THE stakes at Wembley this weekend are far lower than the last meeting of Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp in a final, when the 2019 Champions League was on the line, but the Carabao Cup still feels hugely significant for the two managers and their clubs.
Chelsea and Liverpool have tended to view this competition as a bonus rather than a priority — including when they met in the 2022 final, with Liverpool winning on penalties — and, while that remains technically true this season, Sunday’s match is about credibility for Pochettino and legacy for Klopp.
For Pochettino, the Chelsea head coach, it is a huge opportunity to transform the outlook of a so-far underwhelming first season at Stamford Bridge and begin changing the narrative about his own winning credentials. He has admitted he is “desperate” to lift the trophy, and understandably so.
There is also the prospect of the Argentine earning revenge on Klopp for Spurs’s 2-0 defeat by Liverpool in
Madrid five years ago, which was to prove his last chance of winning silverware with an English club until now.
Pochettino, who also lost the Carabao Cup Final to Chelsea in his first season at Spurs, broke his trophy duck with Paris Saint-Germain, where he won a Ligue 1 title and two domestic cups, but those honours count for relatively little in the court of public opinion, given the Qatari-backed club’s massive financial advantage over their rivals.
Esta historia es de la edición February 23, 2024 de Evening Standard.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición February 23, 2024 de Evening Standard.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Only £65k a month to live like Boy George
The Karma Chameleon singer listed his house for £17m in 2022, turning down offers. Now, he's looking for a tenant
Welcome to London, unicorn capital of Europe
We're flying far ahead of anywhere outside US for tech investment
Arteta's Arsenal evolution The next phase
Malik Ouzia and Simon Collings assess how the Spaniard will try to bring down Man City after he signs up for another three years with the title in his sights
Title fight catches fire after Gunners embrace dark side
Arsenal-City clashes take on a welcome edge of animosity
Whack the hippy gong-boho's back
It happened in Paris one grey February day. Sienna Miller was in an oversized, black leather jacket, lace-trimmed silk slip and clumpy great wedges.
There's a Starlink waiting in the sky... 7,000 in fact.Can Elon Musk stop them crashing to Earth?
As he was preparing his fields for seeding this year, Barry Sawchuk came across a giant slab of space debris. It had come from a spacecraft belonging to Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.
'Politicians are only into power-mongering, corruption and cronyism'
We speak to alt revolutionary DEEPAK CHOPRA about biomarkers, his digital twin and his work to save humanity from disease
I've been waiting for a production of Godotthis brilliant all my life
Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati bring a potent, tragicomic chemistry to James Macdonald’s rich revival of Samuel Beckett’s challenging play.
Trust me, the Ritz is London's bestrestaurant
To whom we turn in moments of gloom and glory can be instructive, a filter of our truest friends. I've fallen out with the Ritz a couple of times, including once after a visit to the bar which didn’t warrant a review (“But you said it was lovely!” they said.
'Healing is a dirty word'
After four traumatic years, FKA twigs is back with a new album -and a thrilling metamorphosis