"A consequence of our success" - Azpilicueta explains why Chelsea failed to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City in Premier League title race 

Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta recently discussed why the club failed to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title this season. He mentioned an extensive fixture list and injuries as the reasons behind this.

From the start of the 2021-22 season until December 2021, Chelsea sat at the top of the Premier League table. However, injuries and a dip in their form now see them out of the race completely.

They are currently third in the table, 12 points behind league leaders Manchester City with a game in hand.

They reached the final of the FA Cup, beating Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday, April 17. They will face Liverpool in the final on May 14 at Wembley.

After the Palace game, Azpilicueta spoke about the Premier League title challenge, saying (via Goal):

"The reality from last season is that we closed the gap from them (Liverpool and Man City) in the Premier League, but not enough to be challenging for the title. We arrived in the Carabao Cup final and lost on penalties. In the two games in the Premier League [against Liverpool] we drew both."

He added:

"In a final, it is different – one game. We have to show the consistency to be able to compete against Man City and Liverpool [in the league] because they have shown great consistency winning back-to-back games and keeping a great level of consistency.

"That is what we are looking for. To keep on closing the gap and improving our team. We have a great group. Everybody is pushing hard. We have great competition."

Azpilicueta talked about injuries, Covid-19 and how Chelsea have had to play the most number of games in Europe this season. He said:

"We had to deal with injuries and the Covid situation. We never had a game postponed. We are the team with the most games in Europe. Everything is a consequence of our success."

He added:

"We have been in the Carabao Cup final, in the FA Cup final, quarter-final of the Champions League, Club World Cup and Super Cup. That’s part of the consequences of ourselves, that we always push for everything. We never choose an easy competition. We go for every competition until the end and we will keep doing the same."

---

Chelsea hope to end a rollercoaster season on a high

Chelsea won the UEFA Supercup and the FIFA Club World Cup and also led the Premier League for a few months this season. However, it all fell off as their form dipped and injuries came into the picture.

They still reached the EFL Cup final but ended up losing it to Liverpool.

The biggest blow for the Blues came after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March. This saw the UK government put sanctions on Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich.

The club are now looking for a new owner to take over. Unless they find a new owner, they are barred from making revenue or making deals around existing or new players.

It has been a proper rollercoaster ride for Chelsea fans this season. They will hope to find an owner soon and end the season with the FA Cup by beating Liverpool in the final.