Just a couple hours after he was spreading the love for Chelsea, his players and the Premier League, Blues boss Maurizio Sarri had a major mood swing. On the eve of tonight’s UEFA Europa League final in Baku against Arsenal, Sarri angered mightily at the final training session and stormed off the pitch.
Sarri’s actions apparently occurred moments after striker Gonzalo Higuain and central defender David Luiz had a heated altercation, which ended with Luiz also storming off the field in anger.
The club denies that Sarri’s anger was a result of the Luiz-Higuain altercation however.
That feeling when you convince yourself your work is done towards the end of a quiet open training session, then… pic.twitter.com/2qdiJ9kOBf #cfc
— Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) May 28, 2019
A statement from Chelsea FC reads:
“Maurizio’s frustration displayed at the end of training was not related to any of his players, but was due to not being able to practice set-plays in the final 15 minutes of the hour-long training session as it remained open to the media.”
As you can see in the video above, and below, Sarri furiously threw his hat to the ground and kicked it away as he exited the open to media session at Baku Olympic Stadium. Until he erupted, the training session had been largely uneventful, save for N’Golo Kante’s limited participation.
The star midfielder did only light exercises on Tuesday, and he remains a doubt for the trophy clash tonight.
Tempers fraying in the Chelsea camp? ?
Higuain and Luiz come together in training and Maurizio Sarri is furious! pic.twitter.com/obSZ51KGGd
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 28, 2019
Chelsea vs Arsenal UEFA Europa League Final FYIs
Kickoff: Wednesday, May 29, 8pm, Baku Olympic Stadium
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Injury Report for Both Sides: go to this link
Starting XI Predictions: Chelsea Arsenal FC
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.