Mauricio Pochettino warned his Chelsea players they must be “clever” in playing without VAR when they meet Middlesbrough in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at the Riverside.
Stadiums outside of the Premier League are typically not fitted with the technology required for the video assistant referee and so Pochettino’s side will take on Championship Boro with only the on-field officials in place.
Chelsea took part in perhaps VAR’s most controversial fixture this season when they won 4-1 at Tottenham in November, a game that featured nine video interventions including five disallowed goals and two red cards shown to Spurs players.
There were a total of 21 minutes of time added on, despite the ball only actually being in play for 43 per cent of the match.
It will be a different proposition for the team on Teesside. Chelsea have the youngest squad in the league this season with an average age of just over 23, many of whom turned professional around the time of the widespread implementation of VAR by Europe’s top-flight leagues in 2018.
Pochettino said his players must prepare to be cautious in the face of unfamiliar circumstances.
“There’s no VAR,” he said. “That is a thing we need to be careful of. Our normal attitude is to play with VAR. We need to be cautious of that.
“We need to be in a different way in our approach. We need to change. Now, it’s just the referee that is going to decide, we need to be cautious.
“It’s a different game whether you play with or without VAR. I don’t say it’s better or worse, but it’s a different game. We need to be clever in this way.”
Chelsea are looking to put one foot into their first major final since they won the World Club Cup in 2021, months after lifting the Champions League trophy in Porto.
They face a Boro side – managed by former Manchester United and England midfielder Michael Carrick – currently 12th in the Championship, having lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Saturday.
“To spend all our energy (on Tuesday) is the most important thing,” said Pochettino.
“Not to go there and think ‘OK, we have the second leg after to play just in case (we lose)’.
“No, (Tuesday) is the most important game and we need to come back afterwards with a victory and to finish at Stamford Bridge.
“It’s going to be tough. The game against Aston Villa, they lost but they could have won. It’s a good team with great ideas. It’s true they’ve changed their system.
“They played the season in a 4-2-3-1. We know they can use this or a different system. They have good players, a good coach. It’s going to be tough.”
Pochettino will be without Christopher Nkunku – who is out with a hip injury – and Nicolas Jackson, away representing Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations, meaning another start is likely for Armando Broja after his goal in the 4-0 cup win over Preston on Saturday.
Kaiserslautern 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen: Xhaka stunner seals DFB-Pokal triumph
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen battled past second-tier Kaiserslautern 1-0 on Saturday to win the DFB-Pokal and secure the club's first domestic double.
Leverkusen missed out on a treble after losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the Europa League final on Wednesday, in what was astonishingly their first defeat of the season in all competitions, after a European record 51-game unbeaten run.
But at Berlin's Olympic stadium, which will host the Euro 2024 final in July, Xabi Alonso's side ensured they capped off a remarkable campaign with another piece of silverware thanks to Granit Xhaka's stunning 16th-minute strike.
The ball rolled out to the former Arsenal man around 25 yards out, and he planted an unstoppable first-time effort into the left-hand side of the net.
They controlled the pace even after they were reduced to 10 men following Odilon Kossounou's second booking a minute before half-time.
Kaiserslautern rarely threatened after the break, with Leverkusen limiting their opponents to just 0.2 expected goals.
And even though they could not add to their lead, Leverkusen were able to comfortably wrap up their second trophy of the best season in the club's history.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen join the club
Leverkusen are only the fifth different side to win the double in Germany since the Bundesliga was founded, after Bayern Munich (13 times), 1. Koln, Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund.
Xhaka's strike was a worthy winner. He became the first Swiss player to score in a DFB-Pokal final.
Barcelona coach Giraldez celebrates 'one of the happiest days' after Women's Champions League triumph
Barcelona coach Jonatan Giraldez celebrated "one of the happiest days" of his life after his side claimed the Women's Champions League title.
Giraldez led Barca to a 2-0 victory over fellow heavyweights Lyon in Bilbao on Saturday.
Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas got the goals in the second half, as Barca beat Lyon for the first time and won the Champions League for a third season out of the last four.
Giraldez will now leave Barca to take charge of Washington Spirit in the NWSL, but was able to leave on the highest note possible, having won a quadruple this term, becoming the first European team since Arsenal in 2007 to manage such a haul in a single campaign.
He told DAZN: "It was an incredible game, I am really happy, one of the best days of my life for sure.
"We did an amazing job with the ball, without the ball. we suffered in the last minutes, but I'm very proud of all of them."
Barcelona defender Lucy Bronze, whose future with the club is uncertain, told DAZN: "We knew that that's what we needed, to be a club to make history.
"It's not easy, it's hard to win it once. To win it back to back, Lyon showed how difficult it is and this team has finally done that. We go down in history as one of the best teams in Europe."
Barca's two Ballon d'Or winners scored their goals, with Bonmati breaking the deadlock just after the hour before Putellas lashed home in stoppage time.
"She's the captain of the team, she's the Queen of Barcelona for a reason," Bronze said of Putellas.
"She's always so confident in the team and showed today why she is a back-to-back Ballon d'Or winner.
"She's got the quality to do that in the last minute of the Champions League final when we were up against it at the end and just sealed the win for us. It was amazing."
Juventus 2-0 Monza: Departing Alex Sandro scores as Bianconeri round off with a win
Juventus completed their Serie A campaign with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Monza thanks to first-half goals from Federico Chiesa and Alex Sandro.
Juve ended their season on 71 points, third in the standings, though they can still be overtaken by Europa League champions Atalanta, who sit fifth and have two matches left to play.
Chiesa broke the deadlock after 26 minutes on Saturday and long-serving left-back Sandro, playing in his final game for the Bianconeri before departing as a free agent, doubled the lead two minutes later with a header from a corner.
Juve came close to scoring a third early in the second half, but Chiesa's attempt from the edge of the box hit the woodwork.
Thiago Motta is expected to take charge of Juve in the coming days, after his departure from Bologna was confirmed.
Monza ended the campaign in 12th place with 45 points.
Data Debrief: How's your luck?
Chiesa's effort against the frame of the goal means that, since the beginning of the last season, only Inter (36) hit the woodwork more times than Juve (35) in Serie A.
Juve will be hoping to be that bit more clinical next term as they aim to challenge for the title under Motta.
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