Cesar Azpilicueta believes a Carabao Cup victory over Manchester City would mean ‘everything’ to Chelsea amid growing uncertainty around Maurizio Sarri’s future.
The Blues are potentially facing a season-defining week, starting with Sunday’s Carabao Cup final with City, before locking horns with Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, and finishing up with a west London derby against Fulham next weekend.
How important is the Carabao Cup to Chelsea? Five key things to know…
- Sarri was appointed in the summer with the job specification of winning silverware with exciting football.
- Of all four competitions Chelsea were competing in at the start of the season, the Carabao Cup would likely have ranked bottom of the agenda.
- However, after a string of poor performances and results, any trophy would be a significant step for Sarri.
- The Italian is yet to clinch silverware across his entire career so victory on Sunday would quash that particular scepticism.
- Chelsea are in danger of capitulating this season so Azpilicueta believes a win against City would mean ‘everything’ to the club.
The Blues suffered elimination from the FA Cup on Monday night after producing a lacklustre display against Manchester United, losing 2-0 to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men.
Sarri did manage to rally the troops and bounce back with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Malmo in the Europa League on Thursday, taking them into the round-of-16, where they will face Dynamo Kiev next month.
However, team captain Azpilicueta has firmly set his sights on thwarting Pep Guardiola’s quest for a quadruple, believing his side can pull of an upset and revitalise their campaign.
“Hopefully we can have a good nine days. It’s the whole season,” Azpilicueta told reporters.
“We know that a trophy in the middle is everything, to bring the fans back to Wembley with the spirit to get the cup.”
The Spaniard then turned his attention to his side’s lack of potency against the Red Devils, lambasting the inability of Sarri’s strike force to penetrate United’s defence across the entire 90 minutes.
“We didn’t put Manchester [United] in difficulties even at 2-0 down,” he added. “We were not very good in the final metres, so we paid [for] that. And at the end we couldn’t score.”
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Sarri opting for just one day of training
Ahead of the blockbuster encounter on Sunday, Sarri made the claim that his side will only be preparing for the clash with just a single day of training, believing his tactics and ideas will stay fresh in his player’s minds.
After the victory against Malmo, he stressed that his players looked worried and lacked confidence, so he is opting to reduce the training time to keep the atmosphere ‘free’.
“For 30 minutes I saw a team very worried, without confidence,” he reflected on the most recent Europa League win.
“I don’t want to press them, I want to keep their minds very free. We will prepare for the match only on Saturday, because I didn’t like our minds in the first 30 minutes. I want to see something more free.
“We prepare for the match in 60 minutes, no more. The quantity is not important.”
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