The Chelsea double act returns
It was back in November against Juventus that Ben Chilwell's 2021/22 campaign came to an abrupt end. An innocuous challenge with Adrien Rabiot resulted in the England international suffering a partially torn ACL and he underwent surgery a month later to correct the issue.
Chilwell will not return until the summer (at the earliest) and his absence has been compounded over the last five weeks by his good friend and fellow wing-back, Reece James, also being sidelined.
The 22-year-old suffered a torn hamstring against Brighton and Hove Albion on December 29 and hasn't featured for Chelsea since. And while James is inching ever closer to a return to action, he will not represent the Blues at the Club World Cup.
He was, however, included in the party that travelled out to Abu Dhabi for the competition. James has continued to undertake his recovery work away from the first-team group but has at least been able to enjoy the warmer climate.
Today, James was joined by Chilwell at Chelsea's training base in the UAE. It was a smart move by those at the club to ensure the 25-year-old continues to feel part of the first-team set-up despite his long-term absence.
The duo were part of the squad that arrived at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium ahead of the semi-final clash with Al Hilal and back together in a match environment for the first time in more than two months, James and Chilwell opted to undertake their trademark pitch walk.
That became a recurring theme during the first half of the campaign during which the form of James and Chilwell was vital to Chelsea's Premier League title bid, one that has very much fizzled out in their absences.
Abramovich clean sweep is on
Since Roman Abramovich made the decision to buy Chelsea in the summer of 2003, no Premier League club has enjoyed more success than the Blues.
There have been five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, three Community Shields, two Europa League triumphs, and two Champions League crowns.
The one trophy that has eluded Chelsea under Abramovich's watch is the Club World Cup. In 2012, defeat to Brazilian side Corinthians during Rafa Benitez's ill-fated tenure was a bitter pill to swallow and it's taken Chelsea the best part of ten years to try to rectify that mistake.
They are now 90 minutes away from doing so. Victory over Al Hilal wasn't pretty and questions need to be asked as to why the Blues were so poor in the second period of the 1-0 win.
Yet Chelsea's performance was enough to see them through to Saturday's final and only Brazilian club Palmeiras can now stop the club from completing a clean sweep during the Abramovich era.
Lukaku makes his mark (eventually)
After a hugely ineffective and underwhelming performance against Plymouth on Saturday in the FA Cup, Chelsea needed Romelu Lukaku to step up against Al Hilal.
The Belgian went into the semi-final without a goal in eight matches and calls for him to be taken out of the starting XI were increasing.
Lukaku didn't start the contest as if he had a point to prove, though. His movement in the penalty area was sluggish and when a clear chance was fashioned via a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta, the 28-year-old failed to make contact with the ball and the opportunity was lost.
Moments later, Azpilicueta laid off a pass into the penalty area for Lukaku but Belgium's all-time top scorer didn't react and the Spaniard was left angered by the lack of movement from Chelsea's club-record signing.
Lukaku, fortunately, then upped his level of performance. He forced Abdullah Al-Mayouf into a smart save after being put through by Mateo Kovacic and then broke the deadlock.
Havertz was the architect as he escaped pressure down the Al Hilal right and produced a cross into the box that struck Jang Hyun-soo and fell into the path of Lukaku, who four yards out was never going to miss.
The goal brought some confidence back into Lukaku's game. There were a couple of nice touches and lay-offs but the Belgian didn't have another opportunity to add to his tally.
