at key moments and went home with the trophy. And this is the essence of a cup competition, with the chances that it creates for upsets.
League championships are a different matter. At the end of the season the table does not lie. The worst teams are at the bottom and the best ones are at the top - and in most major leagues the number of teams capable of making a genuine title challenge has fallen over recent years.
In the first full season I followed the English title was won by Derby County, who did it again three years later. There were still players around who had been active when the championship went to Ipswich and Burnley, unthinkable from today's perspective.
Before we start eulogising over the good old days, it is worth remembering that this competitive balance was underpinned by the treatment handed out to those who put on the show.
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As the bells and sore heads rang out across Munich on Sunday morning and Chelsea prepared to make a triumphant return home, owner Roman Abramovich was keeping his thoughts to himself.
Even the capture of the Champions League, the prize Abramovich has cherished most since he made the journey from the Russian territory of Chukotka to buy Chelsea in July 2003, could not prompt him to break his silence.
Abramovich was able to touch that precious piece of silverware he has pursued with such zeal and even allowed himself to be caught on camera tapping a foot, clapping and singing along with the Chelsea anthems that echoed around the Allianz Arena after their victory on penalties against Bayern Munich.
Apart from congratulating his players and hoping for further successes, Abramovich gave little of his emotions away and the greatest interim manager of all time, Roberto Di Matteo, flatly declined to discuss what message the man he calls "The Boss" had given him after the game.
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There might be something of a marriage of convenience about West Ham United and manager Sam Allardyce, but it all seemed pretty blissful at the final whistle of the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday.
The sun broke through the clouds, thousands of bubbles floated lazily across the ground and everyone connected with the club were united in celebration of the club's immediate return to the Premier League.
The players hastily put on T-shirts proclaiming "nothing beats being back" - and nobody wearing claret and blue inside Wembley was arguing.
Perhaps more than anything else, West Ham's 2-1 victory over Blackpool brought with it a sense of relief.
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