Conte is seeing double
Antonio Conte has already surpassed expectations in his first year as Chelsea manager and a victory in tomorrow’s FA Cup final against Arsenal would complete arguably the greatest season in the club’s history.
A second double, following the one completed by Conte’s fellow Italian Carlo Ancelotti in 2010, was not even on the radar last August when all the talk was of an expected battle for supremacy between Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.
Yet Conte’s side rewrote the script and swept to the Premier League title by seven points from Tottenham Hotspur and are the favourites to round off a remarkable campaign by beating the Gunners at Wembley.
Ancelotti’s powerhouse side, featuring the likes of John Terry, Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard, had been favourites for the title and enjoyed a relatively straightforward run to the cup final where they beat a Portsmouth side which was already relegated.
Conte’s side, largely unchanged from the one that finished in a woeful 10th place in the Premier League last season, beat Manchester United in the quarterfinals and title rivals Tottenham in the semifinals, and now face the competition’s most successful club in the showpiece final.
While Chelsea are one win away from the Double, Arsenal are desperately trying to end the season on a high after finishing fifth in the Premier League - their lowest finish since Arsene Wenger arrived in north London in 1996.
Arsenal have won the competition twice in the last three seasons but on both occasions they had also sealed Champions League qualification after a top-four finish.
This time lifting the trophy would be a ‘‘consolation’’ in what could still turn out to be Wenger’s last in charge.
‘‘Would it be a nice farewell? No, what I want is to win the next game. It’s not about me, it’s about us winning the trophy and giving everything to achieve it,’’ Wenger, whose uncertain future has clouded much of Arsenal’s season, said during the week.