A season that began with Chelsea as FIFA Club World Cup winners has unravelled into poor form, managerial upheaval and fan protests, but redemption could still come in Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester City.
For Chelsea, it is all or nothing as they try to shake off the turmoil currently enveloping the west London club and win their first domestic trophy for eight years.
"It's time for us to grab it with both hands and give it our all," Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah said. "It has not been the season we wanted, but we have the chance to win a trophy."
Chelsea have sacked Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior this season and are out of contention for Champions League qualification and a mark of the current climate at Chelsea is a planned march down Wembley Way against the club's BlueCo ownership organised by fans' group "Not a Project CFC".
Even victory might not placate them but it would end a horrible long losing streak in domestic finals, including a record three successive FA Cup finals – against Leicester City, Arsenal and Liverpool between 2020-22.
For Manchester City, victory would keep alive their slender hopes of a domestic treble, having already won the League Cup and still hunting Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
Not that the favourites will be taking anything for granted despite Chelsea sitting ninth in the league standings having failed to win any of their last seven games.
Up next: The FA Cup final! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/mPTkPJAsqE
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 12, 2026
City suffered upsets in the last two FA Cup finals, beaten by Crystal Palace last year and Manchester United in 2024.
"It's a pleasure to go to the cathedral again to play the final. Hopefully it's better than the last two times," manager Pep Guardiola said after Wednesday's 3-0 Premier League win over Crystal Palace that kept City in the title race.
Guardiola made several changes to his starting line-up for the game against Palace, with Erling Haaland playing no part.
The Norwegian will be leading City's attack in Saturday's showpiece, though, aiming to correct a remarkable statistic.
Haaland has scored 161 goals in 196 games for City in all competitions yet has never found the net or made an assist in the 12 semifinals or finals in which he has featured.
CITY'S HECTIC SCHEDULE
Chelsea will hope that City's hectic schedule which sees them go to Bournemouth next Tuesday probably needing a win to stay in the title race will be to their advantage.
"Chelsea are at home preparing the final. We have to travel to London, and they will be at home," Guardiola said after the Palace win, City's eighth in their last nine since bowing out of the Champions League to Real Madrid in March.
15 years since we won the FA Cup against Stoke 🏆
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 14, 2026
The trophy that kick-started a new City era 🙌 pic.twitter.com/CRZNCjI72y
The contrast between the two managers on Saturday could not be more extreme.
While Guardiola has won 15 major trophies in his time at City, Chelsea will be led out at Wembley by Calum McFarlane who will be taking charge of his sixth game in his second spell as the club's interim manager.
McFarlane, who spent part of his coaching career at Manchester City's academy during the Guardiola era, will hope he can emulate some rather more high-profile interim Chelsea managers by winning a trophy.
Guus Hiddink was in temporary charge when Chelsea won the 2009 FA Cup, Roberto Di Matteo famously won the FA Cup and Champions League in 2012 while Rafael Benitez did so as caretaker manager winning the 2013 Europa League.