Chelsea's
agonising exit from the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid on
Tuesday came with the feeling that an era was ending. Not only was their
reign as European champions finished, but it was also likely to be Chelsea's
final match in the competition under the ownership of Roman Abramovich.
But putting the pain of being knocked out of Europe aside - as well as the
worries over the club's future as one of the continent's most successful
sides that Abramovich's impending exit is generating - the aggregate defeat
to Real also left Chelsea with just one remaining realistic route to
silverware this season.
The points gap to Premier League title-chasers Manchester City and Liverpool
is in double digits with just eight games remaining, meaning that success in
the FA Cup is surely the only way that Thomas Tuchel's side can add to the
European Super Cup and Club World Cup they won earlier this season.
Of Chelsea's three potential semi-final opponents when the draw was made,
Crystal Palace were likely the pick of the bunch, but victory at Wembley is
far from certain given the Eagles' resurgence under Patrick Vieira. And even
if Chelsea are able to negotiate their way into a third successive FA Cup
final, they would almost certainly go into the game as underdogs against
Liverpool.
Nevertheless, lifting the cup and ensuring they don't end the season without
a domestic trophy for the fourth successive season must now be a priority.
But would doing so be enough to guarantee that the campaign goes down as a
successful one?
Chelsea team news
Romelu Lukaku will have the chance to prove his fitness in Chelsea training
ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace.
The Belgium hitman has been struggling with Achilles tendon pain but has the
chance to return against the Eagles at Wembley.
Callum Hudson-Odoi remains out of action with a back issue, with Ben
Chilwell a long-term absentee after knee surgery.
Chelsea provisional squad: Mendy, Kepa, Chalobah, Christensen, Rudiger,
Silva, Sarr, Azpilicueta, Alonso, James, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Barkley,
Loftus-Cheek, Saul, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Havertz, Werner, Lukaku.
Man City and Liverpool still out of reach
Their status as European champions, the promise of a first full season under
Tuchel and the return of club-record signing Romelu Lukaku meant Chelsea
entered the campaign with genuine hope of launching their first title
challenge since winning the league under Antonio Conte in 2017.
Momentum was generated thanks to the Super Cup win over Villarreal, and some
impressive early victories in the Premier League took them to the top of the
table after 10 matches.
But any expectation of glory was thrown into doubt by disappointing draws at
home to Burnley and Michael Carrick's Manchester United, before a run of
just two league wins in nine matches crushed the Blues' title ambitions by
mid-January. Seeing Manchester City and Liverpool racing into the distance
with four months of the season still to play cannot be seen as anything
other than a disappointment.
Chelsea may argue that progress is still discernible given they ended last
season 19 points behind champions Man City, while the current gap is now
down to 12 points. Tuchel's team can also point to the fact they hold what
should be a comfortable lead over the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Man
Utd and that third place is theirs to lose, whereas they only secured a
top-four finish on the final day of last season. But there's no hiding that,
over a long league campaign, Chelsea are still a level below Man City and
Liverpool.
As for Lukaku, his failure to have the desired impact means Chelsea are
likely to end the season without a player reaching 20 goals across all
competitions for the fourth season in a row. The striker's controversial
interview with Sky in Italy just months after returning to Stamford Bridge,
in which he expressed a desire to one day move back to Inter Milan and
questioned Tuchel's tactics, didn't help his cause. The Belgian now finds
himself out the starting XI and the struggles of such an exciting signing
have put a dampener on Chelsea's season
Chelsea's Champions League campaign was in many ways similar to their
efforts in the Premier League - a 4-0 thrashing of Juventus in the group
stage suggested a deep run in the competition was possible, while they came
within 10 minutes of producing one of the tournament's all-time great
comebacks in the Bernabeu.
But ultimately Chelsea were eliminated by a side they dispatched comfortably
in the semi-finals last season, thanks largely to a host of missed chances
and some uncharacteristic defensive errors - all while Man City and
Liverpool remain on course to meet in the final.
The closest the Blues have come to winning domestic silverware so far this
season came in the Carabao Cup, where they came out on the wrong side of a
marathon penalty shootout against Liverpool. While there was barely anything
to separate the sides on the day, it was Chelsea's fifth cup final defeat in
the last four seasons - a curious statistic for a club that has had a habit
of rising to the biggest occasions.
To their credit, that was a habit they were able to show in the Super Cup
win - their first for 23 years - and their victorious Club World Cup
campaign in February, which saw them lift the trophy for the first time in
the club's history and may well ensure that, as long as Chelsea finish in
the top four, this season will not go down as a failure.
Crystal Palace team news
Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira will be without eight-goal hitman Conor
Gallagher, who is ineligible to face his parent club and saw a written
request to Chelsea last week turned down.
The Eagles manager also needs to check on the fitness of Tyrick Mitchell
(calf) and Michael Olise (foot), who have only taken part in some training
this week.
Full-back Nathan Ferguson (hamstring) remains sidelined while Vieira will
need to pick between cup goalkeeper Jack Butland and first-choice Vicente
Guaita.
Crystal Palace provisional squad: Guaita, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell,
Olise, Kouyate, Schlupp, Ayew, Mateta, Zaha, Butland, Ward, Tomkins, Hughes,
Milivojevic, McArthur, Eze, Edouard, Benteke, Matthews, Adaramola, Kelly,
Riedewald, Rak-Sakyi.
'Figurehead' Tuchel leads Chelsea through
ownership drama
But perhaps Tuchel's biggest achievement this season has been keeping the
team on track throughout the turbulence of the last few months. Abramovich's
announcement that he was planning to sell the club caused shockwaves, given
he had bankrolled their success for nearly two decades, while the
government's decision to freeze the Russian billionaire's assets - including
Chelsea - sparked fears for their future.
Chelsea also remain unable to renew contracts, which leaves Antonio Rudiger
and Andreas Christensen as impending free agents and means a host of other
negotiations - including with N'Golo Kante and Jorginho - have been unable
to progress.
All of this could have caused huge unease amongst the squad, but Tuchel has
managed to keep the team united, as shown by their record of eight wins from
11 matches since Abramovich first declared his intention to sell.
Tuchel's impressive displays in front of the media at a time when very few
others at the club have been either willing or able to address the current
issues have also garnered praise, with Jamie Carragher telling Sky Sports
last month: "He's a brilliant manager, but the way he's handled himself in
the last couple of weeks has really shown what kind of a guy he is. He's
been the figurehead for Chelsea and he's come across really well. He's been
a real leader for this club."
Chelsea's performance in cup finals since
2016/17
- 2016/17 FA Cup (lost 2-1 vs Arsenal)
- 2017/18 FA Cup (won 1-0 vs Man Utd)
- 2018/19 Carabao Cup (0-0 vs Man City, lost on pens); Europa League (won
4-1 vs Arsenal)
- 2019/20 FA Cup (lost 2-1 to Arsenal); Super Cup (2-2 vs Liverpool, lost
on pens)
- 2020/21 FA Cup (lost 1-0 to Leicester); Champions League (won 1-0 vs Man
City)
- 2021/22 Carabao Cup (0-0 vs Liverpool, lost on pens); Super Cup (1-1 vs
Villarreal, won on pens); Club World Cup (won 2-1 vs Palmeiras)
The immediate concerns over Chelsea's future have been alleviated by the
prospect of new owners - the deadline for final bids from the four
shortlisted candidates was Thursday - and there is hope a takeover could be
completed before the end of the season.
And what better way for Chelsea to see off the campaign than with a third
successive appearance in the FA Cup final, possibly even with the new owners
in attendance at Wembley? But first, the Blues must see off Palace, and
Tuchel believes the opportunity to do so presents the perfect chance to
bounce back from their Champions League disappointment.
"This is a big knockout game at Wembley, which is, in my opinion, a good
thing because there's a huge reward coming with it," he said on Friday.
If Chelsea are able to claim that reward, they will give themselves one
final chance to topple Liverpool and ensure that a dramatic, and at times
disappointing season, ends on the highest of highs.
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