Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri claims the season won’t be a failure, even if the club don’t qualify for the Champions League.
The Blues currently sit in fourth place in the Premier League table, one point above Arsenal in fifth, while they could also qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League, in which they’re due to face Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-final.
If Chelsea do fail to make the final of Europe’s silver-grade competition, the Italian coach believes his side can point to other significant achievements to prove the season hasn’t been a failure.
When asked if he would consider the season a failure in the event of losing out to either Arsenal or Manchester United in Premier League based qualification, as reported by ESPN, Sarri said:
No. No, we played a final [in the Carabao Cup]. We lost the final on penalties. We are in the semifinal in the Europa League. We are fighting for the top four.
So the season, at the moment, is good. Of course we have two very, very strong targets: we want the top four in the Premier League and, at the moment, we want to go to the final of the Europa League. If we are able to get to the final, then we will want to win the final. And so I think the season is, at the moment, good.
Of course, it’s a very difficult season. We lost in the wrong way two or three matches, so the feeling, sometimes, is worse. I think for this reason because we lost two or three matches in the wrong way, in a very wrong way, without fighting. But if you look at the season, we are doing well, I think.
Of course, it’s only the first step. We need to improve more. We need to become competitive for the top. The first step, though, is good.
