From Chelsea’s perspective, Wednesday evening could not have gone any better for them.
Arsenal, their fierce rivals, were beaten at Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final, meaning the Blues are still the only team in London to have won a European trophy. Also, Saturday’s opponents Manchester City were beaten by Real Madrid on penalties after playing over 120 minutes of gruelling football beforehand.
Los Blancos took the lead early on in Manchester through Rodrygo, to give the 14-time Champions League winners the 4-3 advantage on aggregate. However, former Chelsea man Kevin De Bruyne scored deep into the second-half to send the tie into an additional 30 minutes.
The extra-time period was a cagey affair and the match went to penalties. Luka Modric missed Madrid’s first spot-kick but Bernardo Silva and another former Chelsea midfielder in Mateo Kovacic could not score for City, to send the Champions League holders out of the competition.
Pep Guardiola will be devastated he cannot add another European cup to his collection but he will also be annoyed his team were made to play 120 minutes just three days before a trip to Wembley to take on Chelsea. Erling Haaland was taken off before the extra-time period started and De Bruyne was substituted towards the end of the additional 30 minutes.
“They asked me to go out,” Guardiola said on his decision to substitute De Bruyne and Haaland. “They could not continue.”
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The likes of Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Rodri, Phil Foden and Silva all played the full 120 minutes for the Citizens on Wednesday. Manuel Akanji and De Bruyne were taken off after 112 minutes of action at the Etihad.
Meanwhile, at Chelsea, they will have had five days to prepare for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. The Blues cruised to a 6-0 victory at home to Everton on Monday evening, with Cole Palmer adding another four to his ever-growing goals tally, while Nicolas Jackson and Alfie Gilchrist also got on the score sheet.
Chelsea, as much as it has pained supporters, have not had any European commitments this season. While that in itself is certainly not a positive, for financial reasons and to keep fans on side, it may well prove to be an advantage ahead of Saturday evening’s cup tie, as Mauricio Pochettino explained not too long after his appointment last year.
“It has been good to recover players from the international break,” Pochettino said in September. “The circumstances have given us time to work and we’ve had a really good week.
“It is a time that, of course, for the fans is difficult because they are used to being in Europe. But we need to take advantage of the situation.”
Of course, Pochettino will be desperate to qualify for some form of European competition in the remaining matches of the season. With Wednesday night’s results in the Champions League especially damaging for England because Arsenal’s defeat to Bayern Munich was a loss to a direct coefficient rival in Germany, it has made it less likely that eighth-place will be enough for a Europa Conference League spot.
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