Chelsea didn't lose inside normal time to Liverpool last season. They also didn't lose inside 120 minutes either. The two teams came head-to-head four times in all and there was only two penalty shoot-outs to separate the sides.
With a heated 1-1 draw on the third weekend of the Premier League season and a crazy 2-2 scoreline in early January, the Blues proved once more that on their day they can go toe-to-toe with one of the best in the division. As a result, Thomas Tuchel is yet to lose in normal time to Jurgen Klopp.
The Reds may have ended up with both domestic cups in 2021/22 after the Blues ultimately let their opponents off with missed chances in both finals, but the glaring 18 point gap between second and third was a big indicator of where Chelsea still have to get to, no matter how successful they are in reaching cup finals.
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Klopp's side have now been runners up by just one point twice, a margin as fine as losing a trophy on penalties, in a way. The Merseyside club have been seen as the ideal blueprint for Todd Boehly to follow with the American FSG ownership, director of football structure and transfer policy, but the process to take Klopp's side to being Premier League contenders wasn't quick or easy, and must serve as a reminder for the Blues as they continue to be frustrated in the transfer market.
Whereas Liverpool were able to snap up a club record £85m deal for Darwin Nunez before pre-season, Chelsea have been left with senior players wanting to leave and long-term targets choosing other locations, despite their two completed signings both being impressive deals.
This hasn't stopped frustration coming publicly from Tuchel, something that even a comfortable and much more Chelsea-like friendly victory over Udinese can't fix. As the season is just one week away, Chelsea will feel that they are not only behind schedule but they are also lagging in the attempts to close a massive gap with the sides in front of them, something that Tuchel knows would be a challenge but has still be exacerbated by the proceedings in the summer window so far.
At the end of last season the German said: "It will be very difficult to make up for the disadvantage, given the situation of the other two teams: City and Liverpool, who are already improving their squads and set one benchmark after another in all aspects of the game."
He has now been issued a strong warning by fellow compatriot Klopp, who is continuing to search up the table for Pep Guardiola's dominant Manchester City. Klopp said: "Both teams [Liverpool and City] play an incredibly high level and one thing makes the difference, like one goal in the Champions League final for instance. That is part of the deal. That can happen at the end of the season with the points tally. It didn’t turn me crazy and it didn’t turn the players crazy either. Because it is part of the deal. We can use it to get even more determined.
"There is no guarantee for any kind of results. We will not win one football game this season because we won it last season, not at all because it makes it even more difficult. Everybody wants to hurt us, to win against us, to get a point against us, so it will be really tough but we will give it a try."
Chelsea, the only other English team to win the Champions League since 2008, know the feeling of being hurt by other teams and felt the pressure of expectation last season despite a strong start to the campaign, and now they will have to deal with Klopp's added demands at Liverpool. He said: "We had a big meeting where I told the boys what I expect from them next year. I want to use the togetherness we have, the atmosphere we have in the team and our experience to be better. We can grow closer together, we can be clearer in the things we do. The things we do are good. Can we do it better? Yes. Will that always lead to a better result? That is not possible because we won a lot of games but performance-wise we can definitely improve. We want to create a resilience and a fighting spirit.
“Being angry is important to fight against the outside world, all these things we can do. We don’t know where it will lead us but we know it will improve us. We don’t have to reinvent ourselves, that is not necessary, but we can include new things here and there. That is what we are really working on."
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