Why head-to-head battle of the old warhorses is key to success
After being written off this season, Luiz and Giroud have fought back and will play vital roles against their former clubs
In the moments after the final whistle in Baku last year, Olivier Giroud said all the right things about Arsenal. He had taken apart his former side in the second half of the Europa League final, scoring one goal and creating two others for Chelsea, but he was never going to revel in the pain of his old team-mates.
“I left so many friends in Arsenal,” he said to television cameras on the pitch after the game. “This club changed my life. I owe them a lot. I will never forget – that is why I did not want to celebrate.”
Giroud’s mood was a little different an hour or two later, as he celebrated wildly on the Chelsea team bus. In footage shot on the mobile phone of Jorginho, Giroud delighted his whooping team-mates by roaring “thank you, Arsenal” while holding aloft the Europa League trophy.
Giroud was no doubt oblivious of the fact that Jorginho was broadcasting live but, either way, the damage was done. Many of Arsenal’s supporters were not amused, especially because of how polite and respectful the Frenchman had been in the earlier interview.
A year on, Giroud meets his former side in another final, looking to cause yet more damage to the club who brought him to England. He comes into the game on a remarkable hot streak, having scored six goals in his past seven matches, and with an outstanding record at Wembley. He won the FA Cup three times as an Arsenal player and then again with Chelsea in 2018.
“Wembley is like my garden,” he said after winning it with Chelsea, during a post-match interview with, among others, a certain pundit called Frank Lampard.
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s head coach, said he was not surprised at how his old team-mate had turned around his Chelsea career, after appearing certain to leave the club in January. “I know Oli,” Arteta said. “He is a fighter. Even when he was playing for us and he had some difficult moments, he always reacted.”
It is a delicious twist of fate that the man tasked with stopping Giroud is a defender who knows as well as anyone how the Frenchman likes to operate: David Luiz. The Brazilian was on Giroud’s side in Baku, lifting another trophy in Chelsea blue. Against his former club, Luiz will be fiercely determined to prevent his old friend from showing him he was wrong to move in the opposite direction.
Just as Luiz knows well how Giroud can threaten, though, Giroud knows well how Luiz can be exposed. Hours and hours of training sessions build up an understanding of movements, of body positions and passing angles. Every weakness will be seized upon by Giroud, who is likely to lead Chelsea’s front three, and every opportunity will be spotted by Luiz, who is set to start at the centre of Arsenal’s back three. The competition could hardly be more direct.
“In the case of David, it is such a special day for him to play against his former club,” Arteta said. “Hopefully he can perform like he did against Manchester City in the semi-final.”
For all the criticism Luiz has received down the years, and in recent months, he knows what it takes to win medals. He has won 18 trophies in his career – twice as many as any other player at Arsenal. He proudly carries a deep scar on his right hamstring, which serves as a reminder of the pain he played through to help Chelsea win the Champions League final in 2012.
In an interview with The Telegraph in October, Luiz spoke about the mentality of winning. “It is about the end of the season,” he insisted. “It is not about the beginning.”
The message was clear: do not judge me now, judge me in the big games and the trophy-defining moments. In that semi-final against City, he was flawless.
It makes for a strange quirk of this final that the key battle will be waged between two 33-year-olds who have spent most of the season being either derided or written off entirely. There is excitement at both clubs about the thrilling generation of youngsters coming through, but the old warhorses will take some shifting yet.
Luiz, especially, has an influence that extends far beyond the pitch. His charisma and experience have impressed Arsenal executives, and Arteta. Those who scoff at the decision to extend his contract for a year would do well to listen to the younger players, to hear them talk about how Luiz has helped them to cope with the demands of top-level football.
Giroud, for his part, has been unfailingly professional this season, despite the doubts over his future and his struggles in the first few months under Lampard. Like Luiz, he is experienced enough to know that it is the end of the season that counts. If he can win the duel with his old friend, then he will almost certainly win the battle against his old club.