Chelsea has been trying hard, at least since the appointment of Maurizio Sarri and a few brief moments before, to scrub Jose Mourinho’s fingerprints off the club. Such was his influence on the early days of the Roman Abramovich era that, over two appointments, the Blues wrapped themselves in his cloth. It was us against the world. The result is all that matters and if we’re hated for that, then we’ll just fight even harder.
But those notions are deep in Chelsea’s DNA. Sarri couldn’t change them. Frank Lampard tried to tap into them but couldn’t quite muster it other than a few flashes. Thomas Tuchel came in and has arguably been the closest since Antonio Conte of making Chelsea feel like Chelsea.
A few weeks ago, the Blues were simply dominant. Since then, the Blues have stalled and sputtered and rolled over the line for Champions League qualification. As the Blues were making Aston Villa look like super stars, Manchester City was putting on a clinic against Everton just because they could. And in many ways, that’s exactly what Chelsea may have needed this week.
In many ways, this all traces back to a match against Manchester City. The Blues had just pummeled Real Madrid in the Champions League. Manchester City also booked their ticket that week, meaning the Premier League match that weekend would be a dress rehearsal for the big final. Both teams rotated decently and Chelsea came out on top. It was Thomas Tuchel’s second win over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in just under as many weeks.
And that’s when things fell apart. It’s not the first time this season that Chelsea had been soaring ever higher only to see their wings melt in the heat of the sun. The first time had been with Frank Lampard and the Blues completely collapsed. This time, the fall has included a crushing loss to Arsenal, a limp FA Cup performance, and a pathetic mishandling of destiny against Aston Villa. Only a combative win against Leicester City (which ultimately made the difference for top four) stopped the fall briefly.
Chelsea might have been seen as a favorite in the Champions League final after beating Manchester City a few weeks ago. At the very least, an equal. Now? Now the Blues are 100% the underdogs. It’s not quite the gulf that was present in 2012, but watching Manchester City destroy Everton for fun and watching Chelsea bang their heads against an Aston Villa shaped wall would lead to only one favorite.
But that’s probably what Chelsea needed. Even when the Blues were winning silverware for fun last decade, it never came from a place of “we deserve this”. It always came from a place of “let’s show them we deserve this”. That is something that has been missing from Chelsea in recent times. But the build up to this Champions League final? This suits the club.
Manchester City is favorite to win the Champions League. Few would dispute that, especially now. And that’s exactly what Chelsea may have needed. The Blues do their best work when nothing is expected of them. When they are just expected to show up and play their role. That’s what this week is going to be about. Digging in, and daring Manchester City to fulfill their promise. Because otherwise, this match might end up looking a lot like the last one where Chelsea, backs against the wall, flipped the script.