An apparent injury to the goalkeeper in the final minutes led to a confrontation with coach Maurizio Sarri
David Luiz has given his take on the incident that saw Kepa Arrizabalaga refuse to be substituted in Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.
Blues boss Maurizio Sarri was incensed by the goalkeeper’s insistence that he was not injured, despite receiving treatment twice during the 120-minute stalemate. He had also come into the game with a hamstring worry.
One man in amongst the controversy was Luiz, who appeared to offer his opinion to Kepa at the time and has since come out to say that he was on the side of the under-fire Chelsea manager.
“I just said to him we have to respect the decision of the coach,” said Luiz to reporters at Wembley. “But, I don’t know if the coach wanted to change him because he was feeling pain or [tactically] it was his decision.
“I think the coach wished to do the substitution because of the injury, he didn’t understand that. [Kepa] was telling us he was good. He was okay.
“In the game, sometimes you don’t have much time to explain things, it’s okay.”
The incident came at a crucial time in many senses, with Sarri’s job reportedly on the line after a run of bad results that involved claims that he had lost the dressing room – rumours exemplified by this incident. And, of course, there was the small matter of a trophy at stake.
Kepa eventually won the war of words that took place across the Wembley turf but could only save one City spot-kick in the shootout that followed, letting Sergio Aguero’s weak shot under his body in the 4-3 defeat.
After the match, Sarri downplayed any sense that he was undermined, stating: “I misunderstood the problem and only realised the situation when the doctor arrived at the bench”.
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