Leicester have little time to bask in the glory of winning the FA Cup for the first time, as they face Chelsea again on Tuesday in a Premier League clash that will determine who plays in the Champions League next season.
The Foxes, who currently sit third in the table with two games remaining, are in pole position to join the already-qualified Manchester City and Manchester United in Europe’s premier club competition.
Chelsea and Liverpool, on the other hand, know that victories in their final two games will likely be enough for both to leapfrog Brendan Rodgers’ men into the top four.
Leicester lead the Blues by two points and are three points ahead of Liverpool, but they have a tough match against Tottenham on Sunday after visiting Stamford Bridge.
“We knew we didn’t have any favours in the fixtures,” said Rodgers on Monday.
“Everything is still in our hands. The players have been absolutely brilliant up until this point. We’ve got European football, we’ve got two games now to arrive into the top four.”
Despite the disappointment of failing to win his first trophy in English football, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel did not back down from suggesting that Tuesday’s game is more important than the cup final in the context of his team’s season.
“When I stepped into this club the task was let’s try everything to be in the top four, not let’s try everything to win the FA Cup,” said Tuchel.
“Because the FA Cup, as big as it is, does not bring you to Champions League football next season. It’s top four that brings us there. Tomorrow is another huge game.”
Given the short turnaround from Wembley’s energy-sapping clash in front of 22 000 fans, Chelsea’s depth could be crucial.
Tuchel’s team dominated on Saturday after he brought on Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ben Chilwell, Christian Pulisic, and Olivier Giroud from the bench in the second half, and the German is expected to make a few changes.
