The most important thing is that Chelsea are one game away from winning the lot. This was an uneven performance from the European champions and although they stopped Al-Hilal from pulling off a shock, they will have to sharpen up when they face Palmeiras in the Club World Cup final on Saturday.
After all it is unlikely that the Copa Libertadores champions will be forgiving if Chelsea are this sloppy again. There was an anxiety to their play throughout this semi-final and Thomas Tuchel, who was unable to travel to Abu Dhabi after testing positive for Covid-19, must have been bouncing off the walls of his living room as he watched his side struggle to keep the errors at bay. “We spoke to Thomas at half-time,” Zsolt Low, Tuchel’s assistant, said. “He had the feeling that the players were nervous. Chelsea have never won this competition – that’s why the players felt pressure.”
