Chelsea chase missing piece of Abramovich puzzle
Chelsea and Palmeiras face off in the Fifa Club World Cup final in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. And while the trophy represents the last piece of silverware the Blues have missing from their bulging trophy cabinet on Roman Abramovich's watch, it is no less important to Brazilian opponents Palmeiras.
Thomas Tuchel and Thiago Silva bookended one of modern football's most underrated comeback stories when Chelsea lifted the Champions League in Porto last May.
Both falling at the final hurdle against Bayern Munich in Lisbon just nine months earlier, they soon parted ways with Paris Saint Germain and might have missed out on their chance to get their hands on club football's most coveted item had they taken different paths.
While Silva headed to Stamford Bridge first on a free transfer in the summer window, Tuchel followed him when replacing underperforming club legend Frank Lampard in the dugout in late January. The rest, as they say, is history.
Quickly turning the Blue's fortunes round, Tuchel oversaw an impressive run to the Champions League final once more, where Chelsea beat Premier League rivals Manchester City thanks to a first-half Kai Havertz winner.
Not only was the triumph redemption for Tuchel and Silva. For club owner Roman Abramovich and director Marina Granovskaia, it was validation of their masterstroke to appoint the German tactician mid-season, proving again that the west Londoners truly deserve to stand among European royalty since Abramovich's takeover in 2003.
On Saturday, then, the Russian mogul's work is truly done if Chelsea can overcome their Sao Paulo-based opposition and at long last get their hands on the only major piece of silverware that has eluded them in the Club World Cup.
Chelsea, of course, have been here before. Not in Abu Dhabi specifically, but at this competition that pits continental winners from around the globe against one another. In 2012, after overcoming Bayern Munich in a dramatic Champions League final penalty shootout at the Bavarians' own Allianz Arena, they were upstaged by Palmeiras' eternal enemies Corinthians in Yokohama through a late Paolo Guerrero header.
For some, such as captain Cesar Azpilicueta, the loss still stings to this day almost a decade on. "I was part of the 2012 Club World Cup, it hurt a lot," explained the skipper this week.
"It was my first season, I wasn't coming from winning the Champions League but we had a lot of competitions.
"It looked more normal than it was. You realize how difficult it is after 10 years to be back here," the Spaniard added.
Azpi's future is up in the air amid links to Barcelona, and this weekend may offer his last chance to win the tournament as the Catalans are a few seasons off being credible Champions League challengers should he head to the Camp Nou this summer as a 32-year-old on a free transfer.
Once appearing as though they were on the way to challenging Manchester City for the Premier League title, Chelsea trail the leaders by 13 points but can kickstart their season again with a victory ahead of a Carabao Cup final meeting with Liverpool at the end of the month.
The Blues are still in the race for the FA Cup too, and continue the defense of the UCL against Lille in under a fortnight. But while for the reasons listed the Club World Cup is perhaps more important to them than many other European sides in recent years, there is far more at stake for those in the green corner – who are chasing eternal glory.
In arguably the most disputed point of Brazilian footballing folklore, Palmeiras claim to have won the first-ever club world championship in 1951 which was known as the Copa Rio and featured sides such as then-Italian champions Juventus plus counterparts from Portugal, Yugoslavia and France in Sporting Lisbon, Red Star Belgrade and Nice.
Amid ridicule, it took until 2014 for Sepp Blatter, who was FIFA president at the time, to officially recognize it as a valid world title. But it is only by getting the better of Chelsea that fans of rival clubs such as Corinthians and Flamengo will finally back off from chanting popular refrains such as "Palmeiras nao tem Mundial" ("Palmeiras don't have a world championship").
As suggested by the way Corinthians fans sold their houses, cars and motorbikes to afford the trip to Tokyo in 2012, the "Mundial" is the crème de la crème for South Americans who view taking the spoils home as the sport's ultimate achievement.
Unfortunately for them, however, that was the last time an outfit from the continent that lives and breathes football got bragging rights over the Europeans. Since then, the disparities in class and quality have become more evident each passing season while budding talents from Brazil and Argentina leave to try and play the Champions League and secure generational wealth younger than ever at a detriment to the local game.
In recent years, Flamengo came closest in the 2019 edition of the competition by taking Liverpool to extra time before having their hearts broken by a Roberto Firmino winner. Last time round, however, to howls of laughter across Brazil, Palmeiras failed to get past Tigres of Mexico in the semis, who beat them 1-0 thanks to an Andre-Pierre Christian Gignac penalty.
Trumping Flamengo 2-1 in the second consecutive all-Brazilian Libertadores final in late 2021, Palmeiras made up for their blunder by beating Al Ahly 2-0 midweek while Chelsea got past Al-Hilal 1-0. And as Brazil's first back-to-back Libertadores winners since Sao Paulo FC in the early 90s, Palmeiras come into the final on this occasion stronger than ever, in what is their first final appearance since losing to Manchester United's treble winners in 1999 when the tournament was known as the Intercontinental Cup.
Led by Portuguese mastermind Abel Ferreira, Palmeiras boast a healthy mix of veterans such as stars player Dudu and former La Liga badboy Deyverson, plus youngsters Gabriel Veron and Gabriel Menino. But judging by the line up against Al Ahly, Ferreira may choose to field his more experienced players while the likes of Chelsea target Menino have been left at home in Sao Paulo.
Taking a more patient approach this time compared to last year, Palmeiras have been commended for their defensive maturity and are expected to try and keep Chelsea's record signing Romelu Lukaku at bay before soaking up the pressure and waiting for the perfect opportunity to launch a counter attack.
The Brazilian press see Palmeiras' chances of winning as "possible but not probable", and though Chelsea haven't been branded a "weak" Champions League holder as they were in 2012 before meeting Corinthians, the Blues are thought of as vulnerable without the ball and leaving spaces that Rony, Dudu and Raphael Veiga can expose while prone to "physical decline" in the second half.
Chelsea will be given a boost by Edouard Mendy being able to join the squad following his Africa Cup of Nations win on Senegal duty, and Mason Mount could also be fit enough to start after coming off the bench midweek. There was another big boost as manager Thomas Tuchel also arrived to join the team after returning from Covid isolation.
Once more drilling home the importance of the tie to the Brazilians that have brought 15,000 fans with them, Brazil-born Italy playmaker Jorginho, who was rejected by Palmeiras as a youngster and will use this as motivation, warned that Paulistanos are "going to come for us".
Palmeiras fans are on a mad one in Dubai 😂 pic.twitter.com/58rpyg0fDr
— Kirsten (@KirstenPugz) February 11, 2022
"We need to be prepared for that," he added. "It is the same for us but definitely we are going to give everything in this final and we need to be prepared."
"It is always good to be in a final," Jorginho went on. "It is another trophy and it is important for us. We have never won this cup. It’s important and we will give everything to bring the trophy home."
Now it is a case of waiting to see who wants it more, the chance to potentially define a generation.
By Tom Sanderson
