Ruben Loftus-Cheek: Chelsea's season will only be a success with Europa League win

EXCLUSIVE

Ruben Loftus-Cheek believes Chelsea will only be able to call their season a success if they win the Europa League final on Wednesday night.

The Blues take on London rivals Arsenal in Baku hoping to end their season on a high with silverware after a topsy-turvy campaign for both squad and coach Maurizio Sarri.

The Italian – managing in his debut season in England’s top flight – has been criticised for his tactics and style of play as well as the club’s inconsistent results among other issues.

However, the 60-year-old still managed to lead Chelsea to a third-place finish in the Premier League and to the League Cup final, which the Blues lost on penalties to Manchester City.

But Loftus-Cheek, who won't feature in the Europa League final after undergoing surgery on an Achilles tendon injury, believes Chelsea's season hinges on winning the trophy in Baku.

Speaking to Standard Sport, Loftus-Cheek said: "I don't know if we can call it a success, yet.

"Yes, we've secured Champions League but we still want to finish it off with a Europa League (title).

"We've had ups and downs this season but, all in all, it's been a decent season. We still have to stay focused and be ready for the final.

"That's what football is about, [playing] at a high level. There are so many competitions and you just have to switch your focus whether it's Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup - you have so many games and you have to be able to switch your focus. It's all practice for us and we get better and better.

"[Winning the Europa League will be] Massive, because we've had ups and downs and we done so well to get back into the Champions League, get third place and to lift a trophy in Europa would top it off."

Chelsea defender David Luiz insisted that Chelsea will be just as motivated to win the Europa League as their opponents Arsenal, whose hopes of playing in the Champions League next term depend solely on whether they win on Wednesday night.

And Loftus-Cheek added: "It's a derby so we look forward to that and it's good for English football that, in the Champions League and Europa League, we have all-English teams in the final.

"But we hope to beat Arsenal!"

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