Following Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool in the first leg of their League Cup on Tuesday they are still in all four competitions, it is time for the question to seriously be asked. Can they do the unthinkable and win the quadruple?
Before every season fans of the highest level sides will always joke about winning the domestic treble, or including European competitions the quadruple, but a side may not have a good a chance as this current Chelsea side for some years.
Jose Mourinho’s side travelled to Anfield on Tuesday and put in a solid first leg performance will give them a fantastic chance to progress to the League Cup final in the return home fixture at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool have regained some confidence after their poor early season showing, going unbeaten in their last six league fixtures, winning four of them, but a Chelsea team 17 points better off in the league standings will expect to progress to the final, giving them a fantastic chance to lift the trophy against either Tottenham or Sheffield United.
In the Premier League Chelsea are now five points clear of their nearest title challengers, Manchester City, and will face them at home during the next round of Premier League fixtures, where they have not lost all season.
A win against Manchester City would put Chelsea firmly in control of the title race, and with progress to the next round almost assured in the FA Cup after being drawn at home to League One side Bradford, you would think they have at the least a good chance of winning the domestic treble.
That would leave just the Champions League as the final piece, something that is craved by manager Jose Mourinho, who sees it as one of his greatest failings in football that he was never able to capture the European Cup with Chelsea during his first time in charge of the West London club.
There are three clear standout favourites for the Champions League in Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona but, of the other teams with the ability to do so, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid may be the most likely to overcome the three favourites.
It would have been difficult to predict Chelsea would be in their current position after they fell apart in the title race last season, yet Mourinho realised the weaknesses in his squad and made the necessary additions.
Summer signings Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas are the highest scorer and highest assist provider in the Premier League respectively and have taken Chelsea to the next level.
Eden Hazard is sure to be a candidate for player of the year alongside Fabregas but, even though he has stepped his game up this season, just needs one extra push as he still falls just short of players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the truly ‘world class’ bracket.
If any squad is capable of winning multiple trophies it is Chelsea’s, with German World Cup winner Andre Schurrle on the bench for most of the season alongside Filipe Luis, who won La Liga and made the Champions League final with Atletico Madrid last season and other regular substitutes Ramires, John Obi Mikel, Petr Cech and Didier Drogba.
It is unlikely that Chelsea will be able to complete such a difficult task, which would require a huge amount of fixtures to be played before the season’s end, but with Mourinho in charge you can never rule anything out.
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