It's been an eventful first season in English football for Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri. The Italian has had to contend with intense criticism from the clubs supporters, thrashings by Bournemouth and Manchester City & have his own goalkeeper rebel against him in a cup final - but despite this it's going to end pretty successfully.
On Sunday the Blues had Champions League football for next season confirmed after rolling out 3-0 winners over Watford at Stamford Bridge, which would've been the minimum aim for the new season. Goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek, David Luiz and Gonzalo Higuain did the damage in West London during an impressive display - but maybe it played out so well for a different reason?
Players, managers and fans alike all have their own superstitions when it comes to match day and the Blues boss is no different - with him 'scratching his balls' for good luck! When the Chelsea manager was asked about his side sealing a top four finish in a recent press conference he clearly reached for them and had a little route around - which he'll be hoping gives his side some luck against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday!
Subito dopo la partita e poco prima della matematica qualificazione in Champions League è arrivata anche la prima toccata di palle del Comandante in terra albionica.#milestone pic.twitter.com/WNaNsyzu6T
— Sarrismo (@sarrismofficial) May 5, 2019
This may seem bizarre to us but in Italy this is something that is much more common, with it known as 'grattasri le palle' - translating to 'scratch your balls'. This is the Italian rendition us touching wood for luck and it's clearly playing dividends at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea securing Champions League football for next season.
A win on the final day of the season will see them finish in third position, a big improvement from 5th last term and they also have a potential Europa League final to look forward to. On Thursday they take on Eintracht Frankfurt in a huge semi-final second leg with the winners going through to the final in Baku, where they'll face one of Arsenal or Valencia.
The Blues still have work to do if they're to go through after drawing 1-1 with the Bundesliga outfit last week, where goals from prolific frontman Luka Jovic and Pedro ensured that the second leg is set up nicely - so we're all set for a belter in the capital.
Many saw winning the Europa League as Sarri's last hope of keeping his job but securing that top four finish could well save him. But this won't deter them from trying to go all the way and try to win the competition for a second time, which would be even sweeter if they beat Arsenal. But one thing is for sure, with how Chelsea have picked up in recent weeks we're not expecting Sarri's superstition to change, happy scratching Maurizio...
