Bayern Munich v Chelsea - the key issues which will decide who will win the Champions League final

By Gary Neville for the Daily Mail

Published: 16:06 EST, 12 May 2012 | Updated: 17:48 EST, 12 May 2012

The 1999 Champions League winner on the key issues that will determine who comes out on top in Munich.

Gomez and Drogba

Both strikers are built like an old-fashioned centre-forward: physical, strong, powerful. But they lead the line on their own, effectively doing the job that two men used to do. Very few can manage that but these two are among the best in the world.

The pair have carried their teams at times. Didier Drogba had four monster displays in games that mattered for Chelsea - Valencia at home, Napoli at home and Barcelona home and away. He did whatever his team needed, whether it was breaking up the play, sacrificing himself in midfield in the Nou Camp - or scoring the goals they needed, such as the winner over Barcelona at the Bridge.

If Chelsea are to win the Champions League, Drogba is going to have to have a big night. Mario Gomez has an almost surreal scoring record, with 80 goals in 90 appearances for club and country in the past two years and 12 in the Champions League this season. He's surrounded by more fashionable players, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, who grab the headlines. But he probes around that last defender, is physically difficult to get near to and hard to mark at crosses.

Munich or bust

More frightening than travelling to Munich for Chelsea is that this game is their last chance of making the Champions League. You can imagine the glory of being the first players in the club's history to win this trophy and the first club from London to do so. But lose and there will be the knowledge this is a pivotal moment. Sixth in the Premier League isn't much of a return for Roman Abramovich after spending £130million on players in the last 18 months. If there is no Champions League football at Chelsea next season, just when the Financial Fair Play regulations come into force, how will they cope with the new era? Chelsea are at a fork in the road: one way lies immortality, down the other lies a very uncertain future.

Football coming home

Much has been made about Bayern being at their home ground. Theoretically you could change the venue but, in reality, this is now a huge occasion, much more than a match, that takes years to plan. And it's not unique. Liverpool beat Roma at the home of the Italians to win the European Cup in 1984, while Real Madrid won it at the Bernabeu in 1957 and Inter at the San Siro in 1965. Manchester United had a home advantage of sorts, too, playing at Wembley last year. While it does give Bayern a slight advantage, staying in a familiar routine and having more fans won't be the decisive factor. Because of the magic of the occasion and the huge Chelsea support, it will hardly feel like an average home game. I doubt whether Chelsea will have any negativity about that. Rather like Bruce Grobbelaar, whose wobbly legs in the penalty shoot-out became the iconic image of that famous 1984 final, they should be inspired by the challenge.

The makeshift defences

The suspensions on both sides have dominated the build-up and the absence of Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry, who misses out after being sent off against Barcelona, is a big blow for Chelsea.

They are defenders' defenders who would have been ideal for doing a job on Mario Gomez. David Luiz and Gary Cahill may deputise but neither will have played for four weeks, so Michael Essien (right) may have to play as an emergency centre-half.

With Gomez working off Robben and Ribery and Toni Kroos or Thomas Muller just behind them, this is Roberto di Matteo's biggest concern.

Bayern have similar troubles

Left-back David Alaba Alaba is out and he's a real talent who gives them great balance, while protecting Ribery amd offering an attacking threat. Centre-half Holger is suspended, meaning Daniel van Buyten might be rushed back for his first game since January. Or, more likely, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, a holding midfielder, will come in and do a job like Essien might have to.

Tymoshchuk has played at centre-half but it's such a specialised role that it's always hard to adapt. It's something I had to do at times, switching from my normal position at right-back, and it can take time to adjust to seeing the game from a different angle.

Day of destiny

We've talked about tactics, suspensions, back fours and strikers but you can't dismiss the importance of that feeling that your name is on the trophy.

When Lionel Messi missed his penalty against Chelsea in the Nou Camp, I found myself saying: 'Maybe this is just written in the stars.'

And in 1999, when I won the trophy with Manchester United, there were those crazy couple of minutes in injury time during which Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored and all conventional football went out of the window.

Sometimes it feels like something extraordinary is happening and that this is your year. Chelsea will have felt that in the Nou Camp and now, going into the lion's den in Munich, they might feel the same.

They were a penalty kick away from winning the trophy in 2008 and must feel they've had their fair share of pain. I'll be looking out for signs, around about the hour mark, to see if that momentum is gathering among the players, that sensation that defies logic. You don't know why and you can't explain how but you sense the trophy is destined to come to you. Chelsea have to believe that it's their time in Munich.