Chelsea: Not prioritizing one or the other

Chelsea have a clear target and two clear ways to achieve it. A similar scenario would often lead to one way given priority over the other.

That’s not the case at Chelsea, where the Premier League and the Europa League are being treated with equal and strong emphasis.

Maurizio Sarri touched on this both before and after Thursday’s 3-0 win over Dynamo Kiev, and so did Captain (first time ever from the start of a match for Chelsea) David Luiz as he reflected on Chelsea’s ultimately dominant win, both on the pitch and on the scoreboard.

“I am happy because we have two opportunities [to qualify for the Champions League] and so let’s fight for both.

“We did a great game. We could score more goals, especially in the first half when we played with a lot of intensity and we created some chances. Of course it is a good result but football is football and it is never done yet. We have to go to Kiev, and it is always difficult to go there, and do a good job.”

Chelsea have at most six games left in Europe. Winning all six would guarantee Champions League qualification, unlike the last time we won the Europa League when the winners were not granted that perk just yet.

But Chelsea winning out (or at least going on a nice long winning run) in the Premier League would guarantee the same thing as well. There are ten games left there.

So why not both? With confidence growing high and belief returning, fatigue will be an enemy lurking.

“We are trying to improve our game every single week, every single day, every single match and of course it is a positive moment for us.”

May that positive moment last as long as humanly possible.