Chelsea’s three finals to transition into a new season and the future

Chelsea has three matches to go before the season ends. While only one is a true final, they are all finals in the meaning they carry for next season.

It is a football cliche, but Chelsea has three finals to end this current season. While only the FA Cup final is an actual final, the match against Wolverhampton Wanderers and the match against Bayern Munich both hold enough meaning for the future to be treated like finals.

What these matches mean for the future is the real important bit. For all intents and purposes, this current season and next season blend into one thanks to Covid, with a few days off in between. Chelsea plays Wolves tomorrow. The FA Cup final is just under a week later. Bayern Munich is a week after that. Depending on how that goes, this season will continue, but there is still only a month from that game and the start of a new season.

Each of those three matches will play into Chelsea’s fate this season as well as next. The shortness of the break means the Blues are effectively going to carry whatever seeds they sow now straight into next season for reaping. That increases the need for results in these three matches, making them “finals”.

Wolves comes up first with only a point needed for Champions League. Given the team Frank Lampard and Petr Cech are trying to build for next season, Champions League qualification is mandatory. Will the Blues be favorites? No, but that is never the point. No club can win without a ticket to the lottery. And even if Kai Havertz is interested in joining regardless, other players will not be so interested.

Next up if the actual final of the trio with another meet up with Arsenal. Chelsea lost out on one FA Cup to the Gunners this decade, but they made up for it with a Europa League beat down. That should not be enough. Ending Lampard’s first season with a piece of silverware would be a major affirmation about the appointment of the Chelsea legend. It would also be a spring board to build for the future of the club under the Englishman’s lead.

The last final is the one that can extend the season. Bayern Munich has a hefty 3-0 aggregate lead over the Blues. Pound for pound, they were probably the best team in the world following the Covid break up until their season “ended”. It is unknown which players either club will still have when the match finally happens or who will be in the pipeline for the new season. A good performance by Chelsea, even if it is not enough to advance, could galvanize the squad on the eve of whatever counts for preseason this year.

These three matches can change the entire trajectory of next season. Three solid wins, or even a draw, win, and a good showing, could bolster the Blues as they look to enter Lampard’s sophomore year. It is a must for the Blues to do what they need to do not only for this season, but for the next to build on the momentum as well.