From being promoted to the Serie A for the first time in his career with Empoli to a Europa League final with Chelsea, all of this over the span of just five years. It is safe to say that Blues' manager Maurizio Sarri had quite an eventful career in the last few years, which culminated in reaching the European final in Baku, where they will play Europa League habituè Unai Emery and his Arsenal.
The former Napoli coach discussed reaching the final, his future and several other topics in an interview with Corriere dello Sport: "We did well getting so far and now we have to face a crucial challenge. I can't give grades, honestly, I always had a bad relationship with grades since school. If someone had told me, before I went to Empoli, that in 2019 I would have been playing a Europa League final, I would have gotten a bit mad. That's because at the time I hoped that I could win the Champions League".
Sarri then revealed how he felt arriving to a different league like the Premier League: "It's like being on a different planet. Here you can find the the cream of the crop, in every sense. I mean in the organization, facilities, atmosphere in the stadiums, involvement. People don't snub competitions, every cup holds great value for them. I'd like to have more time to train the defensive line though. Four English finalists in the European cups? I feel that there's someone missing and I mean Guardiola. His team plays the best football in my opinion".
The path to the final and to a Champions League spot, however, was a bit rocky: "Here at Chelsea there are many very good players, but they carry the ball [too much for my playstyle], so it's not so easy to change their mentality. We went through some rough times, but despite losing the League Cup after penalties, we bounced back winning against Liverpool and Tottenham and getting qualification to the Champions League. Now we play the derby against Arsenal". Finally, Sarri discussed his future: "I don't think I can return to Italy. At the moment, I can say that I won't go back to Italy".
