Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and Thomas Tuchel clearly had something up his sleeve when he brought on Kepa Arrizabalaga for the penalty shoot-out at the end of the UEFA Super Cup final.
The match itself and extra-time had been an easy watch, with both sides playing some bright football at times.
The 1-1 final score was probably a fair result, albeit Edouard Mendy had kept the Blues in the match on a few occasions during normal time.
To that end, the Yellow Submarine can probably feel a little hard done by, but the La Liga outfit certainly didn’t disgrace themselves.
Tuchel must’ve had a plan in place for the penalties, given that Mendy was subbed right at the end in order for Kepa to take his place.
The Spaniard, an outcast under Frank Lampard and rarely played by Tuchel, responded by saving the decisive penalty from Raul Albiol, ensuring that Chelsea had another trophy in the cabinet.
That’s the way to work in your substitutions, and these Chelsea supporters loved it.
Kepa was a bargain
— Raf (@CFC_Raf) August 11, 2021
We actually robbed Athletic Bilbao ?? 70 million is a bargainnnnnn
— Billy (@_CFCBilly) August 11, 2021
THANK YOU KEPA. MY KEEPER
— CfcSheikh (@CfcSheikh) August 11, 2021
OUR HERO!!! pic.twitter.com/Ze6ZlSDoRJ
— CFC (@Jermaine_170) August 11, 2021
KEPA REDEMPTION ARC IS COMPLETE
FINALLY WE WON THE SUPER CUP AT LONG LAST pic.twitter.com/dAnKHA3yTB
— Rasen – #UCLCHAMPIONS!!!!!!!! (@RasenRendanX) August 11, 2021