Todd Boehly will be keen to start as he means to go on ahead of his Chelsea's first FA Cup final under the new owner's stewardship. Thomas Tuchel locks horns with Jurgen Klopp at Wembley on May 14, with the Blues undoubtedly keen to avenge their Carabao Cup sorrows.
The west Londoners have fallen at the last hurdle in each of their previous two attempts in the competition, losing to Arsenal and Leicester City. Chelsea made a habit of walking up Olympic Way throughout Roman Abramovich’s tenure and Boehly will be keen to follow suit, though this time with a winner’s medal in hand.
In each of the Blues’ previous attempts to win the FA Cup final, Chelsea suffered controversial defeats and were denied open top bus jubilation that, naturally, follows a historic win. Thomas Tuchel's side were also denied a parade after the club's second Champions League triumph nearly a year ago.
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The European champions were unable to hold a parade in the streets around Stamford Bridge due to mass gathering restrictions outlined by the British government in their roadmap out of the Covid pandemic. Though restrictions have since been eased, football.london understands that current sanctions prevent Chelsea from entering into new contracts.
The aforementioned sanctions in place stem from the UK Government's decision to sanction Abramovich earlier this year due to 'clear connections' to Vladimir Putin’s regime amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, as it stands as of May 9, the Blues would not be able to organise an open-top bus parade.
Speaking ahead of the FA Cup final, Tuchel explained how his side are looking forward to the bout irrespective of Liverpool's impressive displays this season. The Blues boss then detailed how important it is for Chelsea to avenge their Carabao Cup misery.
"I don't care about their other titles," the German said. "We lost, of course, the final. We gave everything in that final as you know, it was a big match that went until the very last penalty.
"Of course, we were unlucky and lost it. We want to turn things around. It will not give us the Carabao Cup title back but we are here and were here last season in the FA Cup final and that means an unbelievable lot to us."
Tuchel added by talking up the occasion, indirectly emphasising the importance of the FA Cup to Boehly. The Chelsea boss said: "It's the FA Cup, the most prestigious, most traditional cup in the world and played at Wembley.
"There are not a lot of bigger games to be part of and it's why we are grateful and we will be well prepared. We play against one of the strongest teams in the world which are in outstanding form given their results. So it will be a tough one and we will try to make life hard for them."
