Chelsea Football Club have endured a tumultuous week. The ongoing crisis in Ukraine puts such a statement into context, context that Chelsea’s difficulties pale into insignificance compared to those experiencing unimaginable hardship in Europe, but it has been tumultuous, nonetheless.
Thomas Tuchel has had a week like no other in his managerial career. Sunday’s Carabao Cup final on the pitch has been followed by intense questioning off it, with Roman Abramovich’s ownership of Chelsea under scrutiny and dominating the agenda in light of the escalating Russian assault in Ukraine.
On Wednesday evening, those questions received a seismic response.
An hour before Chelsea’s FA Cup fifth-round tie at Luton Town, Abramovich signalled the impending end of his 19-year-old reign as owner of the Blues, an association which has delivered 19 major trophies but also one which ends with the Stamford Bridge club shrouded in controversy and uncertainty.
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- Luton 2-3 Chelsea – Match report
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To their credit, Tuchel’s players produced a professional performance to ensure this season’s FA Cup campaign was not derailed in the immediate aftermath of Abramovich’s announcement. For 90 brief minutes, football was the only thing on the agenda.