An insight into the absence of Andreas Christensen from Chelsea’s matchday squad to face Liverpool on Saturday has been forthcoming online, and reflects altogether poorly on the Danish international.
Thomas Tuchel’s Blues of course made the trip to Wembley yesterday evening, for an FA Cup final showdown with quadruple-chasing Liverpool.
Christensen, for his part, was expected to take his place in Chelsea’s backline for the clash, despite the stopper’s imminent free agent departure from Stamford Bridge for Barcelona.
In the end, however, it was Trevoh Chalobah who was chosen to join Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger in the Pensioners’ three-man central defensive unit.
And now, an insight into precisely why this situation came to pass has been provided.
As per the reliable Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph, Christensen, having been in line to start at Wembley, inexplicably made himself unavailable for selection on Saturday morning, forcing boss Tuchel into a last-minute reshuffle.
Andreas Christensen pulled out of the Chelsea squad on the morning of the FA Cup final, having been in line to start and forcing Thomas Tuchel into a late rethink. Story #cfc https://t.co/3KIJHEthzR
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) May 15, 2022
The Dane’s decision, it is understood, left his teammates at Chelsea nothing short of ‘shocked’, with the move, for obvious reasons, having been widely viewed as unprofessional.
Understand several members of the Chelsea first team were shocked by Andreas Christensen withdrawing from the squad for the #FACupFinal, especially as he was expected to start.
Also, huge credit should go to Trevoh Chalobah. Wouldn’t have been easy to step in late. #CFC
— Adam Newson (@AdamNewson) May 15, 2022
Reds prove their mettle
Whether Christensen’s presence on Saturday would ultimately have made a difference in the eventual outcome of the clash is of course open to debate.
Ultimately, though, Chelsea came up short once more, in a strikingly similar fashion to the club’s League Cup final defeat at the hands of Liverpool just three months ago.
After the two sides could not be separated across a full 120 minutes of action, proceedings were sent to a penalty shootout, with Jurgen Klopp’s Reds having held their nerve yet again to emerge triumphant courtesy of the coolest of spot-kicks from surprise hero Kostas Tsimikas.
LIVERPOOL WIN THE FA CUP ON PENALTIES!!! pic.twitter.com/QoxX73JYgR
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 14, 2022
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