BAKU (AFP) - Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri stormed off in anger after television cameras caught Gonzalo Higuain and David Luiz clashing at a training session in Baku ahead of Wednesday's (May 29) Europa League final.
Sarri was seen throwing away his Chelsea baseball cap, kicking it and then picking it up and angrily slamming it to the ground as he left the pitch at the Baku Olympic Stadium, where the final against Arsenal will be played.
The whole training session was open to media and so television cameras caught the incident, which does not bode well for Chelsea in the lead up to the match.
Sarri's reaction came not long after he had spoken of how he "loved" his players and English football, comments that suggested a departure from Stamford Bridge after just one season may not be inevitable.
The former Napoli boss has been strongly linked with a return to Italy to take the vacant coaching position at champions Juventus.
"I want to think only to the final. I have a contract with Chelsea for two years, so first of all I will speak with Chelsea, but now is not the moment," Sarri said of the Juventus speculation at a press conference in Baku on Tuesday.
The 60-year-old could replace the departing Massimiliano Allegri in Turin after a difficult season in London, and reports have said that Chelsea would not block his departure.
However, he insists his first season in charge after arriving from Napoli can be classified as a success regardless of what happens at the imposing Olympic Stadium here.
He did not lose a Premier League game until late November and despite his team's form tailing off after that, they still finished third, ahead of both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, to secure a return to the Champions League.
In addition, they only lost the League Cup final on penalties against Manchester City, and now have the chance to win the Europa League for the second time in seven seasons.
"For me at the beginning of the season it was really very difficult to understand my players, to understand the mentality, but after a very difficult month in January, in February they started to change," he said.
"In this moment I love them because I have 22 wonderful men and wonderful players so I'm really happy with them and of course I have to consider it for the future and I have to consider that I love English football, I love the Premier League."
Sarri added that winning the Europa League - which would be his first major honour - would turn a "very good season" into a "wonderful" one.
"We have had ups and downs, but from the downs we have become stronger, we built a stronger group and that is one of the reasons why we are here tonight," said skipper Cesar Azpilicueta.
"I think we all deserve to do tomorrow a good game, to play with our heart, to give everything.
"We missed the Carabao (League) Cup final on penalties in an unlucky way so tomorrow we have a good opportunity to be happy all together with the manager. There is no time to talk about this speculation."
Substitute Andre Gray scored a second-half winner as Watford beat Marco Silva's Everton 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday to heap the pressure on their former manager.
Watford's Gray strikes to sink Everton and pile pressure on
Football: Southampton stay up after thrilling 3-3 draw with Bournemouth SOUTHAMPTON, England (REUTERS) - Southampton secured their Premier League status for another year after a thrilling 3-3 home draw with Bournemouth on Saturday (April 27) as Cardiff City slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Fulham.
Ralph Hasenhuttl: Southampton task more difficult than taking
The Spanish champions were dumped out of the Champions League despite taking a 3-0 lead to Anfield and the fall out could be serious for Coutinho and for coach Ernesto Valverde as well. Some
How to say axe in Spanish - wordhippo.com
Football: Infantino says he has wide support for 48-team World Cup in Qatar Infantino speaking to journalists at the end of the Fifa executive football summit in Doha, Qatar. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Gianni Infantino says he has wide support for 48-team World
MADRID (AFP) - Mauricio Pochettino will wait until the last minute to decide whether Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane is fit enough to face Liverpool in the Champions League final on Saturday
Tottenham team news: Mauricio Pochettino to make final call
- Liverpool injuries - ===== Klopp reiterated his belief that Lovren's injury is a justification for why he was right to rest players such as Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino
Klopp denies Liverpool's lighter schedule is title advantage
Feb 12, 2019 · Gordon Banks: England's World Cup-winning goalkeeper dies aged 81 Banks was a hugely loved and respected figure within the world of football. Tributes to Banks poured in from the world of
Gordon Banks, England's 1966 World Cup winning goalkeeper
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri said he could not understand what happened after Manchester City crushed his side 6-0 on Sunday -- their biggest ever defeat in the Premier League. City scored four
Chelsea boss Sarri baffled by 6-0 humbling at Man City
Family launch private search for missing footballer Emiliano Sala "The fund-raising appeal launched late Friday afternoon enabled Emiliano Sala's relatives, via a specialised organisation, to
Emiliano Sala campaign raises £130,000 to fund private search
Jurgen Klopp has condemned "disgusting" racist abuse aimed at Mohamed Salah and called for lifetime bans for the Chelsea fans accused of taunting the Liverpool star. A video circulated on social media ahead of Chelsea's Europa League match at Slavia Prague this week showed a group of six supporters chanting "Salah is a bomber" repeatedly.
Liverpool's Klopp condemns 'disgusting' Salah abuse ahead of
The clock is ticking. The homeowners that live near the course were opposed to Visions Golf LLC's plan for the city to rezone the land for the construction of
Clock ticking for city to close $17.2M gap - Lowell Sun Online
Bayern Munich star Thomas Muller has expressed his anger following Germany manager Joachim Low's decision to axe both him and two of his World Cup winning team-mates from the national team.
World Cup winner Thomas Muller blasts Loew for 'bad taste
Solskjaer 'confident' of Man Utd miracle in Paris. (United Kingdom) (AFP) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said his "confident" side could stage a Champions League fightback at Paris Saint-Germain this
'Football, bloody hell!' - Solskjaer's Man Utd miracle in
0 comments:
Post a Comment