FA Cup final preview: Chelsea v Portsmouth
There is around 73 miles, 67 points, the entire length of the Premier League table and an awful lot of money between Chelsea and Portsmouth.
One club sits proudly on the top of the Premier League table, celebrating a third title in six years that was achieved with the most swaggering of style. They are chasing their first Double success, with boss Carlo Ancelotti seemingly on a mission to outdo the achievements of arch rival José Mourinho in west London.
The opposition tomorrow is somehow still standing after a season of being battered from pillar to post. Reckless management, irresponsible business acumen and wildly negligent spending have pushed them to the brink. While Avram Grant and his team performed admirably, a nine-point deduction in March all but sealed their relegation from the top flight, while their debt appears to spiral with each passing week.
But this is the FA Cup, so you must know what’s coming next.
Portsmouth’s hunger and desire to win this competition cannot be underestimated. They have been down such a dark road this season, that this is the light at the end of the tunnel. Never have supporters been so proud of a relegated team, so vocal in their support of a manager who has taken them down. They believe that they can win tomorrow because belief is all they have left.
Pompey will become the sixth club to play in an FA Cup final having been relegated that same season. Ominously, the other five all lost and didn’t score a goal between them, the most recent side being Middlesbrough, who lost to Chelsea in 1997.
That win kicked off a run that could reach five wins in the last 14 finals should the Blues hold aloft the trophy tomorrow, and that – putting all romanticisms to one side – is what is widely expected to happen.
The entire length of the Premier League table separates these two clubs for a reason, and the way that Chelsea demolished Wigan 8-0 to secure the title last Sunday would have sent a chill down the spine of Grant, a man who knows the club so well.
John Terry’s slip cost the Israeli Champions League glory – and probably his job – back in 2008, and the Chelsea skipper will be in opposition tomorrow, after fears over his fitness proved unfounded.
The only change from last weekend’s line-up could come in the form of Branislav Ivanovic, who is doubtful with a knee injury. Paulo Ferreira stands by.
The majority of the nation is standing by to hail Pompey as their new underdogs of choice after cheering on Fulham in midweek, but then as now, heartbreak looks on the cards, not least for the club’s player of the year Jamie O’Hara, who is a doubt with a stress fracture in his back. Aruna Dindane, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Marc Wilson are all battling injuries too.
It has been difficult not to warm to the dignified way that Grant, his players and their supporters have handled Portsmouth’s shambles of a season, and while neutrals should remember the off-field chaos that has pushed this proud club to the brink of extinction, the directors won’t be out there on the Wembley pitch tomorrow afternoon. They’ll be looking on, and hopefully they’ll be embarrassed.
So much has changed since Portsmouth were last in the final in 2008, where they beat Cardiff City 1-0 to spark delirious scenes and cap an ambitious project that, in reality, then had nowhere else to go.
The only way was down, literally in the case of this season, and while their supporters will enjoy another day out at Wembley, this time they are huge underdogs.
It says a lot about the spirit of the club’s fans that they were trying to arrange an open top bus tour even if the players lost the final, and while they’ll only get that pleasure should Pompey pull off an unlikely victory on Saturday, that remains a distant dream.
Chelsea should wrap up the double on Saturday, and while they’ll deserve the plaudits that come their way for doing that, there will be no chance of Pompey going down without a fight.
They’ll lose, but they will be as dignified as they have been all season.
On the pitch.
Prediction: Chelsea 3 Portsmouth 1
Tags: