In the mind of Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea reaching the Carabao Cup final is an achievement in itself. But make no mistake, the Blues head coach is desperate for his side to overcome Liverpool this afternoon.
That is not only because victory will ensure Chelsea claim the fourth trophy of his tenure, which has only just hit the 13-month mark. It's also because it will banish the ghost of last season's FA Cup final at Wembley which the Blues lost 1-0 to Leicester City.
“We learn from every defeat and experience," Tuchel said ahead today's final. "First of all, we arrived in that final and we lost a very close match 1-0 to a strong and competitive Leicester side. It wasn’t what we expected and what we wanted, but there are always two teams involved in every final.
“Champions League final, cup finals, every final, there are two parties involved and we regard very quickly the one that doesn’t win the match as the loser.
"But if you look at what it takes to reach a final…look at the [Australian] Grand Slam final between (Rafa) Nadal and (Daniil) Medvedev, who is the guy to raise the hand and say Medvedev is a loser after five-and-a-half hours of out-of-this-world tennis.
“So we are very quick to judge and are very quick to say what he has to learn. Maybe he learnt he is on the level, that he has what it takes, and at some point, he needs a little bit of luck.
“This is the same for us [in the Carabao Cup final]. We will enjoy it to a certain degree but the tension will grow so you may not see it in all our faces, we may not be smiling all the way because we are competitive and want to win. We want to put our teeth into this match and the task of beating Liverpool.
“We want it, we want it absolutely, and from there we trust. Last season’s FA Cup final, we had to accept what we didn’t want to accept and keep ongoing. This is sometimes the message that sports teaches you and it’s good because you can take it for life and this is how it goes.
“It’s not always sunshine but we fight hard to make it the best day for us and our supporters."
Tuchel has several big selection decisions to make ahead of tonight's game, including who starts at right centre-back with Andreas Christensen expected to miss the game with a sore Achilles.
Perhaps the most difficult call the German faces is who starts in goal. Edouard Mendy is the Blues' number one goalkeeper but Kepa Arrizabalaga has played in every previous round and impressed in January while Mendy was away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Tuchel insisted ahead of the game he would not be sentimental with his decision but it's likely he opts to start Kepa in order to ensure the harmony that exists among his goalkeeping unit is not disrupted.
With Christensen set to miss the game, Trevoh Chalobah is the logical option to come in on the right of the back three. That would enable Thiago Silva to start in the centre and Antonio Rudiger on the left.
Reece James hasn't featured in three months but returned to training on Thursday ahead of the final and, in Tuchel's words, has been "brilliant". For that reason, he may be thrust into the starting XI at right wing-back with Cesar Azpilicueta moved over to the left to help curb the threat of Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
N'Golo Kante is a shoo-in to start in midfield and he may well be partnered by Jorginho, who was rested during the Champions League midweek win over Lille.
Romelu Lukaku also didn't feature against the French champions and Chelsea's attack was far more fluid and hard-working as a result. It's why Kai Havertz should get the nod as the Blues' frontman with Christian Pulisic on the left.
Hakim Ziyech has been in fine form in recent weeks but Tuchel could opt to go with Mason Mount on the right as the England international offers a greater work-rate in defence than the 28-year-old, something which will likely be important to ensure James isn't overwhelmed on his return.
Predicted Chelsea side: Kepa; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger; James, Kante, Jorginho, Azpilicueta; Mount, Havertz, Pulisic
