Djordje Petrovic urges Chelsea to use ‘painful’ Carabao Cup final defeat as fuel for future success

Chelsea’s goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic says that the younger players in the team need to use the disappointment of losing yesterday’s Carabao Cup Final against a young, injury-plagued Liverpool team to motivate themselves for success under Mauricio Pochettino.

The team faced criticism for losing in extra time to a Liverpool team filled with young academy players at Wembley Stadium. Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville called them “billion-pound bottlejobs.”

Liverpool managed to win with an emotional goal from Virgil van Dijk in the 118th minute. They were without 10 injured players, including key players like Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold. The situation got worse when Ryan Gravenberch got injured midway through the first half and had to be taken off on a stretcher. Liverpool ended the match with several very young players on the field, including 18-year-old Jayden Danns and 19-year-olds Bobby Clark and James McConnell, alongside 21-year-old Jarell Quansah, and starters Conor Bradley and Harvey Elliott, both 20 years old.

This loss marked Chelsea’s sixth consecutive loss in domestic cup finals and left Pochettino still seeking his first trophy in English football.

Petrovic expressed the pain of missing out on the chance to win and demanded a strong comeback in their upcoming FA Cup fifth-round match against Leeds on Wednesday. He stressed that losing would mean the end of the season for the club.

He said, “The feeling is very painful. It was the first final for many of us, and here at Wembley. The atmosphere was amazing, and we felt the supporters with us. We must use this feeling because this is a new generation, and we want to continue the success of this club. We’re not happy; it hurts. We gave everything on the pitch. The team put in a lot of effort, and we had many opportunities, hitting the post and having chances to win, but we couldn’t do it.”

Pochettino emphasized the need for his players to learn from this defeat and mentioned Liverpool as an example of a team that faced similar setbacks before becoming successful. He criticized his team for missing several big chances during the game.

Now, the focus shifts to the FA Cup match against Leeds, where winning could offer a chance to salvage the season and qualify for the Europa League next season.