At this level of the competition, the much too insipid performance of the Blues at Stamford Bridge last Wednesday did not forgive, despite London's outburst on Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, where Thomas Tuchel's team briefly came close to qualifying. leading 3-0.

Here is the defending champion excluded from the race for his succession from the quarter-finals and it is a sad end to the era after the triumphant years known since the takeover of the club in 2003 by Roman Abramovich, with in particular two coronations in C1 ( 2012, 2021).

Even if it did not help, the extra-sporting context alone cannot explain this air pocket.

Chelsea had previously won 11 of 12 matches since the announcement of their sale and subsequent British sanctions against Abramovich, the twelfth being a penalty shoot-out loss to Liverpool in the League Cup final.

The international truce, which directly preceded these two defeats, seems to have cut the momentum of a group which had decreed the sacred union in the face of the turmoil behind the scenes.

Austerity cure

The insane schedule of players - Chelsea is the club in Europe which has played the most matches since the start of 2022 in the five major championships - is another major factor in this slack.

Roman Abramovich, whose unfailing commitment behind his club has never wavered in almost twenty years at his head, had, in any case, done everything to preserve him from the tumult.

Even before he was personally hit with economic sanctions, due to his supposed close ties to Vladimir Putin, who ordered Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he had tried to hand the club over to administrators.

But this project had not succeeded and he had announced his intention to sell on March 2, eight days before the freezing of his assets by the British government.

The disappointment of Thiago Silva eliminated with Chelsea by Real in the C1 quarter-finals despite their victory Madrid, April 12, 2022 OSCAR DEL POZO AFP

The authorities then forced the club to a drastic financial regime.

Limitation of travel expenses and for the organization of home matches, ban on selling new tickets or merchandising items, and ban on any recruitment or extension of existing contracts... The austerity cure was harsh.

"According to the latest information I received, we have a plane. If not, we will go by train, if not, by bus, and if not, I will drive a minibus", had even laughed, yellow, the coach Thomas Tuchel before the return match of the round of 16 of the C1 in Lille.

A sale that drags on

The government has since relaxed some of these measures, especially on tickets, so as not to completely suffocate a club which does not only employ millionaire footballers, but nearly 2,500 people.

But the main unknown remains: who will control the club in a few weeks?

Four candidates, mainly North Americans, were selected after a first round by the investment bank Raine and they have until Thursday to submit their final offers.

The close involvement of the government, who will or will not give the green light to the offer selected by Raine around April 21, but also the desire to ensure that the ambitions of the club will remain high, make the suspense last.

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich owner of Chelsea in his dressing room at Stamford Bridge, February 21, 2016 GLYN KIRK AFP/Archives

It is said in the English press that all the candidates hope to keep the very influential Russian-Canadian director of the club, Marina Granovskaia.

Architect of Chelsea's success in recent years, thanks to her unparalleled ability to negotiate transfers, she would be a real guarantee of continuity.

The Premier League hopes that the new owner will actually be in charge before May 31, when the provisional license which allows the club to continue its activity expires.

But from the point of view of the Blues, already projected towards a possible sporting reconquest next year, the sooner the better.

© 2022 AFP